As part of National Volunteer Week, Doncare hosted an afternoon tea at The Manningham to celebrate the hundreds of volunteers who support and strengthen our community through their dedication and commitment to Doncare. Over 170 of Doncare's 580 volunteers gathered together as President, Tony Monley OAM and Doncare CEO, Doreen Stoves presented service certificates and announced the 2018 Volunteers of the Year.

This years theme for National Volunteer Week was "Give A Little. Change A Lot", which is extremely true of the amazing people who donate their time across all of Doncare's program areas. "When you give as a volunteer, you make an enormous impact on people's lives", said Doreen. In the last financial year, 685 volunteers provided 121,045 hours of their time, which enabled Doncare to provide 23,000 hours of support to clients. At Doncare,volunteers provide counselling; social support and companionship to women who have escaped family violence; clerical support; emergency relief and case management. We are extremely grateful to our team of 74 Social Support volunteers who provided 8,069 hours of support to socially isolated seniors enabling them to remain connected and active within their community. Read about how volunteers provide recreational outings for the elderly in Manningham here.

Doncare’s six opportunity shops are operated and supported by volunteers who donate their time and effort to provide a service that benefits the local community. Doncare highly values its volunteers and acknowledges that without them, we would not be able to raise the income we do for the programs Doncare operates. It goes without saying that op shops provide a magic win-win for the community – environmental sustainability, ethical accountability and affordability. Whilst the op shops are community hubs for people to remain connected through volunteerism, the primary focus is raising funds to support Doncare’s programs. In 2017, the Op Shops Program raised $1,148,445 and we simply couldn't have raised that kind of revenue without the 428 wonderful volunteers.

Congratulations to volunteer counsellor, Lynette Flynn and to Helen Rigopoulos from the Op Shops Program who were both recipients of Doncare's 2018 Volunteer of the Year award. Doncare is extremely grateful for your ongoing commitment and dedication to the values of Doncare’s philosophy "by the community, for the community" and our core business of strengthening and supporting the local community through helping others overcome adversity and to the ethos of volunteering.

Lyn Flynn has been a counsellor at Doncare since 1995 (23 years), she has provided counselling to hundreds of clients in that time, Lyn is highly regarded by Management and the counselling team and is an asset to new counsellors helping them settle into their role at Doncare. Lyn is loyal, punctual and reliable and I cannot remember a time when she has missed her sessions at Doncare. Lyn received a Menzies Award from the Honourable Kevin Andrews in the Menzies Australia Day Awards in 2005. Lyn is a worthy recipient of the Doncare Volunteer of the year Award.

Helen Rigopoulos began volunteering at the Macedon Square Op Shop in 1997 and currently volunteers at the Bulleen Plaza Op Shop. A longstanding and committed volunteer, Helen is reliable and a hard worker who always has a warm welcoming smile on her face. She is eager to learn and readily helps with the daily tasks of the shop. Thank you Helen, for the 21 years of service to Doncare and the Manningham community. You are a well-deserved recipient of Doncare Volunteer of the Year.