Story: Gangs

Voluntary work (3rd of 3)

Voluntary work

Larry Potae, a 49-year-old grandfather of eight, helps out at the Awhi Early Childhood Centre in Ōtara, Auckland, in 2006. Twenty members of the 'Notorious' chapter of the Mongrel Mob had helped build and paint the centre, as well as creating carvings and doing landscaping work. As they got older and had families, some gang members tried to break their cycle of serving jail time so they would not be separated from their families. Voluntary work and employment schemes helped to keep some from a life of crime.

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New Zealand Herald
Reference: 250806NZHMSPRESCHOOL2.JPG
Photograph by Martin Sykes

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How to cite this page:

Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, 'Gangs - Māori gangs and Pacific youth gangs', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/28249/voluntary-work (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Greg Newbold and Rāwiri Taonui, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 2 Oct 2018, updated 1 Apr 2020 with assistance from Jarrod Gilbert