COMMUNITY GEM: Volunteer-junkie loves to help | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

FOR more than 15 years, Tauranga's Kerri Tilby has been putting the needs of others before her own. She has spent many years volunteering in the not-for-profit sector and has personally seen the rewards of hard work.

Her innate sense of community well-being started many years ago when she was a child living under her parent's roof.

"My mum and dad were amazing people," she said. "We had a big house with eight bedrooms and we could have as many as 18 children come and stay at any one time. My mum and dad were always involved in the community and for me, it was just natural to get involved."

When she left school, Mrs Tilby said there was no "real great plan" so she decided to go with the flow and deal with what life offered.

She has a background in early childhood education and has spent many years volunteering and working in organisations which support children and families. Mrs Tilby said her early childhood background provided her a strong foundation which gave her the opportunity to "branch out to practically anything".

She remembered her first volunteering job when she was a child, helping at flee market stalls for her parents who were part of a mission group that supported a family in Bangladesh.

Since then, her involvement in the community has been varied. She puts her hand up for any role and is a self-confessed volunteer-junkie.

"Whenever I go out to a meeting, my husband says 'don't volunteer for anything else' then when I come home he asks 'so what did you put your hand up for'," she said.

"He is a great support though and I couldn't do it without him."

In September this year, Mrs Tilby will return to the slums of Tijuana, Mexico, to help build houses with a national volunteering agency.

"Their houses are literally made out of sacks and pacing crates nailed together ... it really is the slums," she said.

Mrs Tilby first travelled to Tijuana in 2009 and was so moved by the experience, she decided to do it again - this time with her two daughters, aged 13 and 14.

"It was such a life changing experience, seeing the difference we could make to someone's life," she said. "My daughters are really good kids but I think this experience will teach them to really appreciate what we have."

Each house is built in three days and can accommodate one family. Within each house there was also room for up to 12 children in the sleeping loft.

As well as building houses, the volunteering group visit local schools and provide them with stationary, books and other supplies.

To get to Tijuana, Mrs Tilby said her and her daughters would have to raise about $4000 each. This covers the cost of airfares, accommodation and extras, including supplies for the school, the houses they build and extra food for the villagers.

"The more money we raise, the bigger difference we can make."

Mrs Tilby said with volunteering, it doesn't matter what you can offer as long as you offer your time.

"Some people ask me 'can you build a house' and I reply no, but I know how to hold a hammer and take directions," she said.

"If everyone does their little bit then it all comes together and the whole community benefits.

"I just think it's everyone's responsibility o do their little bit.

"Not one person can change the world but we can collectively make a change if we work together ... every little bit helps."