An Elder Group Visits FGS Auckland - Police and the public work hand in hand to build 'A Small World'

Every Tuesday, the Orewa Evelyn Page Retirement Village provides vans for the residents to go on an outing to various places around and about the Auckland area. On 1st March, the outing was to the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple in Flat Bush.

FGS NZ Abbess Manshin gave a tour of the temple and introduced the Mondo Grass at the courtyard were maintained well by the temple team, and students who visit the temple can meditate on it. Graeme happened to be looking at a series of photos of the South Auckland Police working at the temple. During the conversation with Abbess, he mentioned that he was a retired police member and would like to share these photos with other members. Abbess said during the lockdown period in Auckland, the temple provided the Manukau East police team with some vegetarian meal for nearly 4 months to support the Police, who worked too hard at the border. Consequently, on 7th December 2021, the police team helped the temple tidy up the environment and trimmed the hedges to show a sign of gratitude.

Graeme was involved in the community service for many years as a police officer. He praised the temple's involvement with the Police, though it only makes up a fraction of its involvement in the Community. Graeme shared a post titled「A small world」to the Retired Police Website and is now looking to forward it to others. He suggested it is well worth taking time out to spend time in a very peaceful environment in the midst of a bustling world outside if you ever have the opportunity to visit. Although the trip only allowed the elders to be there for 2 hours, it will be an experience that Graeme will never forget. He thanked the gifted 「FGSNZ 10th Anniversary book」by Abbess and an enlightening couple of hours. He wished everyone all the very best for the future.