It’s not a big secret really; we are nothing without the community with whom we work with, and for. As business owners we are privileged to be able to meet new people who live in the same community as us on a daily basis. One of the best parts of being a business owner is the connections we make through the work we do.
While giving our customers great television reception is often met with enough adulation and celebration for us to feel really good about ourselves, we also know how good it feels to do something for nothing in return.
Shane from Jim’s Antenna’s in Wynn Vale is one of the 34% of South Australian’s who experience and contribute to valuable community work as a volunteer. Often, the type of work Volunteers do is the difference between a community group or service provider surviving, or not.
For many years Shane has been supporting his local netball club financially as a sponsor, which he says is a great way to help the club out with resourcing for equipment, maintenance and other expenses. Yet, Shane soon realised that the club also needed hands on support and started helping the club by using his Jim’s Antenna’s work van to courier tents and equipment for matches and events. This type of involvement helped Shane to see that without volunteers the club wouldn’t be able to survive, and many members of the community would miss out on the benefits of getting involved in sport whether it is for exercise or the more social aspects. Since then Shane has also helped out by selling fundraising chocolates, assisting set up for finals events, maintaining the courts and, even scoring and timing the games (he says his umpiring skills are not yet up to scratch!)
On a serious note, Shane says “helping one of the local sporting communities is just one way he can thank the community for supporting his business over many years.” Saying thank you to those who support, promote and refer business can be done many ways, but more often than not an act of service, which benefits many people is the most valuable and noticed of all.
Whether it is through your children’s sporting clubs, your own sporting club or interest group, or something completely different where you will learn new skills yourself, there are a range of volunteer opportunities available in and around South Australia.
Every year 6.1 million Australian’s get involved in Volunteering and you can be sure that it’s not just a way of saying thank you, but the fact that supporting the community with your time, skills or money actually make you feel really good. Studies have even shown that giving your time through volunteering increases immunity, so there really could be no better time to start than during winter!
If you are looking for ideas or further information on Volunteering then check out the Volunteering SA website www.volunteeringsa.org.au.
