With all the challenges in our community today, people often say to me, “I want to do something to help. What should I do?” After nearly 50 years of working for and with community organisations, I have an answer: “Do one more thing than you are doing now.” That thing could be small – a smile and a thank you, checking in on a neighbour or friend – or it could be a commitment such as volunteering for an organisation.
If you start your day with the thought, “Today I will do something good for someone”, it has a positive effect on you. You will brighten someone’s day, but, fascinatingly, it creates a positive mood for you.
I have the privilege of speaking to many people in our community. Often it’s seeking support for our emergency relief work. While I want those groups to help us, I like to point out that whatever they do, any act of kindness or supporting another community group makes the community we live and work in just a little better, and therefore we all are better off.
Tomorrow, try starting your day with the thought, “I am going to do something for someone today”. Then imagine if all 26 million Australians were to do it – 26 million acts of kindness. What an awesome day it would be.
If you would like to volunteer, there are many wonderful community organisations we collaborate with that need your help – Vinnies Kitchen, Southern Peninsula Food For All, St Vincent de Paul, Rye Opportunity Shop, Lions and Rotary clubs and many more. And that’s just on the southern Peninsula. Right across the Mornington Peninsula and in Frankston are hundreds of organisations needing assistance. The best way to find one is to use the Ask Izzy website at www.askizzy.org.au
JEREMY MAXWELL
CEO, Southern Peninsula Community Support,
878 Point Nepean Rd, Rosebud
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