Volunteer of the Year (Joint Winners)
Phil Charles - Feed it Forward
Phil Charles began volunteering with Feed it Forward Maori Stylz WA after seeing an opportunity to help those less fortunate. Throughout the COVID 19-pandemic, he redirected unsold food items to people in need when employment and wage instability threatened to leave many without essential items. While working as a National Sales Manager, he worked closely with other major businesses and volunteered his time to collect and distribute items like bread and vegetables to people who may have gone without. He also offered his warehouse as a distribution centre, allowing other volunteers to collect food to distribute to where it was needed in their community. He achieved this while strictly adhering to social distancing protocols, with a ready smile and no expectation of anything in return.
Phil continues to volunteer with Feed it Forward Maori Stylz providing household essentials food items to those in need. Phil says “Volunteering gives me purpose.”
Renae Baker - Cockburn Toy Library
In another example of local volunteers using their initiative during a crisis, membership at Cockburn Toy Library soared after Renae Baker introduced an online mystery box click and collect scheme during the initial pandemic lockdown in March 2020. The library provided sanitised boxes of toys at a time when no other children’s groups or playgrounds were open and while parents were at home, often trying to work at the same time as caring for children. This meant the toy library’s new service barely stopped. As a result, members borrowed 4,872 toys, almost twice as many as the previous 12-month period, despite the library being closed for several weeks due to COVID-19.
Interesting facts – Renae is a busy mum of two who works part-time and volunteers for three different organisations. Her parents also ran a toy library for the first 12 years of her life.
Volunteer Organisation of the Year
Cooby Cares
In 2020, Cooby Cares experienced its busiest period. Run by volunteers, this team quickly adapted resources to meet the demand and the growing need for essential items in the community. They established new occupational health and safety practices in order to work with other organisations and secure a larger premise to remain operational during COVID-19 lockdowns. Monthly deliveries expanded from 120 to 400 boxes providing food, toiletries, household items and children’s clothing. The boxes also contained a Community Assistance Contact List, so people could seek help if needed.
Cooby Cares founder Gary says “Volunteers were at the forefront of our efforts to assist people during the COVID-19 period, many of those same volunteers continue with us today.”
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