“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”
- Helen Keller
Today we celebrate our wonderful community drivers!
These are the faces our clients see when they are collected and driven to appointments.
These are the people our clients chat to about their life and local and global events.
These are the regular faces that our clients come to know and love.
These are the people our clients come to rely on.
A new driver, Louie, shared a beautiful story. Whilst on his 1
st buddy shift, a vision impaired client reached out to take Louie’s hand. She then thanked him for being a volunteer and expressed how much volunteers helped her and her husband. This made Louie’s day and acknowledged the reason he wanted to volunteer!!!
Our administration support volunteer, Lucas, has been very busy in the last year. He assisted all the volunteers in setting up their Rise email and has also created ComputeRise sessions to continue helping all our volunteers with their online learning.
“I started volunteering because I wanted to help our local community. I continue to volunteer because I enjoy meeting and talking to so many wonderful people who also want to make a difference in our community.”
– Lucas
Finally, we would like to applaud our two longest serving volunteers, Mary (24 years) and Paul (20 years).
1998 saw Mary commence as one of our volunteers at Wahroonga. She has contributed to many projects in her time with us as well as introducing her dog, Moppy, to the clients for some support therapy… many years before animal therapy was amongst us. Mary greets our clients with a smile whenever they come to the centre. Look out for a full story about Mary’s 25 years with Rise in August.
Paul was asked by a friend who was a volunteer driver for Hills Community Support Group (before it was renamed Rise in 2003), if he’d be able to help. 20 years later, he is still out on the road for Rise, sharing a story or two, whilst driving our clients to and from appointments. That’s a lot of appointments he’s helped clients keep!!
“I would like to thank all our beautiful volunteers from the bottom of my heart, for bringing what you do to the community. Without you, The Change Makers, Rise wouldn’t be able to function as it does. Never forget how appreciated you are and the difference you make”
– Alana Bearham, Volunteers Coordinator