Living for tomorrow
Throughout her life, Meg Blake’s philosophy has remained simple – get out and get involved.
The Bellellen resident has certainly lived up to that philosophy and was presented with a Medal of the Order of Australia on Saturday as a result.
Mrs Blake has a history of charitable and fundraising activities at Stawell Regional Health dating back to 1975.
She was a founding member of Stawell Y-zetts, originally known as the Younger Set – a group dedicated to raising money for the hospital and nursing home.
The group’s main fundraiser is the annual Stawell Shopping Spree, an event that attracts more than 200 shoppers to Stawell businesses and can raise about $4000 for the hospital in one night.
Mrs Blake said her involvement at the hospital started with her mother.
“My mum was in charge of the female ward there, and the matron said ‘Meg and her mates are sitting around, why don’t they get together and do a fundraiser?’ I spoke to the board and they gave me permission to call a meeting to organise a fundraising group,” she said.
Two years later, in 1977, Mrs Blake became the youngest woman ever to join the hospital’s board.
The charitable work continued, and the Younger Set started to grow.
“We got some funding and we totally refurbished the hospital kitchen, and we just went from project to project,” Mrs Blake said.
“One of the biggest donations we made was $10,000 for the establishment of the new concept nursing home on site.
“Since then we’ve built another new nursing home, and development continued at a rapid rate.
“We were really proud because we were first with telemedicine in the Wimmera.
“We were the first with chemotherapy – we beat Horsham and Ararat.”
Mrs Blake was named Victoria’s Local Hero as part of 2011 Australia Day celebrations, and remains Y-zetts’ president.
She is also life governor at the hospital. She said it was important to recognise the work that all of the hospital’s volunteers put in.
“Society has changed so much, that most ladies in their late 60s still work,” she said.
“They aren’t retiring, so volunteers are hard to come by and they really need to be valued.
“They ask nothing and all they get back is a warm, fuzzy feeling. It’s good for your wellbeing.”
While volunteers have aged and the Younger Set name has given way to Y-zetts, Mrs Blake said she tried to stay as active and involved as possible.
“When the name is ‘Younger Set’ and you get older, people won’t join because they’re not young, so we changed it,” she said.
“I don’t dwell on the past much, I just think about tomorrow.
“A lot of people my age are sitting back in a rocking chair, but I can’t understand that.
“I’m going to rest when I die.”