Celebrating volunteers

West Wimmera Shire Council is getting ready to celebrate National Volunteer Week a little differently this year.

Each year the council would host a morning tea to show its appreciation to hard-working volunteers in the shire. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing restrictions, this year’s morning tea is going digital.

The council will now host a virtual morning tea for all its volunteers, on May 21.

Organiser Amanda Munn said volunteers would receive an official invitation in the mail.

“They will also receive an invitation to join the virtual morning tea via email,” she said.

“We are running the morning tea through a video-calling program, which will allow the volunteers to see each other and have a chat.”

Volunteers will also receive a plate of morning tea during the video call.

“We have engaged local businesses to prepare and deliver morning tea to all our volunteers who live in townships,” Ms Munn said.

“For volunteers who live out of town, they will receive a voucher with their invitation, which they can redeem for morning tea at either Kaniva Community Roadhouse or Edenhope Takeaway.”

West Wimmera mayor Bruce Meyer said the virtual morning tea was a way to thank volunteers in the shire for their work.

“While volunteering is on hold at the moment, the work our volunteers do is truly appreciated by the council,” he said.

“Volunteers are the backbone of any small community and so many vital services would not run without the work of these people.”

Latest census data shows West Wimmera Shire has the highest rate of volunteering in the state, at 44.9 percent, well above the state average of 19.2 percent and the national average of 19 percent.

Cr Meyer said he hoped the shire’s volunteers would continue their important work after the COVID-19 pandemic was over.