This month, two SECC volunteers picked up awards for their faithful service at our community hub in Mascot.
Donna Thomas: Community Volunteer of the Year
Donna Thomas has won Community Volunteer of the Year at the Australian Toy Library Awards.
Donna has volunteered with our Toy Library since 2009. One day a week, she cleans and sanitises the toys families borrow. That’s six hours a week for 17 years, or close to 5,000 hours.
Every toy a family takes home has been through her hands first.
Donna kept coming in through 2020, when Covid hit and families needed the library most. That year, she received our Maisie Foster Volunteer Award.
Today the Toy Library runs Stay and Play every Tuesday, 10am–11:30am, at The SECC Hub in Mascot. Around 10 families come each week. The sessions are for children aged 0–5 with a disability, a developmental delay or a development concern. Families try toys before they borrow them and take home the ones that work.
Toy Libraries Australia will present Donna’s winner’s certificate and trophy later this year.
Congratulations, Donna.
Leslie Nunez: Maisie Foster Volunteer of the Year
At our AGM on 28 October, Leslie Nunez was named our 2026 Maisie Foster Volunteer of the Year.
Leslie found SECC during Covid.
“I remember looking around and being amazed at how this community came together,” she says.
Then she spotted a poster calling for volunteers.
“I thought to myself, ‘I need to be part of this and pay it forward.’”
Reception told her we still had sewing machines and supplies from an earlier group. In February 2024, Leslie started a sewing group: one Wednesday session, six people.
Nine months later, Hub Manager Mike Hawthorne asked if she’d add a second day. A Thursday session was formed as well.
Leslie keeps each group small so everyone has room to work. Newcomers start with a fully lined bag, pockets included. After that, it’s dresses, tops, pants or a copy of a favourite piece.
“This group is for all levels,” Leslie says. “I just encourage and pass on my knowledge wherever needed.”
This year, Mike asked if the group would sew curtains for our domestic and family violence clients. They said yes on the spot.
“Sewing curtains is quick and easy, but to a home, it can make such a huge impact,” Leslie says. “If each of us makes a pair, we can have a total of 25 curtains in under two hours.”
About the award
The Maisie Foster Volunteer Award honours Maisie Irene Foster, a long-serving SECC volunteer. A bequest from her estate funds the award each year. Any SECC volunteer can be nominated.
Read more about our volunteer awardCongratulations, Leslie. And thank you to every SECC volunteer for what you do.
Want to volunteer with SECC? Call (02) 8338 8506.