Harden Local June Howe Named Central West Senior Volunteer Of The Year

IMAGE: June volunteers at a number of organisations in Harden Murrumburrah.

Ninety year old Harden Murrumburrah local June Howe has been named Central West Senior Volunteer of the Year.

June volunteers at a number of organisations in the twin towns, her help varying from collecting tickets to serving the BBQ.

She often sells raffle tickets for Can Assist Harden-Murrumburrah and does canteen shifts for both the junior and senior rugby league teams, the Harden Hawks, as well as the Harden Pony Club when needed.

June is also a regular volunteer at the Anglican Op Shop and helps Flexible Care Services deliver Meals on Wheels.

A member of the Harden Hospital Auxliary, she supports fundraising events to raise money for the local hospital.

She also volunteers at Harden Grange Aged Care Home, visiting residents and working in the garden.

HRDC CEO, Melissa Pinney said “June’s co-volunteers at Can Assist asked me to write a nomination for June for the NSW Senior Volunteer of the Year Award as they are so inspired by her incredible dedication to the local community and feel many more people could be inspired by her across all of NSW.”

“When I asked June if I could speak with her about her history of volunteering and what she has been involved in most recently, she was a bit taken aback that people wanted her nominated for such a prestigious award. To me, this was just another demonstration of the selfless person that June is”.

“My dad said to me recently that any time he doesn’t feel like getting up too much, he only has to think of June to be reminded that it doesn’t matter what age you are – you can make a small difference every day to your local community through volunteering some of your time”, said Melissa.

Many other groups have also benefitted from June volunteering her time.

June has been involved with Clean Up Australia Day for over 30 years, has helped with church raffles and supported sporting groups such as swimming, hockey and tennis.

She also joined Terry Ricketts on the dancefloor for Can Assist’s Dancing with the Locals fundraiser in 2019, where they raised $14,000.

June will attend the NSW Volunteer of the Year Gala Ceremony later in the year where the winners of each region will be recognised and a state winner announced.

“When working on the nomination, Melissa asked June why she is still doing so much volunteering at her age. Her response was simply, “because I can.”