Meet our Volunteers for National Volunteer Week!

We love to celebrate the work of our volunteers, particularly during National Volunteer Week! This year, National Volunteer Week ran from the 17th to the 23rd of May, with a jam-packed week of events. 

We also caught up with our volunteers to find out what motivates them to volunteer, and why they love helping people in their community. 

Meet Mumtahina

What do you love about volunteering?
I really love meeting new people, especially the older generations. Their conversations are really great and they love to share and tell you about their life stories.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
My country community is Bangladeshi and we have a really strong knit community in Hobart. We all miss home, so it’s great to be able to share stories and memories of our childhood, build relationships, help each other and celebrate special days together. Volunteering at Hobart City Mission is similar in that I feel supported and I know that I am giving back to the larger community in a small way. It feels great to know my small part is appreciated and that makes me feel a part of the community.

Meet Atanu

What do you love about volunteering? 
I love helping people. I think volunteering is instilled in me because I remember from a very young age my father volunteering in the town I grew up in. I am from Bangladesh and culturally we are a caring community. Its very satisfying to volunteer your time to others and it’s important to me as a person.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community? 
Sharing our time and efforts with others is so rewarding to ones self. It’s completely different volunteering in Australia than back home. The needs are different but it has the same outcomes in communities that you help.

Meet Toby

What do you love about volunteering? 
The interaction with the customers and volunteers alike. I am doing my Masters in Teaching so it has been really handy practicing relationship-building and it all helps in my future career path. I really look forward to my weekly volunteer shift.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
I definitely feel a responsibility to the community in giving back but it’s also a balance of selfish and selfless reasons I wanted to volunteer. I think if you are lucky enough to be able to give your time freely and willingly you should. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to give to someone in need.

Meet Maddie

What do you love about volunteering?
Being able to help people. I really love welcoming them into the shop and making them feel comfortable and that makes them happy. Some customers ask lots of questions and I enjoy helping them. I have learnt some really great skills and that is going to be really valuable for getting some part-time work while I finish college.  

What does it mean to help people in your community?
Too me it feel really rewarding to be able to help people in my community, but personally I have gained more confidence with talking to people. Before volunteering I was really shy and hardly spoke to strangers. I have also made some great connections with people I would normally never meet and I have also made some friends. 

Meet Lena

What do you love about volunteering?
I really love the social aspect of volunteering. It gets me out of the house and engaged with the community. It makes me feel good to give back to the community as well, but I get a lot out of it socially. I really look forward to my volunteer days. I have always loved op shopping and bargains, and I also bring things from home to donate.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
I started 10 years ago when I lost my husband. It had a big impact on me and volunteering really helped get me out of the house and back to normal life again – it sort of filled a void. So I love giving back because volunteering got me back to the old me. I love being supportive in anyway for people that have lost loved ones and the shop environment is a place people really open up and share stories.

Meet Claire

What do you love about volunteering?
As a international student and new-to-town I am trying my best to get involved with the local community and learn more about Australian culture and volunteering gives me the opportunity to do that. We don’t have Op Shops back in China.  

What does it mean to help people in your community?
I’m so happy to help people when they come into the Op Shop – it’s a great environment to be in. I am really happy to be apart of Hobart City Mission. We don’t have an organisation like Hobart City Mission back home.

Meet Jeffery

What do you love about volunteering?
I love that it’s somewhere interesting to go, be useful and actually enjoy myself at the same time. I think people come to volunteering for all different reasons and I am doing this for me as much as the community. It’s definitely the sense of being useful that inspires me to put in more time and effort. It’s a great way to keep busy.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
Volunteering has definitely made me feel more connected to the community which is important to me. It has shown me how I can give back to my community. Hobart City Mission has a good volunteer group and it has given me a place to share my skills and be involved with a wide range of people. The Hobart City Mission community has a great spirit.

Meet Michelle

What do you love about volunteering?
I love being given the opportunity to stay active with my previous profession of sales. I also love that I am shown appreciation for my input and that what I have to offer as a volunteer is valuable to the organisation. It’s great to be able to form friendships with people you may not get the opportunity to outside of volunteering.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
It’s really rewarding for so many reasons. I love the cultural diversity of Hobart City Mission. I love meeting and learning things about other volunteers and what leads them to volunteer. I think understanding that everyone’s background and circumstances are different really helps me to want to give back to the community. Being able to help in some little way to people especially the people that are less fortunate or have fallen of hard times.

Meet Pip

What do you love about volunteering?
Everything! I enjoy every minute of it in all areas I volunteer in. It gives me heaps of satisfaction to be able to help others and provide support to those in need. I really enjoy the mate-ship of volunteering at Hobart City Mission – it’s like a big extended family.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
The best thing about volunteering is you are introduced to so many different communities. I love the team work and leadership of Hobart City Mission. Wherever there is a need in the community I am happy to help.

Meet Garry

What do you love about volunteering?
I really like meeting new people and helping others. I think the best thing about volunteering is what it has done for me! I have grown a lot since volunteering. It’s given me back some humanity and brought me back down to earth.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
A sense of worth and knowing my existence is worth something in the world is the best. My aim is that if you come into the shop without a smile on your face, you will sure leave with one. We have people that come in regularly and we get to know what they like and what they are looking for, so it’s fantastic when you hit the jackpot for them.

Meet Kanishka

What do you love about volunteering?
Definitely helping people. I have met so many different people from so many different cultural and religious backgrounds while volunteering. I really enjoy chatting with both customers and other volunteers. In my first week I was hanging clothes, and I was thinking ‘I am not sure I am going to make friends’. But, on my second shift I started to chat with the other volunteers and now I have some great friendships.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
I just love to see the smile on people’s faces when you can help them with something. That gives me great energy to do more work and try my best. Volunteering makes me feel more engaged with the community and I’m happy to do what I can to help.

Meet Tara

What do you love about volunteering?
It’s really fun and the people I volunteer with are amazing. I love that it gets me out of the house and I get to serve really nice customers – some of them I have known for years.
 
What does it mean to help people in your community?
Well, I guess I like to help other people. It makes me feel valued because I am able to help people in the local community that I have lived in all my life – that’s really important to me.

Inspired to Volunteer?

We’re always on the look-out for new people to join our volunteer family. Click here to find our more about volunteering, or click here to check out our current vacancies. 

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