The spirit of volunteering

For 80-year-old Judith, volunteering at the Australian Red Cross is not simply about filling time. It has a simple yet meaningful purpose - giving back to those in need.

“It matters to me that I don't spend my remaining years drinking coffee and just chitchatting. I want to be doing useful things - contributing to the beautiful life I've been born into and not just taking everything for granted.”

Judith’s desire to contribute to a greater cause didn’t come from nowhere. It's been instilled in her since childhood, passed down through her family. “Mum and Dad were always involved in the community,” she says. “They had the value that if you're part of a community, you get out and you get involved,” For Judith’s parents, community wasn’t just something you lived in, but something you showed up for.

Judith’s mother, Dorothy Dark, joined the Australian Red Cross in 1945 as a Patroness of Junior Red Cross - a representative of the organisation and its message in schools. Dorothy’s longest stint was with Parkes Red Cross, in Central Western New South Wales, where she served 17 years with the one branch and was awarded a long service award in 1993. When Dorothy passed, the woman who presented her with this prestigious medal, Gloria Dietrich, President of Parkes Red Cross, also delivered the eulogy at her funeral.

As Judith sat in church listening to her mother’s eulogy, she realised how her family history was intertwined with Australian Red Cross, and how much meaning volunteering had given to her mother’s life in return. In that moment, she decided that becoming a volunteer was something she could do to honour her late mother’s memory.

Recently, Judith’s 56-year-old daughter echoed a similar sentiment - the desire to carry on her maternal family’s commitment to helping others by volunteering with Australian Red Cross. “I can make it a tribute to you Mum, when you're no longer here,” she said.

For Judith, that promise landed softly but powerfully. “I thought that was so nice, because [the younger generation] don't want our old furniture or our old ornaments, but they do want the continuity of not losing the thread.”

Showing up when and where it matters

When Judith first began volunteering with Australian Red Cross in 1995, everything was recorded on paper. “When I started in emergency services, we had paper everything, and I could manage that,” she says.

Across the 30 International Volunteer Days she has lived through since then, Judith has watched the organisation transform - from manual call logs and handwritten documents to digital systems. When this happened, Judith didn’t step back - she leant into her strengths.

“I'm not good at technology, but what I do think I'm okay at is bringing people's anxieties down,” she reflects.

Each year, International Volunteer Day honours those who adapt, persevere and show up for others in any way they can - a spirit Judith has embodied from the beginning, showing that volunteering is about presence, not perfection. She has found her place in moments of crisis, where impact is measured in breaths steadied, not just numbers counted.

One of her earliest memories was working at Redfern Police Headquarters during major floods, helping field calls from people stranded in flood waters across the region. Judith and her team of volunteers were called upon for a simple but crucial role; steadying frightened voices, helping them understand which roads were open, and making sure no one felt alone on the other end of the line.

There is one particular call she remembers vividly. A man was trapped in a caravan as the water rose around him. Panicked and unsure of what to do, Judith can still recall his desperate pleas for help: “What will I do? What will I do?”.

Judith worked with her supervisor to escalate the call and coordinated a rescue boat to reach him before the situation grew worse.

“It taught me so much,” she remembers. "It was supposed to be work, but it didn’t feel a bit like work. It was wonderful working together, helping.”

One movement, one united purpose

Today, Judith volunteers alongside a diverse team - younger and older, each person bringing their unique life experience to the table. For her, this blend of skills is what gives the movement its power: different people, one united purpose. “The team leader pulls us all together as a team and regardless of our backgrounds, she makes us feel that we are the Australian Red Cross first.”

Judith is quick to credit this leadership for the culture she treasures at her home branch, in Sydney’s St George and Sutherland Red Cross Emergency Services. Her team leader, she says, has a gift for recognising what each person can offer and encouraging them to lean into it.

This spirit of belonging shapes how Judith thinks about the future too. She hopes the next generation will continue stepping into service - not out of duty, but out of a belief that community still matters in a world often fixed on individual success. She believes the Australian Red Cross reputation itself still has the power to open that door. As she puts it, when you hear the name ‘Australian Red Cross’, “immediately, there’s respect.”

A generational commitment to humanity

Like so many Australian Red Cross volunteers, Judith has never chased recognition. Her joy comes from sitting beside someone who’s struggling and helping them to feel less alone; from showing up when it matters and offering steady kindness in moments most people never see.

Judith’s story reflects what thousands of Red Cross volunteers embody across Australia - quiet strength, compassion in action, and the belief that community is something we build together.
This International Volunteers Day, we honour people like Judith - those who devote themselves to giving back, ensuring that care, kindness and community are values we keep passing down, generation to generation.

“My mum used to go into schools to talk about Little Red Cross. I remember my younger days when a lady came in wearing a Red Cross apron and the little sun cap and giving out stickers,” she says with a smile. “Maybe that was the beginning for me.”