The volunteering spirit was on full display at this year's Wollongong Volunteer Expo.
With 40 charities and community organisations represented at the Town Hall on Wednesday, May 21, expo attendees had the chance to explore local volunteering opportunities and ask questions of representatives from public health, emergency and rescue, poverty relief and welfare, education and multicultural service organisations.
The Illawarra Flame asked stallholders about their volunteer work and why they enjoy it. Here's what they told us.
Illawarra Multicultural Services (IMS)
Tom: “I believe that the value in volunteering is that the volunteers get as much out of it as the participants. It’s been a great boost to my lifestyle in many ways being a part of IMS and working with people, and feeling that there’s a lot of good things going on."
Volunteer coordinator Paulina: “You get to meet people of different cultures and languages. We have Culture Mix coming up and are looking for volunteers for that. We’re also starting a new program where we want to put on community family dinners – we are gauging interest today, volunteers would run the whole program.
“Dandelion is one of our huge charities that supports us a lot and they’re based in Taren Point. We need drivers to go and pick up items (sheets, clothes, books, toys). We have a lot going on and staff-wise, we don’t have the capacity to drive up and down. We have a few people doing that, but we need more. We also need people to volunteer to support students in getting their driving hours up.”
Contact Paulina on 0431 123 389 or ppesavento@ims.org.au
WIRES
Jennifer: “We rescue native wildlife – that can be anything from going out and actually rescuing the wildlife, or doing technical stuff, or getting more volunteers/staffing … you choose how much time you have to give, we have an app and you can take call-outs whenever you like.”
Learn more about WIRES
Rotary
Linda: “People should volunteer for Rotary for fun and to help others, and make a difference. Like the Ghandi saying: Be the change you wish to see! We’re really adopting that saying – sometimes you just have to get in there and do it! We aren’t here to recruit new members – you don’t have to be a member of Rotary to help out. I think that’s what scares people off sometimes – there’s no hard sell on joining, we would just love for people to be involved in something that interests them.”
Learn more about Corrimal Rotary
Cancer Carers
Narelle, Illawarra Cancer Carers president: “Volunteering gives you something to do – you get to help people and give back to the community. We are always looking for new volunteers to help with different things.Through volunteering, you get to meet new people and broaden your horizons. A lot of young people volunteer with us to learn from the older people they care for. It’s just a good opportunity to meet new people from all walks of life – you never know who you're caring for!”
Get involved with Illawarra Cancer Carers
Illawarra Wig Library
Janet and Cil: “We deal with people who have hair loss, due to a medical issue – it could be cancer, it could be alopecia, and they come to us and we try to help them find a wig that’s right for them! They come in fairly apprehensive but they walk out happy. Our volunteers get to sit people down and see which wigs suit them, what they do and don't like. We have a little room at the hospital where they come in and it’s very private, so that they’ve got their dignity, which to us is the most important thing. Our volunteers go on a roster to do this on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 10am and 1pm. Maybe once or twice a month we get together and have a morning tea or a lunch and swap notes, see how we can improve and be more helpful.”
Contact via Facebook, 0459 174 578 or wiglibrary@bigpond.com
Healthy Cities Australia
Ingrid: “We're a local health promotion charity – we run a lot of community programs, getting more people connected to their community. It might be walking programs or cooking or after-school programs for children and we are really just looking at reducing social isolation and inspiring healthy behaviours. We also do a lot of advocacy work around food fairness and active transport, empowering community.
“Volunteers get so many different things out of volunteering with us – work experience, new skills … a lot of students in public health have a lot of opportunities to learn with us. But otherwise if you’re retired, you get to connect, meet new people, get out into your community … we offer a lot of support and training, so you become part of the health community.”
“We need volunteers for our after-school youth program at the moment, but then also cooking and walking programs – but the really big one right now is getting people to work with those after-school kids, particularly in the Bellambi Community Centre. It’s really rewarding.”
Learn more about Healthy Cities and volunteering locally
Greenacres Disability Services
Rikki-Lee: “We are an organisation that supports adults with disability, Illawarra through Shoalhaven. We’re open to volunteers and anybody who has specific skill-sets that they would like to broaden or anyone just willing to come and help out, getting some of our adults with disabilities out into the community.”
Learn more about Greenacres and volunteering opportunities
