By Mikayla van Loon
After almost three years of being unable to recruit new members, Mooroolbark CFA is back on a recruitment drive, calling for anyone interested to enquire.
Brigade captain Tony King said although a couple of new volunteers joined earlier this year, usually the CFA likes to bolster numbers with between five and 10 recruits each year.
“At the moment, we’ve got about 38 volunteers. We’re doing OK but we need to future-proof our organisation,” he said.
“The problem we’ve got, as do all organisations that have volunteers in it, is people are time poor. 20 years ago people would come down and volunteer and they would spend two or three days, two or three times a week, they’d be down the station, doing work.
“Times have changed and people have not got so much time to be able to spend volunteering these days. So with less time, we need more people. It’s a simple equation.”
Having already recruited two new volunteers, Mr King said the brigade would ideally like to attract a further five people.
“We’re recruiting for more obviously. Our ideal people would be people that are available during the day,” he said.
“Maybe stay at home parents. They’re always good people to have on board because they’re available during school hours while the kids are at school. Retired people, they’re always good value as well.”
But really, Mr King said, anyone willing to commit to the training requirement and give their time to the brigade, no matter what hours, will always be welcomed.
“The more people that we can have available during the day and indeed, any time of the day or night just spreads the load more for our members so we don’t end up burning people out. It can be a tough gig.”
With a growing Burmese population in Mooroolbark and other ethnic groups, Mr King said he would love to culturally diversify the brigade and welcome the ideas, experiences and values that come with that.
Mooroolbark CFA trains every Wednesday night and every second Sunday, with the alternate Sunday devoted to the cleaning and maintenance of the station and equipment.
With the recruit course mostly moving to online learning, Mr King said it can often be completed within eight to 12 weeks, with additional training nights or days.
Joining the CFA, Mr King said, is like joining a huge family that “all look after each other and take great pride in looking after the community.”
“It really does give you a well in your stomach where you think, ‘we’ve helped people’. You don’t get that feeling from anything else.
“Helping the community, helping them through the toughest times in their life sometimes, is rewarding and to know you can physically help somebody gives you a feeling that you’ve achieved something.”
To apply to become a CFA volunteer, head to www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteers…/volunteer-with-cfa
