By Callum Ludwig
52 individuals and 20 community groups had their volunteer work recognised during Casey MP
Aaron Violi MP’s 2024 Casey Volunteer and Community Awards ceremony and morning tea at Life Ministry Church on Saturday 15 June.
Mr Violi said the number of nominations this year was a testament to the strong community here in the Yarra Ranges.
“We’ve seen countless nominations for volunteers and community groups right across the Yarra Ranges, which shows just how strong our community is with so many people working
to make our community even stronger,” he said.
“These volunteers and community groups are the people who go above and beyond to care for others, create strong townships, care for others, preserve local history, look after our environment, organise community events and support others in need.
“It was an honour to be able to recognise the hard work of so many local volunteers and groups who give so much without ever asking anything in return,” he said.
In the Valley, Healesville Interchurch Community Care Incorporated (HICCI)’s Transport team were a recipient of a Community Award as an outstanding community group or organisation.
One of the Transport volunteers Les King said he felt the award was given to say thank you for volunteering to serve the community.
“HICCI is extremely important for the community of Healesville and Yarra Glen as public transport is very limited, by using HICCI the clients have confidence they will get to their medical appointments on time and can relax with our friendly drivers,” he said.
“Without volunteers, the community would fall apart and the elderly and the vulnerable would struggle in their daily lives, whether it is football clubs, CFA protecting the community, meals on wheels, or op shops the community is the poorer without volunteers giving up their time to help others,”
“Having been a volunteer with the CFA for 25 years and now a HICCI driver for four years, it’s simply a smile or a thank you here and there that makes it all worthwhile.”
The Archives volunteers at Healesville Sanctuary were also recipients and Healesville Sanctuary Volunteer Coordinator Alice Dickins said the contribution of the Archives Volunteers to the Sanctuary and the wider community is invaluable and the team were overjoyed to have been recognised and celebrated
“These precious items tell the history of not only the Sanctuary but the local area, it also tells the story of our fight to conserve, understand and protect our native fauna and flora. By carefully cataloguing, digitising and storing the collection, the Archive Volunteers ensure our history is preserved,” she said.
“The Archives Volunteers attend Healesville Sanctuary once a week to sort, catalogue and preserve the collection of the Healesville Sanctuary Heritage Centre for future generations. The collection includes documents, newspaper articles, ephemera, videos, objects, artwork and more,”
“In 2023 the Archive Volunteers commenced the huge task of digitising the collection with assistance from the team from the Regional Digitisation Program run by Victorian Collections and the Australian Museums and Galleries Association – Victoria. They attended workshops on digitising including skills in photography and scanning, and collection management through Victorian Collections.”
The Archives volunteers also played a big role in curating an exhibition titled ‘The Wild and Ourselves: 90 Years at Healesville Sanctuary’ that was on display at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum for Healesville Sanctuary’s 90th anniversary.
The Rotary Club of Healesville also received a Community Award.
