‘Helpers’ need bit of help, too

VOLUNTEERS are urgently needed by one of the region’s biggest charities – Vinnies.

With many of its usual volunteers away on holiday or caring for family over summer, Vinnies is struggling to staff some of its 14 retail shops across the Far North.

“The stores suffering most and really in need of volunteers are Atherton, Gordonvale, Edmonton and Earlville, plus our warehouse in Woree,” says retail operations manager Katrina Lee of Cairns.

“If people can volunteer a certain amount of hours each week, that’s ideal.

“They might only want to work a morning or afternoon once or twice a week, but it’s a huge help for us. We have around 300 volunteers on our books, but you have to break that up across the stores we have and some people might only do a couple of hours here and there for a couple of months of the year.

“We have minimal paid staff – two drivers, two warehouse staff and two retail staff.

“We run on volunteers, so we’re not spending our money on wages. We’re giving back to the community.

“Money goes back into a lot of different programs we run. It could be food for people, homelessness, domestic violence situations, disaster relief, educational services, financial support.

“We’re mostly getting people back on their feet.” Katrina says some volunteers work five or six days a week.

“We’ve got people who have been with us for 27 years,” she said. “They love it. I think they find a sense of community, build friendships and it’s very rewarding for them.

“The biggest thing is we’re giving back to the community, to people in need.”

Katrina says the Spoto St warehouse in Woree, where most donations are sorted, is bursting at the seams as people spring-clean during the Christmas-New Year break.

“Donations are fantastic at the moment. People are cleaning out their houses.” But she needs help to collect, sort, label and price goods, so they can be sent to stores at Tully, Innisfail, Atherton, Mareeba, Ravenshoe, Cooktown, Gordonvale, Edmonton, Stratford, Smithfield, Earlville, Anderson St and Grafton St.

“I’m looking for truck driver offsiders to help with delivery and pick-ups,” she said. “We use a transport company to look after Cooktown.

“It’s a perfect time for people to make a New Year resolution to give back to the community. As a team, we get a lot of personal satisfaction out of what we do.”

To help, contact Katrina Lee on 4033 8302 or email katrina.lee@svdpqld.org.au

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Picture: BRENDAN RADKE GENEROUS DONORS: Vinnies warehouse supervisor Steve Davies and Far North Queensland retail operations manager Katrina Lee sort through a mountain of donations at the charity’s Woree warehouse, which is in need of more volunteer helpers.

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