Name: Caelli Greenbank, Junior brigade member (15 years old)
Brigade: Creswick
Years of Service: 4 years
What’s your favourite part of volunteering?
I enjoy getting together with the other people in my Junior Brigade and doing different things every week, from visiting the Senior Citizens in the hospital to orienteering to Easter egg hunts. Most of these people I probably wouldn’t have known otherwise. I also enjoy messing around with the trucks down at the station.
How would you describe the area and community you live within?
I think Creswick is a good-sized town – big enough that there are plenty of people to meet and activities to get involved in, but still small enough that you know the chemist, postie, publican, supermarket owner and all the cashiers by name. It’s also good because we have just about the biggest rural brigade in the area and everyone in town is either involved with the brigade or knows someone who is. Living in the middle of the bush as we do means there’s always a big threat of bushfires in the summer, but the scenery out here is always beautiful, and there’s really nothing to compare with the views.
Why did you join CFA?
It’s a family thing. My dad is the Community Education Officer for our brigade and he was also the one who got our Juniors up and running so it was kind of one of those things that was always going to happen. I joined up at 11 as the first Junior Volunteer in our Brigade and I’ve been there ever since.
What do you do when you’re not volunteering?
When I’m not doing Juniors stuff I spend a lot of time involved in other activities such as the netball club, school band, youth theatre group and Girl Guides. I do a lot of public speaking in the community and also manage to fit in frequent trips to Melbourne for the Spirit of ANZAC work I’m involved in. There is some homework in there somewhere, too.
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