Lifetime Contribution to Volunteering Award nominee Judith volunteers at New Farm Neighbourhood Centre on a weekly basis, to assist over 50 community members with accessing our facilities, providing free meals, and lending a friendly ear to those that need a chat.
Due to her extensive volunteering knowledge and skillset, Judith has become NFNC’s chief volunteer trainer, and hundreds of volunteers and students on placement have learned from her.
Judith always arrives first and leaves last. She manages NFNC’s busy free laundry service, all bookings for visiting services including the in-house GP, and all general enquiries and phone calls. She manages this workload with great efficiency, while still making the time to greet everyone at the door with a warm smile and gentle direction to access support, information and referrals.
Without Judith, the New Farm Neighbourhood Centre would not be able to run as effectively as it does. With her help, NFNC has flourished into a large and thriving place-based neighbourhood centre that serves 20,000 free meals each year, provides laundry and shower facilities, a community coffee program, and access to numerous visiting services.
Judith began volunteering when her children were young. Nearly 60 years later, she is still volunteering as a grandmother. Over the years she has volunteered for many different programs and organisations across many different sectors, including schools, sporting clubs, local council and neighbourhood centres.
In dollar figures, Judith’s 60 years of volunteering for an average of 10 hours per week is calculated to be in the range of a tremendous $1.3 million in value to the local community.
With the help of volunteers like Judith, New Farm Neighbourhood Centre rescues and repurposes approximately 15 tonnes of food per year and assists up to 500 community members per week to access their Open House programs and visiting services. The social impact of her contribution is incalculable.
Has Judith’s extraordinary story inspired you to make a difference? Volunteering with Communify allows you to give back to the community, get involved in fulfilling community projects, and make a few friends along the way too. Click here to learn more about our volunteering opportunities.