BNI Christchurch says heartfelt ‘thank you’ New Zealand

BNI New Zealand and its directors have been flooded with heartfelt and personal ‘thank yous’ from our members in Christchurch. Here is a sample of emails and we will continue to add more as we get permission from the writers to do so…

I just thought I would send a SPECIAL thank you to you all.

I was a recipient of “your wonderful box of goodies” yesterday morning, at the BNI Big Breakfast here in Christchurch.

It was indeed a room full of tears (good ones). Sam our Regional director found it hard to get the words out to say thank you, with the lump in his throat with all the emotion. We, all being tough business people tried to pull back the tears, but really it was just such a wonderful thing for you all to do, that we indeed let the tears flow 🙂 Thanks for making our day/year! Graham and the BNI team did you all proud!

I am a truly inspired with BNI. Myself and my business has been a member for 8-9 years myself, and to know how much we really have an amazing business community out there is so overwhelming!

I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Phillippa Jacobs

What can I say!  I am so humbled by what happened this morning and really not sure what to say other than “thank you”.

It really does make you proud to be a kiwi in times like this when you see such huge expressions of giving from just normal people like ourselves.  It brings another lump in my throat and tear in my eye each time I think about it.

Thanks heaps for your input Rob, you and Sam do an amazing job for us all.

Lorena Hopkins

Please accept my congratulations and heartfelt thanks for all you, and others in BNI, did towards the Big Breakfast this morning, which can only be described as an outstanding success.

It was an occasion and experience that I will always remember and treasure.  The kindness and generosity of BNI in NZ was stunning, and very, very moving – you weren’t the only guy with watery eyes, Sam!

We were all blown away!  If you ever needed to see the value of BNI, or need motivating, this morning was inspirational.

Thanks also for your excellent leadership and contribution to BNI.

See you at BNI!

Martin

What a faaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic surprise, I think everyone was blown away with what we experienced this morning.

A huge’ shout out’ must go to all of the chapters around NZ who got behind the initiative.

Bob Parker was inspirational, he has a true gift.

BNI is a wonderful organisation and it is great to be one of the founding members of BNI in Christchurch.

You have got a great man in Sam, he epitomises what every BNI member should strive to be like.

Thanks to everyone involved you certainly put a smile on everyones faces this morning and at the same time a few tears to the eyes.

All the very best for the festive season.

Mark Pfeifer

An open letter to all at BNI

There are no words in the English language adequate enough to express the feelings from this morning. Two words “Thank you” do not seem sufficient to express the gratitude for the effort and love that you have all sent us.

The breakfast today was in itself an amazing event, and it was great to mingle with those of other chapters and discuss the who’s whys and when’s of the last 12 months.

Then came your video, an emotional roller coaster ride, that had me and many others in the hall reaching surreptitiously for eye dabbing equipment. No of course it wasn’t tears, accountants don’t cry it was………..

Whilst in Pahia recently I met an Australian couple who had flown into Christchurch, hired a car and drove into town to the information centre. All the way down Memorial Avenue they kept thinking “hasn’t everyone done well to get back to normal – you would never know there had been an earthquake” until they arrived at the roadblocks and army tanks in the centre of town.

It sometimes feels that the world has stood still for the last 12 months. Dozens of containers two and three high are positioned on the main road to protect it from falling rocks. Abandoned houses, with broken walls still with furniture visible, remain untouched.

In my street, there is still the rubble from collapsed houses, and the road still blocked by boulders so that a 3 k round trip is needed to get off the hill. Potholes, sink holes suddenly appear. Water leaks spring up at random times from underground pipes that have suddenly decided that they have had enough.

Just occasionally we despair about when something may happen.  Sure it only lasts a moment, then the Kiwi spirit kicks in, and “she’ll be right” takes over. There is always someone worse off than you, we know that, and yet at times you wish someone would notice.

And someone did notice – you did.

I am humbled and I feel very privileged to belong to such an awesome group as BNI – to everyone of you, in creating the idea, in making videos, of writing personal notes, in packing boxes…

The only words that I have, “thank you”, are far too inadequate to express my appreciation, and undoubtedly all of those present today.

To all of you I wish the most joyous Christmas ever, my joy started this morning and may 2012 provide all that you have dreamed of.

Russell
Emissaries Christchurch