A former librarian, Daphne Hazell has just finished setting up the library at ACH Group’s ViTA aged care home in Daw Park, Adelaide.
Daphne and her fellow volunteers have catalogued hundreds of books donated by residents, staff and family members at ViTA, as well as over 1,000 books and a trolley re-homed from the Repatriation General Hospital library where she volunteered for 15 years.
Everyone at the home is now free to browse and borrow the library, with volunteers ‘doing the rounds’ three days a week to visit residents in their rooms with magazines, books and DVDs.
For Daphne, who first volunteered as a Sunday school teacher aged 16 during the Second World War and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2012 for her services to the local community, it’s proof you can enjoy volunteering at any age.
“It means you have companionship and it makes you feel better in yourself, too. Volunteering has helped me to live, not just exist,” she says.
Wise words.
National Volunteers Week is May 21-27.
