40 Year Volunteer Celebrated

This week, Resthaven volunteer, Dawn Schaefer, was celebrated for her 40 years of volunteer service with a surprise visit from the Resthaven bus!

Dawn, who has supported Resthaven Marion since 1980, and has been staying home for the last couple of months, as recommended, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, this wasn’t going to stop Resthaven from celebrating her milestone!

The Resthaven bus, driven by fellow volunteer, Peter Johinke, pulled up at Dawn’s home in Marion, filled with people, spaced out of course, eager to surprise Dawn and celebrate her 40 years volunteer service. The bus was festooned with a big red bow.

Around the corner, in hiding, were three volunteers, waiting to cheer on Dawn, unbeknownst to her.

The scene was set with red balloons, ‘thank you placards’ held aloft, and waving arms, showing appreciation to Dawn.

Dawn was presented with gifts from Volunteer Services Manager, Stacey Thompson, under the amused eye of her husband, Jeff (himself a former volunteer bus driver), and her two daughters.

Needless to say, Dawn was a little taken aback!

Stacey says,  ‘We couldn’t let the opportunity to celebrate Dawn’s 40 years go by without doing something special. This was a great opportunity to do something unexpected and to surprise Dawn.’

Resthaven’s high quality aged care services are supported by around 480 volunteers across South Australia.

This National Volunteer Week, and all throughout the year, we say ‘Thank you to volunteers’!