Federal Member for Wright, Scott Buchholz and State Member for Scenic Rim, Jon Krause have thanked all volunteers across the Scenic Rim this National Volunteers Week and opened nominations for the 2020 Wright Community Contribution Awards.
Mr Buchholz said volunteers were invaluable to the community and without them, many of the local sporting and community clubs, as well as support services, simply would not exist.
“It is vital that we acknowledge the importance of and thank volunteers in our community.
“They are hardworking, dedicated to their community and tireless in their efforts to improve the lives of local people and the area.
“Our volunteers are people not motivated by accolade or acknowledgement, certainly not motivated by money; but they do it for the greater good of their local community and to make the Scenic Rim a better place to live, work and play,” Mr Buchholz said.
State Member for Scenic Rim, Jon Krause, said the entire community recognised that volunteers were critical to the Scenic Rim, especially during tough times like the coronavirus pandemic and recent bushfires.
“In these tough times of drought, and as we continue to deal with the impacts of bushfires in our region, and now with the current health pandemic, our volunteers keep going, keep caring, and keep contributing to our communities.
“We have so many hardworking volunteers in the Scenic Rim that give tirelessly to ensure that others in our communities are cared for – it’s important that we acknowledge their selfless contributions.”
Mr Buchholz said that the Coronavirus was having an impact on the ability to recruit volunteers and to participate in face-to-face activity, but many were pushing on in a COVIDSafe manner.
“Our volunteers are resilient, they will get through this and they will ensure our community gets to the other side of this pandemic.
“I urge all residents, all community leaders to visit scottbuchholz.com.au/wright-community-awards/ or to contact my office for a nomination form, and nominate a volunteer or someone for the contribution they’re making to the Scenic Rim community.
“I look forward to receiving many nominations and hopefully catching up with those award recipients later in the year,” Mr Buchholz said.
Nationally, volunteering has an estimated annual economic and social contribution of $290 billion.
National Volunteer Week runs from 18 – 24 May 2020, and is an opportunity to say thank you to 714,138 Queenslanders who volunteer, and the 6 million volunteers across Australia.
Nominations for the Wright Community Contribution Awards close on 31 August 2020.
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Background*:
- National Volunteer Week runs from 18 – 24 May 2020, and is an opportunity to say thank you to 714,138 Queenslanders who volunteer, and the 6 million volunteers across Australia.
- According to the ABS Census 2016, there are currently 714,138 volunteers in Queensland or 18.8% of the population.
- Volunteers provided 133.4 million hours work in 2014.
- Volunteering was worth $11.6 billion to the Queensland economy in 2014 (conservative) and $13.4 billion in 2006.
- Formal volunteering is defined as unpaid help in the form of time, service or skills willingly given by an individual through organisations or groups. In 2014, formal voluntary work in Queensland was worth $4.6 billion.
- Informal volunteering is defined as the unorganised unpaid help and care that occurs within the personal networks of family, friends, neighbours and acquaintances. It is not mediated through an organisation. In 2014, informal volunteering was estimated at $6.9 billion dollars.
*https://volunteeringqld.org.au/volunteers/facts-figures#the-economic-value-of-volunteering
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