On Thursday 29th November, we got together at the Riverside Woodbridge Cafe and paid tribute to SCC’s 200 selfless volunteers who generously give their time to volunteer at our various sites.
Our volunteers perform a variety of roles including religious care (our clergy from different denominations), pastoral care and social visits that go a long way to alleviating the loneliness that so often besets elderly people. We also have volunteer bus drivers, people who make pet visits happen, and others who assist the occupational therapy staff with various activities for our clients. Our oldest volunteer is 94 years of age, and our youngest is 13. The largest concentration of volunteers is in residential care, with a majority volunteering at Jeremiah Donovan House (JDH), though we now have volunteers coming to help us in our respite centres and more recently in home care.
The event was also an opportunity to recognise some of our long-serving volunteers, such as Margaret Cook, who recently reached her 10 year anniversary for at Jeremiah Donovan House. She assists with the hymn-singing at the facility. Music is especially powerful in connecting our residents with spiritual resources that steady them, and Margaret has helped in this valuable work over the past 10 years.
Another recipient was Ashwini Sekar who has volunteered for 10 years at Joseph Cook House in a variety of roles. What is significant about Ashwini is that she is also one of our paid staff, who returns during her out-of-hours time to volunteer.
We also had Tony and Hanny Kamps, a husband and wife team who have volunteered at Margaret Hubrey House for over 15 years assisting with the chapel arrangements, amongst other things. Clearly, they enjoy each other’s company, as well as volunteering.
We would also like to acknowledge Rev. Keith Elvish who has been involved with religious care at JDH for the past 15 years. He is the Anglican priest of the Parish of Forrestfield and leads our regular Anglican Church service at JDH. His musical skill enriches his service too.
Errol Turner, the CEO of Southern Cross Care (WA) Inc. handed the medallions to our long service volunteers and everyone enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast and music in a wonderful setting.
Congratulations to all of the volunteers for their dedication and hard work.
