National Volunteer Week kicks off with call for fresh faces

A 21-year-old Busselton volunteer is encouraging young people to get involved in the business of giving, just in time for National Volunteer Week.

The annual celebration will be held next week to recognise the valuable contributions of Australia’s 6 million volunteers.

Busselton resident Jasmine Menegola gives up her time to maintain the Busselton Dunsborough Volunteer Centre and South West Blues Club Facebook pages.

She is also about to start working with the School Volunteer Program, to mentor high school students who are going through difficult times.

Miss Menegola, who is studying a Diploma of Counselling, said she started volunteering to “give back” to the community.

However, she said the Volunteer Centre had problems attracting other young people.

“It’s hard to get them to relate and to care,” she said.

“If people do it it’s usually to look good on their resume or university application. That’s a big issue we have.”

Miss Menegola said volunteering had a lot of benefits, including improved self-esteem and making good contacts.

She said so-called virtual volunteering, such as running club Facebook pages, was a good avenue for people who were time-poor.

For more information, visit www.bdvolunteers.org.au.