By Mikayla van Loon
For the last eleven years Chirnside Park resident Pamela Usher has been dedicating her life to supporting others and she’s nowhere near finished.
But as part of this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Ms Usher was recognised for all the work, effort and money she has donated over the years by way of an Order of Australia Medal.
“I was very surprised that I was included in the list,” she said.
Overwhelmed by the honour, Ms Usher couldn’t help but talk about the amazing people she has worked with and helped by being a benefactor to so many organisations.
“It’s more about the achievements of the people that maybe have been able to achieve a little bit more because of the contribution I’ve been able to make. It’s not about me, it’s about them and I think that’s really important,” Ms Usher said.
“So to be recognised for that is really awesome because it’s not just a recognition of money, it’s a recognition of the actual physical role I play in keeping up with the organisation.”
When Ms Usher sold her co-owned business Invicta Bus Services in 2009, she was looking for the next thing to do in her life.
Stumbling upon a few opportunities with the Australian Community Foundation, Ms Usher started researching groups and organisations she thought she could make a difference in.
“There’s a lot of lovely programs that just make a bit of a difference in people’s lives. We all need that in our own lives and these people get it in their lives.”
Hands on Learning, Whittlesea Community Connection and Tangentyere Artists in Alice Springs are just three of the programs Ms Usher has become a supporter and benefactor for.
Ms Usher said she always wanted to be a part of the organisations and not just contribute money, so she has gone to Alice Springs every year since starting with Tangentyere Artists, goes on road trips with students in the Hands on Learning program and helps women learn to swim at Whittlesea Community Connection.
“That personal contact is really important, that the artists and teachers and people running the program sort of have an idea that I do care about them.”
Finding passion in the programs came after she got involved with each of the organisations but there is still one place she would like to help – a lost dog’s home.
Ms Usher said everyone has the capacity to make a difference, they just have to go out and do it.
“If I didn’t have sufficient money to do this kind of stuff, I would be helping out in some other way. I’d be doing something.”
“It’s important because there’s not the sufficient dollars for these groups to be funded and there’s not the interest perhaps for these groups to be funded and if there is money, sometimes it doesn’t go in the right way but if you’re on the ground you can get more leverage on what’s going on.”
Although there is no end in sight to her work, Ms Usher said she hopes to pass the baton to her children and grandchildren now, so that they can carry on her work in the future.
But for now her goal remains the same, “I don’t want to see a skyscraper, I want to see individuals growing themselves and coming together and perhaps passing that on.”
