Wellington locals have been awarded for their dedicated volunteering services at the 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards on Tuesday.
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Jeanette Capewell was overcome with emotion on Tuesday as she was announced the Orana 2019 Volunteer of the Year.
Ms Capewell received the honour for the endless hours she gives to the Coonabarabran Support Group for Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, calling the bingo at the Coonabarabran Bowling Club and her time with the Volunteer Rescue Association and football club.
The Young Volunteer of the Year went to Grace Gower, Ellie Dean won the Adult Volunteer of the Year and the Volunteer Team of the Year went to National Association for Loss and Grief.
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Ms Capewell, who was also the Senior Volunteer of the Year, was overwhelmed by the accolade.
"I love helping people and I love meeting people. When I first came back to NSW I had five children and I had nothing. No one would help so I did it all myself. And then later I thought I'd start volunteering," she said.
"I lost my partner four months ago and he would have been so proud to see all this."
The Coonabarabran resident said she had been volunteering for a "very long time".
It first started with the bingo. She's also been raising money for the rescue helicopter for 13 years. As for the rest of her volunteering, Ms Capewell said she had been doing it for so long she had lost count.
"The people are so good to you. When my partner passed on everyone was so good with me and looked after me. I think that's a reward for it all."
For Grace, volunteering started with Rotary.
From there it spread to headspace, the Dubbo Westview Drive-In and then the Dubbo City Youth Council.
"I thought I would drop off something but I keep doing everything because I enjoy it so much," Grace said.
"You feel a relief knowing that you're making a difference helping someone, especially with headspace."
The youth volunteer said she would love to see other people give their time.
"It's hard encouraging other people to volunteer because they don't see a reward out of it. But there are rewards, you just have to wait and see," Grace said.
The Centre for Volunteering CEO Jeanette Capewell said there had been "several thousand" nominations for the Orana volunteer awards.
Orlander Ruming
Deputy editor at the Daily Liberal, covering council, politics, human interest stories, community news and everything in between.
Deputy editor at the Daily Liberal, covering council, politics, human interest stories, community news and everything in between.
