Meet Shane, one of our wonderful Weave Community Hub – Woolloomooloo volunteers. Each week Shane helps to distribute OzHarvest donations to the local community.
We caught up with Shane to discuss his experience volunteering with Weave — share in his highlights below!
A Woolloomooloo local for the last eight years, Shane is a former lighting designer who’s studying a Cert IV in Aging Support, and self-described “symphony of paradox.”
For about a year, Shane’s volunteered at our Weave Community Hub Woolloomooloo, helping to distribute our weekly OzHarvest deliveries to local residents. He describes the process as fun and chaotic.
“We take the OzHarvest delivery — which can sometimes be a ridiculous amount of food — and sort it all out once it arrives. We line up everybody’s bag, put their names on it, then fill them all up evenly in either for singles, couple or families.”
Shane values the opportunity to create genuine and meaningful connections with his local community and enjoys seeing the same people each week.
“The other day I was sitting on my balcony, and I saw one of the recipients of the OzHarvest groceries. I called out to say hello, and she stopped to ask where I’d been that week as I wasn’t on shift and we usually have a little chat.
The interaction would never have happened if I didn’t volunteer at Weave. It’s conversations like that that make it worthwhile.”
On volunteering for Weave, Shane says:
“I like the people there because they’re friendly, accepting and fun. Lauren, Weave’s Community Development Worker, is the most emphatic young woman I think that I’ve ever met. She’s amazing, and just so supportive of everything that Weave does — you can see that in the way she works with people.”
One of the things Shane values most about helping to distribute our OzHarvest delivery is being able to give something back.
“It’s nice — like a bit of payback, I suppose. It’s a worthwhile use of my time because we’re really doing a good thing for people.”
– Shane showing off his baking skills at Weave Waterloo