National Volunteer Week

To be a volunteer takes a special kind of person with a certain kind of character. Leeuwin has had the pleasure of meeting many of these unique types of people over the years, and we fondly refer to them (or to you if you are one of them reading this) as our awesome family of Red Shirts.

I always find myself in awe when I see the constant stream of new and old, volunteers coming through the office doors every week – so eager to dedicate their time; even when in most cases they don’t have a lot of it. These are people that are almost always incredibly busy with their own lives yet when they find even a week of time off, are straight back to our beautiful blue barquentine, and signing up for whatever it is they can help out with.

Now I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that volunteering with Leeuwin, isn’t exactly the worst type of volunteering you could get. I guess there isn’t a lot to complain about when you get the opportunity to spend the day out on the water, breeze rushing through your hair and sun on your back as you join your mates in making every sail an enjoyable and smooth one for passengers and trainees. But this is only a small part of the reasons our red shirts come back time and time again. As I’m sure you would all agree, Leeuwin isn’t like other organizations and work places with a formal, stranger-like feel. Once you catch “the bug” and become a ‘Leeuwinite,’ crew and volunteers alike, you are part of the family. 

Today marks the first day of National volunteers week, and on this occasion we want to say a big thank you to all of our many volunteers. Whether you’ve been a Red-shirt in past, or you are one of our regulars – we couldn’t do what we do, without you. There is a quote that reads “You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” I can’t express enough how much this describes some of our volunteers. For anyone who has been on one of our youth explorer voyages, and been lucky enough to have one of our awesome red-shirts as their watch leader, (or any of the other crew positions for that matter) you will understand how inspiring they are. Whether it is displaying patience and understanding during difficult situations, where no-one is paying them to be there, or in ways that often go unnoticed, but their affects can be enough to change a young person’s whole perspective on life. All of our volunteers dedicate their time to making a difference and sometimes that difference can change someone’s life. 

So thank you to all of you who have been involved over the years, regularly or even on the odd occasion. To all of you who help out in our shed, who lead others during voyages, who pop into the office or come from near or far to crew our day sails – we couldn’t continue to challenge and inspire the youth of WA without you!

As Margaret Mead, cultural anthropologist 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.”