Wendy’s legacy of dedication to family support

“You meet nice people when you volunteer, that’s one of the pluses of volunteering, I reckon,” Wendy said.

“We once had a friend who used to say if the world will be a better place if you do it, then you should.”

In May, Wendy was bestowed a long-serving volunteer award at Greater Shepparton City Council’s 17th annual Volunteer Recognition Awards.

She was unable to attend the ceremony because she “was coughing like a giraffe in a sandstorm”, but the support service’s co-ordinator, Debra Russell, accepted it on her behalf and delivered it to her at home the next day.

“All the people who were in that category were people like June Zelley, from the Salvation Army, who does all the pubs on Friday nights (shaking tins for donations), and Louie D’Amore, who's done lots of things,” Wendy said.

“I felt a bit embarrassed (to win) really that I thought some of those people have been doing stuff for a long time.”

Despite her modesty, Wendy’s contributions to the local community extend further than volunteering at the support service since 1983.

She also spent 10 years on the hospital’s Consumer Advisory Group, chairing it for five of those, and 16 years on the board of the Caroline Chisholm Society, which umbrellas GV Pregnancy and Family Support Service, regularly travelling to Melbourne to contribute to operations.

“We're very grateful for the 43 years that Wendy has devoted her time, energy and even monetary support to Caroline Chisholm Society and the Goulburn Valley Pregnancy Support,” Caroline Chisholm Society chief executive Lolou Kini said.

“She's been a pillar of support, not only for the volunteers but the whole organisation, and this award is well deserved.”

In Wendy’s role as one of eight volunteers at the service, she provides direct assistance to vulnerable local families in need, mentors new volunteers and staff, and shares the knowledge she’s gained through her more than four decades of experience.

“We do different things to what we did years ago because there are a lot more paid family support workers that didn’t exist 43 years ago,” she said.

“So we still try and not do anything that somebody else is getting paid to do.”

Wendy plans to continue volunteering at her post while she’s still capable of doing the tasks she’s always done.

“I can't reach up to the top of the shelves anymore, and get somebody to do that, but there’s no reason why I can’t,” she said.

“And it means you get to spend time with nice people. Who wouldn’t want to do that?”

There are other advantages to volunteering, too, according to Wendy.

“Particularly as you’re older, you can continue to be part of a wider community, because there’s a bit of a tendency when you’re old for your world to get a bit smaller,” she said.

“Lots of the people who come in here now are refugees and recently-arrived migrants or migrant workers, so it just reminds you that there's a big world out there.”

Wendy was excited to receive the award and said that the publicity that had come with it had been a great opportunity to wave the Caroline Chisholm flag.

The 50-year-old GV Pregnancy and Family Support service, which provides free clothing, nappies and other essentials for babies and children, and prams, cots and car seats, has had its share of struggles.

It closed briefly at the end of 2024 before a fundraising campaign garnered enough support to reopen its material aid service early last year.

Currently, it has enough funds to stay open until the end of this year, with other grant applications pending, but, with no regular ongoing funding, its battle to stay open continues.

Giving more than just her time, Wendy has also helped raised funds whenever she could throughout the years.

“My friends are good for $100, $50 dollars every now and then,” she said.

“There’s a lovely little elderly lady lives in the village where I live and about every six weeks she slips me $50 just when she’s going past.

“She says, ‘I would hate to think there were little babies with no nappies.’”

∎ To donate funds to GV Pregnancy and Family Support, click here.

∎ Material goods can be donated at 15A St Andrews Rd, Shepparton, during opening hours, which are Monday to Wednesday, 9am to noon.