Today we celebrated some fantastic stories from volunteers across the Northern Beaches at a special ceremony for the 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards.
Like our Senior Volunteer of the Year Norman Nola who at 80 years of age still hits the streets each week in Sydney to help young people in need with the Street Walk program from Youth Off the Streets.
Not to mention, the massive effort put in each day from the volunteer team at One Meal Northern Beaches Co-op who provide a healthy meal to hundreds of people in need across the peninsula.
A special congratulations to our Volunteer of the Year – Dr Bo Zhou who has helped the elderly, young people and others in need from CALD communities with CASS Care for the past 27 years.
2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Award recipients for the Northern Beaches:
Adult Volunteer of the Year – Dr Bo Zhou from Manly
Dr Zhou has been volunteering for more than 25 years at CASS, an organisation that services Chinese, Korean, Indonesian and other CALD communities. He began assisting with the Academy of Arts and has since provided a range of professional support including financial, corporate governance and translation services.
He has been a prolific supporter of fundraising activities which have helped to build residential aged care facilities catering for CALD communities.
Senior Volunteer of the Year – Norman Nolan from Bilgola Beach
At 80 years of age, Norm has been a dedicated figure in the Street Walk program for the past decade. The Youth off the Streets program provides support for homeless and vulnerable young people in the Sydney CBD and Inner West areas.
Volunteers work from 7pm to midnight four nights a week, providing meals and a trusted night time presence for young people who are at risk of harm.
Volunteer Team of the Year – One Meal Northern Beaches Co-op volunteers
The 180 volunteer team members at One Meal Northern Beaches Co-Op provide healthy, fresh cooked meals and food to over 1,500 homeless, vulnerable, and at-risk people across the Northern Beaches each week.
The vital community service was established in 2019 and now delivers the equivalent of 6,000 meals per week via 16 community organisation referrals. One Meal also provides breakfast packs and meals to over 80 disadvantaged students referred by school and community organisations each month.
Regional finalists for the awards are announced at 25 ceremonies throughout NSW and are invited to the Gala State Ceremony for the announcement of the 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year.
The 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are supported by principal partners the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and ClubsNSW, which represents the state’s 1,400 not-for-profit clubs.