May 31, 2023
Volunteers are the heart and soul of any community. Their selfless dedication, passion, and commitment makes a significant impact on the lives of others. National Volunteer’s Week is a special time to honour and appreciate the invaluable contributions made by these everyday heroes. This year’s was held during 15 – 21 May 2023, with the theme being Change Makers.
This year, in celebration and appreciation of our selfless and relentless Change Maker’s, OHCC ensured organised a Social Media Campaign, celebrating and shining the spotlight on our wonderful team.
We started the week with two of our dedicated volunteers Barbara and Skip, who have both selflessly dedicated their time to giving back to their Community and making a real difference. The mother and son duo commenced volunteering at our Neighbourhood Marketplace 1 day a week back in October 2021, and now being 2 days. Chances are many who have attended the Neighbourhood Marketplace been served by the wonderful Barbara, and been assisted to your car by the ever-cherpy Skip!
Mid-week we celebrated our hard-working volunteers Grace and Alice. Grace has been with OHCC as a volunteer since July 2022 and has been part of the THOP Community since 2011. A Full Time Healthcare worker and a mother of 4, Grace is one of our Support Workers ne of our Support Workers, who still makes time to volunteer at our Neighbourhood Marketplace either before or after shift work! More like Grace, Alice has been apart of the THOP Community since 2009, and has been Volunteering at the Neighbourhood Marketplace since June 2021. A Full-Time student, yet Alice finds joy in giving back to her Community. As our Administration and Shop Assistant, chances are you’ve been welcomed by her warm smile.
Finally we acknowledged and celebrated our hands on, hard-working men of OHCC Alex and Robert. Alex has been part of the THOP and Open Hands team since launch, and heads the Welfare and Hospitality Teams of THOP. Alex oversees Community Engagements & Outreaches, and back in Oct 2022, worked with the Team, to pack and distribute over 400 Food Hampers through our “Leave No One Behind” Food Relief Drive! He’s dedicated his time, efforts, energy and passion to making a meaningful and impactful difference in his Community. Similarly, Robert has also been apart of the THOP and Open Hands teams since launch, and as one of our Managing Directors, heads the Disability Support Services Team at Open Hands. A Full-Time Healthcare Worker, yet Robert still makes the time to volunteer as one of our Food Rescue Drivers, facilitating the redistribution of good quality surplus food from our Charity Partners @Foodbank, @Secondbite & @Coles, ensuring our Marketplace is stocked with quality fresh produce daily, that would otherwise go to landfills.
We are beyond grateful for all the hard-work and perseverance of our volunteers of OHCC. We are thank for all our volunteers taking out the time to contribute to the vision and mission of our organisation.
On behalf of our Founders, Management and Staff here at OHCC, we hope that all had a wonderful week celebrating all volunteers nationally. This week serves as a powerful reminder that everyone can contribute to making the world a better place, and bring forth real Change! By sharing stories of remarkable volunteers and their impact, we can inspire others to take action and as an organisation we will, continue to stand by you and with you always!