Community Champ: Lee Matson's a driving star
Dedicated driver goes extra mile
Lee Matson has been nominated by the Whanganui Cancer Society as the Volunteer Driver of the Month. Kate Booth, transport co-ordinator for the Cancer Society, had this to say about Lee:
“I would like to nominate Lee Matson as the first Volunteer Driver of the Month. Lee first started volunteering at the Cancer Society in 2017 and became a volunteer driver in August 2019. He has done over 1100 hours driving time for us.
“Lee is very giving of his time and has often been called on, at short notice, to see if he can help with a drive.
“I can’t think of a time when he has said no or hasn’t changed his plans to help us out. He is also one of the few drivers who is happy to travel to Wellington for us.
“We appreciate Lee, his great sense of humour and everything he does to help and I love that we can give him this recognition.
“Thank goodness this is going to be a monthly occurrence though because we have so many amazing volunteer drivers that I look forward to nominating in the coming months,” she said.
Lee told Midweek he had sold his shearing contracting business and his wife had passed away.
“I decided to offer my time to the Cancer Society. I was used to driving all over the lower North Island doing long distances, sometimes starting at 3am.
“You get a real buzz when you take someone down to Palmerston North and after a few times, they say the cancer has been cured. It only takes about 15 minutes, so you’re back fairly quickly. Trips to Wellington take a whole day when a patient has a threehour appointment. But I love the drive to Wellington,” he said.
Lee was given a special government award in recognition of his service from Andrew Little when he was a minister. He said people really appreciate what he does.