What it Means to Be a Community

Over the past few days, after a long period of losing my faith in humanity, I was reminded of how strong we, as a community, can be as long as we put our collective minds into it.  On the 4th of June, an 81-year-old lady named Valerie went missing in/around the suburb of Woolston, here in Christchurch.  In the past, some stories of the elderly going missing haven't all ended on a positive note.  Because of this, I think the suburb's community really didn't want that to happen this time.

I'm a member of a Facebook group for Woolston residents, even though I'm not currently living there.  The reason I'm in the group is because it's where I grew up for the first 12 years of my life.  Even though I haven't lived in that area since 1993, it still holds a special place in my heart for many reasons (too long to list here, but will most likely reserve other blog posts for such topics).  After Valerie went missing, there was very little I could do from the suburb I'm living, but I was able to witness something wonderful while observing the group's activity.

The number of people that rallied together to help the police search for her, either as a group or individually, was astonishing.  Because I live elsewhere, I'm in other local neighbourhood groups on Facebook as well.  I won't name the other groups in case they think I'm throwing shade, as they say, but the Woolston group members really showed me what a community SHOULD be like, while the others haven't really been as active.  If the suburbs could take the time to look at how Woolston came together over the last 5 days or so, they could learn a valuable lesson from them.

As of around 6pm today - June 9th - a public announcement was made by the local police page on Facebook, saying that Valerie had been found.  Cold, but safe.  Praise the Lord!

This is what it means to be a community.  Being there for each other.  Actually helping.  Contributing.  Not sitting around doing nothing while thinking, "Meh, I'm too tired.  Someone else can sort it out", or "I shared the post on my socials, so I've done my bit."  I'm sorry, but that's not enough.  If I went missing and somebody said, "I'm glad you're OK.  Sharing that link must have worked!" - I'd probably ignore you, to be honest.  You're more likely to receive gratitude if you were actually out in the field with the others, like the Woolston community did for Valerie.

So, if you're from the suburb of Woolston and you can see this, I'd give you a medal if I could.  You deserve them.  It makes me happy knowing I came from an area in the eastern suburbs that will have your back if you're in need.  I'd move back there in a heartbeat if I could.  I know now that if I did, I'd feel more welcome there.

Much love.