An organiser of Friday’s Gore District Council event at James Cumming Community Centre said donating your time, especially for those in retirement, was just as beneficial for the volunteer.
The council’s Ready for Living project lead Roxy van Zyl said she had the idea for the "day" when she realised what little information she had on Gore’s many volunteer groups.
Part of her role was working with over-65s and keeping them engaged in the community, she said volunteering gave people a sense of purpose and ultimately improved their mental health.
Her main goal was combating loneliness, which was why she brought fostering organisation Gore Cat Rescue in, for example.
"All the people who've got something to love and take care of, they feel they have a sense of purpose," she said.
Gore Community Patrol also had a stand, as it provides a social aspect for volunteers, while getting them "out of the house".
Retirees are the ultimate volunteers as they have time, experience and a developed sense of responsibility, she said.
Cat Rescue president Kelly Morrison said fostering would be perfect for those who did not want the long-term commitment of a pet.
They provided cat food, beds, cages as well as other essentials so they only needed people who had the time and space to accommodate feline friends.
"We supply everything we just need your time and love," she said.
Just a week on from their Daffodil Day fundraising drive, the Gore Southern Cancer Society committee were looking for new members for next year’s efforts.
Gore Model Engineering Club, Eastern Southland Riding for the Disabled, Southland Shafts and Wheels, Gore River Valley Lions, Hokonui Pioneer Village & Museum, Hospice Southland, Parata Meals on Wheels and Hato Hone St John.
Not-for-profit volunteering broker Volunteer South was also present as well as Presbyterian Support Southland.
Volunteer South community connector Sue O’Brien said volunteering was good for wellbeing, particularly for newcomers to an area.
"It allows new people to connect to the community," she said.
"People find it rewarding, that they're making a difference in somebody's life."
Presbyterian Support lifestyle team leader Rachel Cade said her role was around the volunteering at her organisation’s care homes and lifestyle villages — which was "varied and wide".
She had volunteers called "lounge sitters" who just sit and chat with people in the homes as well as others who help those with limited range of movement.
Those volunteers become a set of hands for residents, she said.
Ms van Zyl said Gore had a population of about 13,000, of which 24% were over 65, and by 2030 that rate rise to 42%.
Setting them up to volunteer and feel connected in the community was a way to support that large proportion of the community in five years time, she said.
