By Shelby Brooks
A husband and wife team have been honoured for their volunteer work in the Cockatoo community.
David and Julia Graham were named Cockatoo’s Citizens of the Year at the Australia Day awards held on Thursday 26 January.
The Grahams saw a need in the community over three years ago and stepped up to run the Food Store at St Luke’s.
They work tirelessly to source donations and fundraising, prepare and store the food safely, and then operate the food store itself on Mondays of each week.
Julia and David also help connect people in need with other donations such as furniture, school supplies and household goods.
They have supported hundreds of residents each year and the number continues to grow.
David is also a volunteer with the Emerald and Cockatoo Emergency Support Team and both he and Julia personally assist community members in need outside of the Food Store and EST.
About 80 people attended the celebration, which included a coffee and lamington morning tea.
Chairperson of Connecting Cockatoo Communities and MC for the event Tate McFarlane said all the winners had been very deserving of their awards.
Senior Citizen of the Year was awarded to Janice Critenden, a founding member, current president and chairperson of CRAG21 (Cockatoo 21st Century Roads Action Group).
During her four years as president and chairperson, she has continued to lead the advocacy for funded road sealing in Cockatoo and the broader hills catchment.
Youth Citizen of the Year was awarded to 17-year-old Samuel Nichols.
Samuel started his scouting journey at 1st Cockatoo Scouts as a cub in 2014. He continued there as a Scout before transferring to Belgrave South Scout Group. He is now a Venturer at 145/37 Forresters Venturer Group in Upwey.
Sam has volunteered a lot in the last couple of years, helping with animal care at the Bluey and Alice Bunny refuge weekly since 2020, with the Scouts Kangaree Entertainment team in September 2022, VicJam Entertainment Team Dec-Jan 2022 and has been involved in the Gemco Youth Theatre since 2021.
Recently, Samuel volunteered as a sound technician at the Gemco Theatre 10 x 10 min one act plays festival.
He has been a volunteer with the Melbourne Gangshow since 2020.
At the start of this year, Samuel started helping with the 1st Cockatoo Scouts Joey group to support the leaders.
April’s Food and Film Festival run by Growing Cockatoo Project was awarded Cockatoo Community Event of the Year.
Timed to coincide with the start of the Term 1 school holidays, it was a free family friendly event that showcased local produce, guest speakers on nutrition, permaculture, cooking demonstrations, food science activities for kids, and an outdoor screening of a family food movie Disney’s Ratatouille.
The activities and guest speakers were attended by over 300 people, and over 350+ patrons enjoyed the outdoor film screening. The event raised almost $800 shared between community groups.
Food Store at St Luke’s, a non profit organisation that provides free food and a kind ear to all those in our area who need help, was awarded Cockatoo Community Group of the Year.
