If you want to be happy, make someone else happy.
Shizuko and Rita are two of our volunteers who come in once a week to pack grocery boxes to support carers of children with disabilities. The food in the weekly boxes is donated by OzHarvest and gets packed by our volunteers before being collected by the families.
Rita and Shizuko are both carers of a child living with disability and came to volunteering for us through our carer support groups.
I volunteer because I like helping people.
I used to organise a Japanese playgroup at the Randwick Community Centre. I really like the OzHarvest program and have been in this volunteer role for three years,” says Shizuko, who migrated to Sydney from Japan.
Rita, originally from Indonesia has been packing boxes for carers since 2017.
“I am a single mum, I used to work full time, and I have a child with a disability, so work is important. Now I just work casually, and I have time to volunteer,” says Rita.
Our life is a social life.
“I want to be a role model for my daughter and show her that we all can do something: Do something, don’t give up, and help others with a smile.
“Our life is a social life, and volunteering is a way to be social and help others at the same time. None of us can live in isolation. I know that one day I might need the services of a volunteer myself.
“While we can we should volunteer. If you want to be happy, make someone else happy. “
Three years ago, after applying for two years, we were finally able to obtain a weekly Oz Harvest delivery for 16 of these families as well as 1 or 2 of our families who are working with our family worker and need a little extra assistance.
Our volunteers, including Riat and Shuziko, donate three hours a week each to receive, sort and pack the food. Without them we would not be able to get it out to our families.
“If you want to be happy, make someone else happy”, is Rita’s philosophy, and we thank her and the team for the wonderful work they do.