Each year, approximately six million volunteers devote over 600 million hours to helping others in Australia.
In honor of the important contribution of these people, the annual National Volunteer Week has been established and is celebrated throughout Australia.
So, this year, from Monday, May 17 to Sunday, May 23, 2021, we have the opportunity to say a big “thank you” to all those who find the time, strength, and mood to offer to fellow humans without waiting for any exchange or return.
Volunteers are everywhere and active in every field. We meet them in fires and dangerous rescues, we see them standing next to the elderly, the sick, children, and generally those in need.
They are also the ones who turn their backs and support the system when it reaches the limit of its possibilities.
Just like St Johns College Parents Association in Preston did. When the school could not afford to maintain the canteen, the Association stepped forward and took action.
“We started working on the canteen experimentally last November and we were so successful that we could not believe it ourselves,” Sara Vogiatzis, president of the Parents’ Association of Saint John College, told Neos Kosmos.
Vogiatzis, with the canteen manager, Lu Damian, and a group of volunteer members of the Association, work tirelessly to provide students with the best quality food at affordable prices, a task not so easy, which, however, is made possible through team effort.
“Every day, we have 3-4 different volunteer parents who work inside the canteen and a significant number who help out, and our team is constantly growing,” said Vogiatzis.
The canteen meets all the required specifications and has an official license from the Municipality of Darebin, while it is controlled by the Food Supervision Authority.
“We attend seminars on food safety and we are very capricious about food quality, precisely because we are parents.
Something we would not give to our children to eat, we will never give to the children of others”, said Vogiatzis.
During its operation, the canteen has become so popular that it has tripled its revenue compared to before. This, as the president of the Parents’ Association explains, is large since there are no more staff costs, as all the work is done by the volunteer parents.
“Within a few months, we were able to fund the sandpits that the children play and some of the school upgrade projects, which is the ultimate goal of our effort.”
But the canteen serves many other purposes.
“We bought a professional coffee machine, and the students are trained in it as a bartender, while there are many who choose to gain work experience in the canteen.
This is how we offer to the school in many ways “, said Vogiatzis and added:
“Sain John” college means so much to all of us and that is why we want the best for our children. We are a community based on love.
It was always like that in Saint John. And the Parents’ Association has always been like that and that is a nice thing”.
The active president of the Association also considers very important the active participation of parents in school matters.
“According to research, students whose parents are actively involved in school activities are more likely to succeed academically, as for them the active presence of their parents in school is an additional incentive to try harder and succeed in lessons.”, Vogiatzis said.
She is very excited about the work done in the school canteen and does not fail to thank the volunteer parents for their support.
“Parents work tirelessly to support the school and without their help, the canteen would not exist, because it would not be financially viable in such a small school. It is a unique reference point for our small community, and we are proud that many schools do not have this. I love what we do. ”
Source: Neos Kosmos