A Big Day for Community Volunteering

Written by Maeve Hogan, Matthew Jung

On April 15th, Imagine Global collaborated with volunteers from the Chinese Methodist Church in Australia to assist an elderly client residing in Belmont with his garden. The client had been struggling to maintain the garden due to a leg injury he suffered a couple of years ago, prompting him to seek support from Imagine Global. In the late morning, volunteers from both nonprofit organizations arrived at the client's residence, equipped with the necessary gardening tools. Prior to beginning the cleanup, the volunteers received instructions on safely handling the gardening tools. They were briefed on the specific tasks requested by the client, which included clearing out the gutters. The volunteers were divided into teams and assigned different garden sections to address. My particular responsibility was to trim the client's grass using a whipper snipper and remove any debris within the grassy area. Concurrently, other volunteers diligently cleared the gutters of dead leaves, wearing protective gloves and placing the debris in garbage bags. The remaining volunteers focused on removing loose leaves and weeds from the garden beds. Once the tasks were completed, the client was shown the progress made and a debriefing session was held with the volunteers.

The amazing team that brought their own equipments!

Not just the garden, but the roof as well!

As a volunteer at Imagine Global, I was the coordinator for this specific house visit. It was an excellent opportunity for me to collaborate with other enthusiastic and patient volunteers from the Chinese Methodist Church in Australia (CMCA). Although we initially experienced some delays in meeting the client due to his leg injury, he graciously welcomed us. He promptly opened the backyard gate, granting us access to his garden. Despite a few areas with overgrown weeds and cluttered gutters, the client had put in significant effort to maintain his garden. To efficiently tackle the tasks at hand, I divided the volunteers into two groups: one focused on clearing the gutters, while the other concentrated on removing weeds and rubbish from the garden beds. After dedicating an hour of hard work, the backyard exhibited a noticeably improved appearance, and I shared our accomplishments with the client. Additionally, we assured the client that if he ever required further assistance in the future, he could reach out to us without hesitation. Lastly, I conducted a debriefing session with the remaining volunteers, where we discussed the details of our tasks and shared the feedback received from the client.

- Maeve Hogan

Imagine Global usually visits a client at a time with help from individual volunteers. The volunteering event on 15th April was an extraordinary operation where various churches from the Chinese Methodist Church in Australia (CMCA) gathered to help multiple clients simultaneously. This big operation involved over 20 volunteers and helped over 7 beneficiaries. The volunteer tasks included gardening, cleaning, tidying and decluttering items that needed to be thrown away. The operation took about 4 hours to complete, with each volunteer spending about an hour to help.

We Imagine Global team started early in the morning, delivering gardening tools and equipment to each client’s residence. The team leader from Imagine Global at each place instructed the CMCA volunteers on safety and task goals. Some volunteers were really prepared for the task and even brought their own tools! It seems like this isn’t their first time doing these tasks.

Major cleaning and brick laying?

Can you believe this backyard used to be stacked with rubbish?

However, that’s usually the case with our clients. The task we do as volunteers doesn’t change the world in one day, but it changes the client’s world. What they see as a potential fire hazard and a possible fine from the city for their backyard is a clean and tidy house the next day. For some clients, it’s about finding that motivation or being encouraged to finally make a change when they see a whole group of volunteers starting that change. It’s about taking that small step at the start.

We at Imagine Global would like to thank CMCA churches for organising the volunteers and helping clients that day. Seeing so many volunteers working simultaneously for this extensive operation was terrific. We also look forward to working with CMCA again later this year!

- Matthew Jung