Hyundai NZ loans vehicles to Student Volunteer Army

HYUNDAI New Zealand has put a fleet of its vehicles to use in the fight against the COVID-19 virus, loaning a number of its cars to the Student Volunteer Army (SVA) to help provide for the vulnerable.

The initiative will see Hyundai NZ provide a fleet of cars to help SVA volunteers source and deliver groceries to the elderly (those over 65 years old), healthcare workers and the medically vulnerable who are unable to leave their home due to the full lockdown in place in New Zealand.

On April 1, the SVA launched a national volunteer response to aid those affected by the coronavirus, with more than 2000 people registering to volunteer their time.

Due to the lockdown, many of Hyundai NZ’s vehicles are in storage, which spurred Hyundai NZ to put them to use by allowing cars to be sent to the SVA.

10 vehicles have already been deployed to Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland, with 20 more on the way to service the areas of Hamilton, Wellington, Invercargill, New Plymouth and Hastings.

Most vehicle examples are the Venue small SUV, however other offerings including the i20, Kona and Accent have also been used.

With the continuing momentum and climbing number of volunteers, the SVA plans to extend its services further to Blenheim, Tauranga and Wanaka.

Hyundai NZ general manager Andy Sinclair said taking the opportunity to help the SVA was an easy decision.

“When we first heard about the Student Volunteer Army’s COVID-19 response, we knew we had to support them,” he said. 

“As a 100 per cent New Zealand owned and operated business, we are committed to supporting local communities alongside our dealers, especially during challenging times like these.”

SVA is normally a charity run by and for students, primarily focused on providing volunteering opportunities for those aged from primary to tertiary level.

The SVA was born out of the wake of the 2010 Christchurch earthquake, with a Facebook group looking to assist in the clean-up effort culminating in several University of Canterbury students banding together to create the 11,000-strong SVA.

Now run by a student executive and backed by a board of trustees, the SVA contributes over 50 local projects each year with the help of 3000 University of Canterbury students.

As of 2017, primary schools joined in with 32,000 Kiwi students contributing to projects across the country.

SVA founder Sam Johnson said the organisation was grateful of the assistance provided by Hyundai.

“The support that Hyundai is offering the Student Volunteer Army is hugely appreciated; it’s enabling us to support more people in need, who are more geographically-widespread as well as ensuring that having access to a car isn’t a barrier to volunteering,” he said.

“We’re grateful to the entire Hyundai team for jumping on board so enthusiastically and we look forward to working with them throughout the COVID-19 response.”