Margaret volunteers for over 20 years

When she retired, Margaret wanted to find an activity where she could interact with people of all ages and do something worthwhile with her time. She had been sponsoring children through The Smith Family since 1989 because she had always been interested in supporting the education of disadvantaged Australian children. So The Smith Family seemed like a good place to start when looking for volunteer opportunities.

In 1994, Margaret applied for a volunteer clerical position assisting the fundraising manager at The Smith Family, and was accepted. Now, more than twenty years later, Margaret still comes weekly to our national office where she now assists our Supporter Care Team.

Today, Margaret helps to manage the process of forwarding many hundreds of letters and parcels from sponsors onto their students. It’s an important task and one she thoroughly enjoys.

"We check the mail that is received from sponsors and sent to the students, for privacy - ensuring there are no surnames or personal information included. We check the particulars, enter it into our system, include a thank you card and send them on to the students," Margaret explains. “It’s a lovely thing to see.  Sponsors are really quite wonderful and warm. I think a lot of the students must appreciate what’s being said to them.

So what has kept Margaret coming back for so many years?

"It's as good for me as it is for The Smith Family because I certainly enjoy it. It's essential for me as a senior citizen to interact with people of all ages. The routine of having a commitment every week is important, and the fact that I feel appreciated here," she says.