Volunteering is at the heart of The Hills community. In Australia we have a proud tradition of looking after those who have had a calamity or a crisis in their life.
In our local area you only have to look at the efforts of The Hills Relay for Life organisers, who have 
volunteered countless hours of their time over the last 15 years to raise money for Cancer research to see it.
Then there’s the work of Bush Fire Brigades who are constant in their endeavours to protect others. We see their courageous work in bushfire season and sometimes smell it during their “off-season”. And it’s not just bushfires that these wonderful volunteers fight against, as I witnessed not long back.
It was when I was driving an elderly local, who had been at an appointment in Castle Hill. We were heading to her home in Galston.
As we pulled in to her Retirement Village, we heard the building’s fire alarm sounding. It had been set off a few minutes before we arrived.
Hot on our heels were local Bushfire Brigade volunteers, several of whom proceeded to enter the building complete with full breathing apparatus. Their immediate aim was to rescue 1st floor residents where the indicator board said the fire was located. Thankfully though, it was a false alarm.
It all happened, as I learnt later, within six (6) minutes of receiving the alarm. The professionalism and commitment of the volunteers that day was awesome!
Happily there are lots of people who want to help others in their community. Or as Einstein is credited with saying, ” Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”
Sadly though, not everyone who wants to volunteer has the time to do so, as our lives get busier by the day.
For anyone in this boat, and that’s most of us, HillsCarPal, a Seniors Transportation service run by Hills Community Aid, offers a way to volunteer that is flexible and without a regular commitment. It’s really a Community Rideshare scheme for Seniors who no longer drive.
It involves drivers detouring on a trip they are taking anyway to pick up a “Shut-in Senior “ and drop them off along the way.
Volunteers with HillsCarPal offer to help when it suits where they are driving and also when they have an extra five minutes to detour. They just check the online bulletin board to see who needs to be transported when they have an opening in their busy life. And volunteering this way can be very powerful, or as Mary Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
I invite you to join our small group of volunteers who currently give a little of their time to help an awful lot of socially isolated Seniors . I promise it’s easy and that you will receive a “Kindness Dividend” for your kind heartedness.
Just go to: www.hillscarpal.org.au to start changing your world.
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