Happy National Volunteer Week!
National Volunteer Week is Australia’s largest annual celebration of our six million volunteers. For anyone who has volunteered before, you would know how wonderful the experience is, and how great it is to make an impact on those who need it most.
As volunteering and supporting those less fortunate is at the core of our Community program, we thought we’d take a moment to celebrate and share some of the initiatives taking place at Viridian across the nation.
QLD – Linda Earnshaw, Advice Services Manager
Up in Queensland the team are really committed to the Viridian Community Program and are excited to have supported a number of charities including Share the Dignity, The Salvation Army Xmas Gift Appeal and the Salvos Gift Wrapping Drive.
Supporting those who have experienced domestic violence has also been an important focus for our team. That’s why we are pursuing alignments with local charity’s – BABY GIVE BACK and Sunny Kids. Both of these organisations are working to help vulnerable babies, children and families in the community who are escaping domestic violence get back on their feet.
We are looking forward to working alongside these charities and making a difference across all 3 QLD office locations in moments that matter.
NSW/ACT – Jan Gettman, CSM Development Manager
In NSW/ACT we have focused on supporting homelessness over the last few weeks. It’s been great seeing everybody across the state get involved and be united in purpose despite geographic separation. It’s amazing to be able to give back to our communities and make a lasting impact.
Our group have been working alongside COCO’s, a charity committed to helping reduce the effects of homelessness through giving out clothes, hot meals, and beverages for those in need. We’ve donated over 800 items of clothing to the cause and many of our staff have volunteered across the state.
It’s also been great to see some of our team raising funds and donating clothes and non-perishable food items to some other important causes such as NOVA, Soul Café and Orange Food Bank. The passion to help others is really present across the group and we hope to continue to drive change over the coming year.
TAS – Kira Johnston, Client Service Manager
Burnie Office has been helping with food donations for ‘Strike It Out North West’, an organisation focussed on feeding the homeless in the region and will soon be volunteering their time to support fundraising. The team are also in the process of teeing up a time to help at the local Bunnings BBQ which will involve everyone in the Burnie office!
SA- Stuart Lenton, Executive Advisor
Over in South Australia, the Adelaide team have been working hard on a number of different projects that are close to our hearts. Internally, we’ve started a monthly morning tea where we raise funds to be given back to the Viridian Foundation or charities in need.
Externally, the team have been working alongside Puddle Jumpers, an organisation committed to helping society’s most vulnerable children and young people. We’ve supported this great cause through both a food drive and a clothes drive which has seen an overwhelming amount of donations come in for the kids. We’ll continue to support Puddle Jumpers by commencing volunteer work at their regular Community Food nights.
VIC – Sarah White, HR Manager and Rie Maki, Finance and Operations Manager
In the run up to the EOFY, The Victorian community group has a couple of initiatives that we’re hoping we can everyone in Victoria involved with.
On Friday 21st May our Executive Concierge, Mel Lyon will be taking part in the Melbourne 30K Coastrek, the ultimate team trekking and fundraising challenge, proudly supporting Beyond Blue. You can donate to this wonderful cause here!
Melbourne will be hosting the Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea on the 24th of May. The funds raised through the Cancer Council has already increased cancer survival rates from 49% in the 1980s to 69% today.
The Big Freeze has returned for its 7th year to continue the fight against MND and we’re excited to have the beanies back again at the 120 Collins office. Melbourne Concierge will be selling these at $20 per beanie.
Lastly, the Victorian Community group has been inspired to rally the troops to make a contribution towards two local charities, seeking work clothes in need. Collections start this week!
WA – Sharna Meinertz, Executive Advisor
Despite being a busy year for all, the team in WA have still found time to volunteer and support the Viridian Community program with 100% participation, even if it was just to hand over $10 to share a drink on a Friday night.
We have had a couple of people that have really shone the light bright with Volunteering, Deborah Aitkens giving more than 100 hours of her time through Rotary in the Peel Area and Luciana Di Biase whose feet really did the walking and helped raise over $6,000 in the Relay for Life, other staff members helped to lighten her load and walked while she rested.
We also ‘Shared the Dignity’ and collected hand bags and toiletries, while the Men refused to shave for ‘Movember’.
Our major support is for Passages, a youth engagement hub providing a non-judgemental safe space to our communities most marginalised and at risk young people in Perth and Peel. At Christmas time we got together and bought presents for the Homeless kids on the streets of Perth. Over the next year we are looking forward to continuing our support for Passages and are hoping to find some new causes to volunteer for as a team.