Volunteering brings benefits to the community and to volunteers themselves

SSI volunteer Fabian Foo at Community Kitchen

SSI’s volunteer program builds on SSI’s ability to engage the broader community in its mission to support newcomers and other vulnerable Australians to prosper.

It also has benefits for the volunteers themselves.

Fabian Foo works as a manager in the NSW public service sector. Like many of SSI’s volunteers, he manages his volunteering around his work commitments.

Mr Foo, an SSI Community Kitchen and Welcome2Sydney volunteer, says he has found it very inspiring to meet like-minded people who are so passionate about their causes and their work.

“My volunteering experience has reiterated what I have always believed about people: that wherever we come from in the world and whatever language we speak and even what god we worship (if any) — in spite of all that, we are still more similar than we are different.

“To have been reminded of this, through my volunteering at SSI, has been a gift.”

Each year, over 300 volunteers collectively give over 10,500 hours of their time to support SSI clients and programs.

Working together, those community members provide additional support for programs and activities that might not otherwise be provided by SSI.

They also provide a fresh perspective and contribute to building social inclusion, community participation and cohesion.

Learn more about volunteering opportunities at SSI here.