Red Cross scholarship for dedicated student volunteer

Our Jennifer Clark Memorial Scholarship for 2025 was awarded to Allie Vaughan, a Meals on Wheels volunteer who is also an aspiring solicitor and community leader. This scholarship is awarded to people aged 30 and under so they can attend a course as part of their leadership development. 

Last year, Allie Vaughan’s calendar was full. In addition to final-year study in law school, she was also managing to find time for volunteering with our Meals on Wheels delivery service, working part-time, and taking on leadership roles. 

Allie’s application for our 2025 Jennifer Clark Memorial Scholarship stood out. It showed her impressive commitment to making volunteering a priority, and her plans to continue making a difference in professional and community leadership roles once she moved back home to the West Coast. Allie was awarded this $2000 scholarship in November last year – funds to put towards training in governance and financial oversight.

Allie’s volunteering journey 

Allie Vaughan

Allie was inspired by her mother, Thérèse, who had also been involved with Meals on Wheels in their hometown of Greymouth. The now 22-year-old signed up to volunteer to deliver meals in Christchurch while doing her University of Canterbury law degree.

“I'd been wanting to volunteer for quite a while, but hadn’t found the right fit. Then I looked into the Red Cross some more and really resonated with the organisation’s values,” she explains.

New Zealand Red Cross Meals on Wheels Canterbury Service Lead Janine Shepherd arranged fortnightly delivery shifts for Allie, each lasting a couple of hours, and Allie says she always felt very supported by Janine.

Her runs became treasured as chats turned drop-offs into genuine connections.

“I loved having a chat with recipients and seeing how their week had been going,” she says.

As for how she juggled it all – full-time studies, 10 hours a week at her cleaning job, a leadership role with Law for Change, an organisation for law students using their education for community good, and volunteering – Allie says she likes to keep “quite busy”.

“I'm quite proud to say I'm a very organised person, and my calendar is always very structured,” she says. “The volunteering really was a highlight of my week though.”

What’s on the horizon 

University exams forced a reluctant pause in Allie’s volunteering, but she says she’ll return to it on the coast once she settles into her role at a Greymouth-based practice, where she will practise as a solicitor after being admitted to the bar in the coming months. 

“I built up a rapport with quite a few, and, and it was really nice, so I was pretty gutted to have to leave.”

Allie says receiving the scholarship felt like “everything had fallen into place” as she is passionate about contributing to the long-term wellbeing and development of her wider West Coast community. She’s aiming to be part of things like local boards and trusts.

“I was just so delighted – and shocked. It feels like a full circle moment coming back home and now being able to start my journey of giving back locally through governance without having to worry about the cost to upskill.”

To anyone considering volunteering for Red Cross, Allie has a rallying call: “Definitely get involved. It's so rewarding. You can volunteer as many hours or as little as you want. The Red Cross is really flexible like that and it’s super easy to fit into your schedule.

“It’s a great feeling knowing you’ve helped people and made an impact.”