November

Volunteering
By Christine Russell
Issue 4 / 2012
Wintalyka
A great way to recognize your volunteers and their years of service is to nominate them to appear
in the NSW MOWA virtual honour roll that is compiled every year and placed on the NSWMOWA
website.
2012 has 3 categories of milestones to include years of service from 20 to 30 years, 31 to 40 years
and then 41 to 50 years.
Incredibly this year Ngaire Woellner from Rockdale celebrated 50 years of volunteering and the
Manager of Rockdale Meals Service, Prue Daras invited volunteers and council to celebrate this
truly great achievement.
As we approach the end of this year it is good to bear in mind International Volunteer Day
celebrated on December 5th. Set aside this day to have a volunteer lunch, picnic, BBQ, dinner or
some other outing to recognise the contributions that your volunteers make.
Volunteering is a gift of someone’s time and effort and this should be viewed as precious and not
taken for granted, as time and effort are irreplaceable. The real value of the time and effort of our
volunteers to our clients is in essence immeasurable.
Recently NSWMOWA in conjunction with Queensland MOW undertook to conduct narrative research
surveys where we asked services to capture the stories of clients, staff, volunteers and
carers in relation to their experiences with Meals on Wheels.
Some of the narratives that were recorded are absolutely magical and very moving. We would like
to thank all contributors to this research effort. The stories also reflected that volunteering for our
NSW Meals on Wheels services is not only important for sustaining the clients in their homes, but
that it also sustaining and revitalizing for the volunteers.
As much as a volunteer gifts their time and effort, so do gifts of appreciation and inclusiveness
come back to the volunteers and these act as instant rewards.
If you are looking for ways to recognise your volunteers, visit the volunteering Australia website
which offers 101 ways to acknowledge the achievements of volunteers.
A great way to start organising a volunteer celebratory event is perhaps to include your volunteers
in the planning of such an event and ask for their suggestions.
International Volunteer Day is celebrated worldwide and is not too far down the track, so start planning
now and make a special gesture towards the gift of time and effort of your volunteers.
Volunteer recognition can always start with a simple thank you.
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