Annual volunteer celebration to go online
Published on 13 May 2020
West Wimmera Shire Council is getting ready to celebrate National Volunteer Week a little differently this year.
Each year, Council would usually have a morning tea to show its appreciation to all the hardworking volunteers in the shire.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing restrictions, this year’s morning tea is going digital.
Council will host a Virtual Morning Tea for all its volunteers on Thursday, 21st May.
Organiser Amanda Munn said volunteers would receive an official invitation to the morning tea in the mail.
“They will also receive an invitation to join the virtual morning tea via email,” she said.
“We are running the morning tea through Microsoft Teams’ video calling program, which will allow all the volunteers to see each other and have a chat.”
Volunteers will also receive a plate of morning tea to eat during the video call.
“We have engaged local businesses to prepare and deliver morning tea to all our volunteers who live in townships,” Ms Munn said.
“For volunteers who live out of town, they will receive a voucher with their invitation, which they can redeem for morning tea at either the Kaniva Community Roadhouse or Edenhope Takeaway.”
West Wimmera Shire Mayor Bruce Meyer said the Virtual Morning Tea was a way to thank all the tireless volunteers in the shire for their tremendous work.
“While volunteering is on hold at the moment, the work our volunteers do is truly appreciated by Council,” he said.
“Volunteers are the backbone of any small community and so many vital services wouldn’t run without the work of these people.”
West Wimmera Shire has the highest rate of volunteering in the state, according to the latest Census.
Overall 44.9 per cent of people in the shire do voluntary work through an organisation or group. This is well above the state average of 19.2 per cent, and the national average of 19 per cent.
Cr Meyer said he hoped the shire’s volunteers would continue their important work once the COVID-19 pandemic was over.