Page 1470 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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ordinary people doing what they believe are ordinary deeds out there every day, working in their community, volunteering and supporting others that may not be able to support themselves.
Another great opportunity is to do something you enjoy, follow a passion that you may have, like being involved in a local choir like Mixtape Chorus. This is a choir for lovers of pop and indie pop. They meet regularly in Canberra to sing choral arrangements of their favourite songs. There are no auditions. You just have to share a love of singing and enjoy the genre of music. Although there are many excellent choirs in Canberra, Mixtape Chorus is so popular because it is a group of like-minded people getting together to support each other and give harmonious joy to members of their community.
As we have spoken about already, sporting is a big thing, where people volunteer every day, all the time. I do triathlons. Mr Rattenbury is not here, but he does as well. We have been talking about them over the course of this last week. Without the volunteers that get out there—they get up at ungodly hours of the morning, usually two and three in the morning—to support the wonderful events then we would not have triathlon in the ACT. It is great that these volunteers continuously get out there and do these great deeds.
This weekend celebrates Mother’s Day. We all know that Mother’s Day is an opportunity to thank our mothers for doing the wonderful things they have always done. Some would say they volunteer. Some would say they do not have a choice. They just get in, muck in, and do what they do.
This weekend also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Mother’s Day Classic event, which is run primarily by volunteers. There are some paid employees, like there have to be in every well-run organisation or activity, but the vast majority of the Mother’s Day Classic event is run and managed by volunteers that give up their day-to-day jobs and their day-to-day hours with their families to help raise funds, awareness and much-needed support for people suffering breast cancer. I encourage all members of the chamber and those listening to get involved in the Mother’s Day Classic on Sunday. All you have to do is show up, walk five kilometres or run 10—whatever takes your fancy.
Obviously there are other forms of volunteering that we see every day, such as amateur theatre performances and amateur musicals, which we all love to go and watch—like those performed at the Q and sometimes even here at our own Canberra Theatre and the Street Theatre. Erindale Theatre also has amateur productions that are performed on a regular basis. I encourage people to go along and support their local theatre or musical performance.
As Minister Gentleman has already mentioned this morning, this weekend we have our annual MRA blanket run, which offers support to those needy Canberrans during the winter months. That is another organisation that is fabulous and is run primarily by volunteers. It is put on every year by volunteers. These volunteers muck in; they do their jobs and they get stuff done. These volunteers, as Mr Coe has already mentioned,
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