MORE than half a century of dedicated service to the Bunyip community has landed Elma Drayton the Cardinia Shire’s 2009 Senior Citizen of the Year Award.
Mrs Drayton, 90, is an inspiration to the many residents she supports through her tireless volunteering.
She is involved in various community groups through Bunyip’s Uniting Church, is a leading member of the town’s cancer support group and secretary of Bunyip’s Senior Citizen’s Club.
The great-grandmother was the inaugural secretary of senior citizens club as well as the first president of the Shelley Memorial Hospital, now Hillview Bunyip Aged Care.
She also established the Bunyip Girl Guides, which is still an active group.
Mrs Drayton said it was a great privilege to be named Cardinia’s Citizen of the Year.
“It’s a great honour and I’m very thankful,” she said.
The retired dairy farmer has been president of the Uniting Church Auxiliary Guild and still raises money for the community under the Uniting Church umbrella.
Mrs Drayton said there was much to enjoy about volunteering, although she couldn’t pinpoint why she became so community-minded.
“It was just the normal thing to do,” Mrs Drayton said.
Impacts of climate change proving costly for sporting clubs
The financial cost of cancelling sporting events due to extreme heat is just one of the outcomes of climate change community sports managers need...
