Our communities are built on the generosity of volunteers and charitable organisations who support those in need.
According to Volunteering Australia, almost six million volunteers dedicate over 600 million hours to help others. Whichever way you look at it, it’s an incredible contribution to benefit others.
Held 17 to 23 May this year, National Volunteer Week is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteers. Port of Brisbane sought to recognise the occasion by getting out into the community with a special program of volunteering activities.
During the week, 30 port employees volunteered 166 hours of their time to work with its charity partners to help build bikes for disadvantaged youth, sort bottle caps for recycling, assist a ‘get set for work’ program, work in food trucks and plant trees to help restore environmental areas.
It’s part of a broader volunteering effort at the Port, which was boosted in March last year in response to the impacts of the pandemic.
Many of the Port’s community partners were struggling under the increased demand for their services due to COVID and a lack of volunteers due to COVID restrictions.
In response, the Port doubled the amount of volunteer leave available to its employees and developed a targeted program of volunteer opportunities to encourage its people to roll up their sleeves and assist.
Over the last 10 months, 66 port employees have completed 681 hours of volunteer work for local charities and there is more planned over the coming months.
For those interested in learning more about volunteering or to find opportunities, Volunteering Australia’s ‘Go Volunteer’ website has plenty of information: www.govolunteer.com.au.
