A Nirranda dairy farmer says the award she won for volunteering with the Nullawarre Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) should be shared with all the volunteers.
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Andrea Vallance was recently named as the winner of Community Heart Volunteer Award.
The humble 58-year-old said helping others was extremely rewarding and she had made lifelong friends in the Nullawarre Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). "We're like a family," she said.
The group has eight members, while another four are training to come on board.
Mrs Vallance also works as the coordinator of the Timboon Agriculture Project (TAP), which is a partnership between Timboon P-12 School and volunteers from regional industry, businesses and the community to provide applied learning opportunities for students and PD for teachers. "Our TAP's On expo emphasized the importance of volunteerism in our community with hands on workshops for the school's 460 students," Mrs Vallance said.
The showcase of volunteer groups in the region focused on the CFA, SES, Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club and Ambulance Victoria's CERTs and Ambulance Community Officers (ACO) who lead workshops to outline the various volunteer roles students could be involved in.
"I am truly humbled to receive this award but it is really an acknowledgement of the hundreds of volunteers, mentors and great teams, past and present, who have worked with Ambulance Victoria, Timboon P-12 School and our whole community in the south-west. What an amazing community we live in."
CERT volunteers are first responders who are dispatched at the same time as an ambulance.
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