Barbara Stewart
Wheels , Barbara was also busy looking after both children and taking Warren , her youngest , for speech therapy in Parramatta . When he started school , she would sit and help him overcome his dyslexia to get him into mainstream schooling .
Barbara continued with her volunteering with Meals on Wheels and got to know the system so well that she was asked to give a talk about how to run the deliveries so other people could set up more routes for senior people in other areas . When Elaine and her husband moved away from the Hills , Barbara ’ s husband and son started to help her out , making volunteering a family affair .
While Meals on Wheels is Barbara ’ s longest volunteering post she has done many others through the years . When her children were at school , she regularly worked in the school canteen getting lunches and snacks prepared for the students , and also made food for the teachers when they had meetings or organised cakes and other goodies for school events .
Even when Barbara decided to do something for herself by learning to knit and crochet at a class , she ended up giving back .
“ I went to what is now known as Learning in the Hills as a student to learn knitting and crochet , the teacher ended up leaving and asked me to do it so I took the class from 1988 to 1993 . I stopped
because my husband , mother and step father were all diagnosed with cancer , and I had to take them for their chemotherapy treatments at hospital .”
Amongst the other voluntary roles Barbara has done were Daffodil Days for Cancer Council and raising money for glaucoma by working on stalls selling products .
She really is a special lady to have given so much of her time to others over the years . I asked her how she felt when the mayor presented her with flowers at the recent event .
“ It was nice to be really recognised , the flowers that we were given were beautiful , I ’ ve never seen such beautiful flowers . This is the first time I have really been appreciated for what I have done .
“ You get certificates for having done five or ten years or however long you have volunteered for , but getting the flowers and having someone speak about everything you have done was very nice .” When I asked Barbara what kept her volunteering after all this time , she gave me the answer many people who volunteer do .
“ I meet some very interesting people doing my voluntary work and they always have something to talk about ! I was always late getting to one lady who was at the end of my route and when I turned up she would say , ‘ I thought it must be you working today , you ’ ve been talking to everyone !’”.
Barbara received flowers for the years of dedicated volunteering at a recent volunteer event held by Council . Credit : Hills Shire Council .
It doesn ’ t take a lot to volunteer in your community and there are plenty of organisations who need people to give up a little time to make things happen . Council has plant nurseries , Meals on Wheels and other organisations need extra hands , our schools are always looking for people to join the P & C or volunteer at events and local sports clubs rely on parents and club members to take part . If you feel like giving back in some way , think about what you enjoy doing in your spare time and look for a club or organisation you can help or you can go to Council ’ s website to see if they have any vacancies you would like to try at www . thehills . nsw . gov . au / Community / Support- Services / Volunteering .
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THE HILLS INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 110 // AUGUST 2024 7