A group of Anglicare volunteers from the Queanbeyan retail shop have been at it for years—many years! Lorraine Donney and Chris Cartwright are part of this dedicated group and between the two of them have volunteered for more than 30 years already.
Lorraine, who has been part of the team for more than 10 years, explained how she originally got involved, “I was at a bit of a loss after a divorce, I didn’t know where I was going”, she said. “My friends were here and they helped me out and said come on down”. What started as an opportunity to be with friends, developed into a sense of purpose and a greater connection to community that keeps Lorraine coming back twice weekly.
“I love chatting with customers”, she said. “We have our regulars that come in on the days I’m here and we know they just want to talk. So we do that whenever we have the time to”.
For Chris, who has been volunteering at the shop for a whopping 20 years (and counting), the role provides a spiritual as well as social purpose. “I am a Christian and I had been helping doing ministry overseas”, she said. “I felt terrible when I had to stop. So this is my tithing in my time. The people are lovely. I love being here, working with others who are very caring. Also the customers that come in, it is lovely being able to spend time with them.”
The shop at Queanbeyan differs from other retails shops as it also houses Food Fair, Anglicare’s initiative to provide heavily discounted groceries to low income families and individuals, and to offer emergency food relief to those experiencing crisis. The proximity of Food Fair to the retail shop means that volunteers can provide immediate referrals to customers that are struggling. It also means that casual customers can see first-hand the type of services that their purchases help support.
“It’s a good environment to be in, to work in”, said Lorraine. “Everyone here is so nice and they’re always caring about staff, even the customers. It’s like a family to come here. I look forward to it every two days I do it.”
Chris agrees. “It’s because everyone is so lovely that I want to keep coming”, she said. Following a stroke at the start of the year, and a sudden, personal loss just months ago she said, “The care I’ve had for me after everything, it was just lovely the support I had.”
With an ongoing cost of living and rental crisis disproportionally impacting those on low incomes, Queanbeyan, like elsewhere, continues to see an increase in clients seeking help with food, clothing and other essentials.
