Summer Newsletter for Volunteers

"Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns."

— Author unknown

Welcome to Volunteer for Knox News

Registered Volunteers
Summer 2021

With the end of 2021 fast approaching, it's a fitting time to reflect on all that has been achieved throughout the year. While we have continued to face huge challenges from the pandemic, you all play a crucial role in facilitating recovery and reinvigorating the sector.

Volunteering Expo/Family Fun Day 2021

After some postponements due to Covid-19 our Family Fun Day / Volunteering Expo finally happened! And it was a Sold-Out event! An afternoon of perfect weather with a festival atmosphere at Coonara Community House in Upper Ferntree Gully, the home of Volunteer for Knox.

We welcomed 20 Volunteer Involving Organisations all offering wonderful opportunities to volunteer within our community. These included Cool Kids First Aid, Studfield Wantirna Community Newspaper, Auscamps, Rowville Lysterfield Community Newspaper, Australian Jazz Museum, Dandenong Ranges Music Council, Friends of Glenfern Wedge, McKillop Foster Care, Coonara Community House, Volunteer for Knox, Orana Community House, Bridges, Knox Toy library, Knox Environment Society, Meals on Wheels and Knox City Council Waste Education. Thank you all for your efforts your stalls looked outstanding and attracted lots of interest from our guests! Timing was also great as we celebrated International Volunteer Week! We appreciate you all!

Knox City Council Mayor Cr Susan Laukens and Dobson Ward Cr Meagan Baker attended and it was such a pleasure to have the opportunity share in conversations about local issues and showcase the amazing work that our volunteer organisations do in our community.

Volunteer for Knox opened the gates to over 400 guests who were all well and truly ready to be back together again in the community. We all enjoyed the sounds of African drumming and the wonderful music from the Australian Jazz Museum with an impromptu guest singer Anouk from the Knox Council Waste Education team. Beautiful voice! Myuna mobile ark, a giant bubble artist, belly dancing, kids craft, photo arch, Koala find games, Quentin the Assistance dog, a nature treasure hunt, raffles and stalls kept everyone entertained all afternoon.
Flavours of India flowed from our community kitchen and that aroma that we all love from the sausage sizzle filled the grounds of Coonara!

Knox Community Chess Enthusiasts team challenged our guests to outdoor chess! Co-ordinator Eddie Atacador inspires us every day by bringing so much joy to people’s lives.

It was so wonderful to be among our caring community once again. Seeing children chasing giant bubbles, parents enjoying each other’s company and best of all our volunteers doing what they love best….helping! We are so proud of our volunteering team and our Expo day further cemented the need to appreciate each and every one of you.

Our Expo was so successful that we will be hosting it as an annual event! We hope that you can all join us once again in 2022! Merry Christmas and a happy and safe new year!

– Mandy and Sally

Volunteer for Knox Training

Not everyone is a natural at administration, “tech stuff”, supervision and leadership, but you can always learn and upskill! Start building on your skills by enrolling in a Volunteer for Knox training session facilitated by trainers at the five Knox Community Houses, the governance team of Volunteer for Knox. Click here to take a look at our Term 1, 2022 Training calendar.

www.volunteerforknox.com.au/training

Thank you for registering with Volunteer for Knox and wishing you all a Merry Xmas and happy and safe 2022!

Office Holiday Dates:
The Volunteer for Knox office will be closed from December 20.
We will re-open on Monday January 10.