I’d like to pause as we begin a new year to acknowledge the Whitehorse State Emergency Service; one of the largest and busiest SES teams in Victoria. In the past 3 years, our unit has logged over 30,000 hours of response to community need. The true impact would be closer to 45,000 hours if you consider time spent in administration of requests, in community education, in ongoing training and maintenance, and in deployment out of area (Victoria-wide and beyond). Our unit is a magnificent local asset.
Let’s underline that all Whitehorse SES personnel are unpaid volunteers. This is often misunderstood. And rapid emergency response is consistently made, to high standards, regardless of the fact that storm events increase in number and severity and responders themselves are often exhausted. Next time you see the folks in orange, take the time to voice your appreciation.
2023 might be a year when you get more acquainted with community contributions you may know little about. Consider visiting the Sikh Temple, Gurdwara Sahib, at 127 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn, where an inclusive welcome and abundant vegetarian food is available daily. What I experience at the Temple is a very genuine sense of ‘service before self’. This is an emphasis widely evident in many Whitehorse spaces and I hope that we can all begin the new year encouraged by the incredible levels of community based contribution to our collective wellbeing and resilience. Be part of it, and enjoy the benefit from it.
