News Story
We all have customers, the community, to serve. So how did our members meet our market-place last night? We were dealing with the people of Piha who couldn't get home because for 5 hours the only road into their coastal settlement was blocked by a serious motor accident. With no diversions possible, more than 100 vehicles were waiting on Scenic Drive for the road to Piha to re-open. We offered toilet facilities, courtesy of our colleagues, at nearby Waiatarua Fire Station. We consoled and waited at our road block with the girlfriend of one of the victims in the crash until the two were reunited. We put children in one car on health watch: they were on their way home from hospital following day-surgery. Equipment from our appliance was used to boil the billy: tea, coffee and biscuits were offered, roadside, to all those people waiting. And then there was the crew-member on last night's Air New Zealand flight to Hong Kong. We made special arrangements to get him home to Piha and then out again... some of his journey made on foot... in time for him to join his flight at Mangere. For those waiting we found "lay-over" parking for dozens of cars: we had them queued far into the hills up Quinns Road. We kept everyone up to date as far as possible with progress reports from the crash site and when the time came to re-open the road in stages they appreciated efforts to get them on their way, heading home, even if there were to be a few more short delays. Not a complaint voiced all night. We met our market.
