This year, become a volunteer! It’s good for your soul AND your community

Hi, I’m Kylie Munro, Senior Manager of Volunteer Services at the Brotherhood. Happy new year to you!  If one of your resolutions for 2012 is to give back to your community (and earn some good karma while doing so) then continue reading down the screen to learn about the HUGE variety of volunteering opportunities available at the Brotherhood …

First, a little about me. I’ve worked in volunteer services for about four years and believe that I have one of the best jobs out! My role involves liaising with and supporting Brotherhood staff from across the organisation, to establish how volunteers can contribute and add value to their programs and work. I then try and find the perfect volunteer for the job! It’s really satisfying when volunteers tell me how much they enjoy their work.

Why do people volunteer their hard-earned free time?  For all kinds of reasons, usually unique to the individual’s circumstances, but the main reason is that it adds another dimension to a person’s life. For example, some people volunteer to socialise and get out of the house, or to gain work experience and explore career options, others wish to make a positive contribution to their community and to do something meaningful in an area that they’re passionate about.  

The Brotherhood currently has a whopping 1,116 volunteers who come from all walks of life. Some are employed full time and want to do a little something extra on the side, others are retirees, students, people looking for work, travellers, as well as corporate volunteers. It’s a real mixed bag!

It is wonderful to see our volunteers get passionate about their role and recognise the importance of their contribution to the Brotherhood. Some of our programs and services wouldn’t run if it weren’t for our volunteers. They allow us to deliver more to our clients and they really are the backbone of our organisation.

So, what volunteering opportunities do we have at the Brotherhood? Loads! Where to begin ... job mentoring  at our Centre for Work and Learning, serving meals to the littlies at our Breakfast Club, tutoring or mentoring students at our Homework Centre, providing support at events, socialising with our older clients, assisting with research, manual labour – the list goes on! We even have someone who sells donated items on eBay, and a team of fashionistas who refashion donated clothes to sell at our 24 Community stores.

We are always on the lookout for new volunteers. At the moment we need a helping hand at our Community stores across Melbourne (see if there’s one near you), our donations warehouse in Brunswick East and our online second-hand bookshop Brotherhood Books. We also have exciting professional mentor positions available for professionals willing to mentor a refugee client who is interested in learning about a particular industry or role.

If you are passionate about volunteering for an organisation that helps people to help themselves then the Brotherhood is the place to be! Check out our volunteer vacancies to see if there’s anything you could get involved in.

Cheers,
Kylie.