National Volunteer Week (NVW) is the largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia, and provides an opportunity to highlight the role of volunteers in our communities and to say thank you to the more than 5 million Australians who volunteer. For the first time, in 2011 Sharp offered a limited number of employees the opportunity to take a day (on full pay) during National Volunteer Week, to help out at their preferred not-for-profit organisation.
Lisa Mahoney, Sharp employee, selected to assist us at Inspire Community Services. Lisa's reason for selecting our organisation was that we are the action arm of her church, Inspire Church, and she has seen the great work we are achieving in our community. "Financial help is what I give but they always need volunteers to assist with their day to day activities and I would love the opportunity to give them a whole day of my time."
“When I arrived at Inspire Community Services, Mike Meyer the Managing Director, welcomed me and introduced me to all the staff and volunteers. He then gave me a tour of their office area, training rooms and warehouse facilities. He explained everyone's roles and how the organisation operates and what services they offer to the community. This was very informative for me because I knew some of what they did but not all.
The main job that he required me to do was to update and format their new policy document that is to be submitted to the board in June. As Mike is aware that I am interested in learning more about their Job assistance and training programs, he invited me to participate in a meeting with him and the Practical Welfare Manager. We discussed ideas for assisting job placement candidates on what to wear to interviews. As a result of this meeting, I have been asked to assist the Practical Welfare Manager to set this up.”
When asked if she found the experience worthwhile Lisa answered: "Yes, for sure. I would love to be involved in this again if Sharp do it next year."
Lisa also advised that she would 'absolutely' recommend this experience to others and comments:
"You learn so much about what's happening and what's available in your community. You also meet the nicest people, most of which volunteer so much of their time."
We would like to thank Lisa for choosing us and Sharp for sharing their proficient staff with us and other non for profit organisation which greatly benefit from the work of volunteers.