International Volunteer Managers Day – 5 November 2012

Tasmania’s volunteer coordinators and managers were today given a big doggy lick by Calvary Health
Care volunteer dog Millie Mae as thanks for their invaluable contribution to the Tasmanian
community.

Volunteering Tasmania CEO Adrienne Picone said International Volunteer Managers Day aims to
recognise the dedicated people and organisations responsible for the coordination, training and
recruitment of the world’s volunteers.

“There is a great amount of effort and skill that goes into organising volunteering programs and
practices, which is why recognising and celebrating their contributions is so important,” Ms Picone
said.

“Volunteers are vital to our communities. In Tasmania alone we have 155,600 volunteers who give
49,000 hours on any given day to around 5,000 organisations across the State,” Ms Picone said.

“The contribution of volunteers and their managers is even more important with Tasmania facing an
unprecedented demographic shift with our ageing population, which will have significant
implications for volunteerism across all sectors of our community.”

Calvary Health Care Volunteer Coordinator Sarah De Jonge said the hospital’s volunteer program
was recently recognised at the 2012 Community Achievement Awards in the Volunteer Management
category.

“At Calvary Health Care we currently have 143 volunteers (including our volunteer dog Millie Mae)
who assist in a variety of volunteer roles,” Ms De Jonge said.

“These include pastoral care, general help on the wards, administrative tasks, social support and
hospice care.

“These volunteer services contribute many add-on services for our patients, including the magazine
trolley, tending to flowers and facilitating visits from the hospital dog Mille Mae.

“Calvary Health Care volunteers undergo a comprehensive recruitment, selection and induction
process and attend annual mandatory training sessions. Volunteer meetings are also held
bi-monthly, with additional information circulated through a dedicated volunteer newsletter.”
Volunteering Tasmania