Wyndham council has expressed its gratitude to the thousands of volunteers who make a difference in the municipality.
Last week was Volunteer Week, and the council celebrated by posting a series of profiles of local volunteers on the Wyndham Together website.
Wyndham’s family friendly portfolio holder, Cr Mia Shaw, said it was important to recognise and celebrate volunteers.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of our community,” Cr Shaw said.
“This theme of this year’s National Volunteer Week is ‘Changing Communities. Changing Lives’, and this is exactly the difference our volunteers make across the Wyndham community every single day.
“About 22,600 Wyndham residents volunteer their time to serve others, including about 200 Wyndham City volunteers who help with everything from delivering meals to residents in need, to researching our local history.
“This amounts to more than $100 million in unpaid work to the Wyndham community each year.”
Among Wyndham’s volunteers is Karen Hucker, the coordinator of litter clean-up group Love Our Street 3029.
The group is helping to fulfil the Werribee River Association and Beach Patrol Australia’s mission to reduce litter from entering local waterways.
Ms Hucker also sits on the advisory committee for the West Road Refuse Disposal Facility; has a long history with the Apex Club of Hoppers Crossing; and was formerly on the boards of the Werribee Environmental Community Park and the Grange Community Centre.
Wyndham council last year endorsed a five-year Volunteering Strategy aimed at increasing the number of opportunities for residents to volunteer, see wyndham.vic.gov.au/services/volunteering-grants for details.
