Surfside local Robert Shore received one of the top volunteering awards during National Volunteer Week celebrations when ShelterBox named him the winner of the 2023 ShelterBox Volunteer Impact Award.
Above: Robert Shore at a Rotary event
Over the last year, Robert was an active volunteer across the region and was joined in the winners list by Peter Jarvis from Berri and Peter Pearce from Gosford who won awards in their category.
ShelterBox Australia CEO Mike Greenslade says “Robert is an asset to the ShelterBox team and has made a significant contribution to sheltering people in need in countries like Ukraine, Türkiye, Syria, Ethiopa and more.
“Our volunteer workforce is the driving force behind our deployments overseas and Robert’s
capacity to make an impact has been unrivalled this year.”
New research shows that over half of Australians volunteer in their towns and cities, freely giving their time, energy and skills to others - making them the backbone of our communities.
In a statement earlier this year, Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said, “Volunteers offer the invaluable asset of time, contributing their knowledge and experiences to activities and causes out of kindness and a sense of community. The sector is integral to the fabric of our nation.”
ShelterBox Volunteer Program Manager Kieryn Deutrom said that with over 100 volunteers across Australia she was thrilled that Robert Shore was awarded the 2023 ShelterBox Volunteer Impact Award.
“Robert has prioritised ShelterBox amongst his many other community activities which has been amazing. He has a natural ability to motivate others to support ShelterBox and showing how their donation can positively impact a family in desperate need of shelter,” said Kieryn Deutrom.
Robert is active in his community as a new member of the Rotary Club of Batemans Bay and in the last year he coordinated Rotary’s response to the Eugowra floods. He has created a Rotary YouTube channel (with over 10,000 views), produced videos on the Eugowra floods, is the Membership and Innovation Chair for Rotary District 9705, and created a Facebook page to encourage people to donate $5 a fortnight to a range of charities. Despite his many commitments, Robert’s energy and passion for disaster relief has been recognised with a significant award.
The winners of the 2023 ShelterBox Volunteer Awards are:
Volunteer Excellence Award Peter Pearce
Fundraiser of the Year Award Peter Jarvis
Volunteer Impact Award Robert Shore
Team of the Year Award New South Wales
Over the last year, Robert has shown fantastic innovation in his promotion of ShelterBox - sleeping by the river for the Off the Grid challenge, supporting his local real estate agency to donate $100 to ShelterBox for every goal scored by the local footy team, and ShelterBox promotion online through his District ShelterBox Facebook page.
Robert has continued to raised awareness of the disaster relief work of ShelterBox through
delivering presentations across his region and attending schools - letting everyone know about the practical support provided to people needing shelter in the form of tents, tarpaulins, tools, blankets, water filters and more.
The ShelterBox Volunteer Awards are an annual event during National Volunteer Week that is highly anticipated and celebrates the outstanding contributions of volunteers across Australia.
The Batemans Bay Rotary Team have registered to take part in the Shelterbox #offthegrid fundraiser. Shelterbox provides emergency housing relief when a disaster strikes around the globe.
You can support the team, and the cause, by donating to one of the participants or to the Team. You could also join the team. Simply register online and join in when they spend the night sleeping out. Come along and meet some new people while supporting a worthy cause.
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