The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division is a prestigious award.
And for the years of service to the Cobram community, Heather Barrie is now the proud recipient of one.
The 83-year-old local has been a stalwart community volunteer throughout the decades and right up to the present.
She has worked as a volunteer at Moira FoodShare since 2003 and at the Cobram Support and Information Service for the last 40 years.
Previously, she was a volunteer camp co-ordinator at the Portsea Camp from 1996 to 2020 and volunteered at Ottrey Lodge in Cobram with carpet bowls and bingo.
Ms Barrie’s role at the Cobram Support and Information Service is to help people who need assistance with finances and acces government services.
When asked what she does as a volunteer at the Cobram Support and Information Service, Ms. Barrie said she does interviews with clients.
Talking about her volunteering for Moira FoodShare, Ms Barrie said that the best part of her job was meeting different people, and she recounted one special gesture made by one of the FoodShare clients.
“We did have one little girl just before Christmas hand us a note to thank you very much for the food. Merry Christmas,’” she said.
As a camp coordinator for the Portsea Camp, Ms. Barrie said she often worked with underprivileged kids, and her greatest joy was seeing kids who lived in difficult situations, realising they weren’t alone and making lifelong connections.
In 24 years, she did 25 camps and stopped just as Covid hit in 2020.
Ms Barrie spent roughly 15 years volunteering at Ottrey Lodge in Cobram with carpet bowls on Thursday and bingo on Tuesday.
As a result of her hard work, the OAM isn’t the first public award Ms Barrie has received.
She is a previous Cobram Australia Day Citizen of the Year and Rotary Citizen of Distinction, which she earned in 2017.
Ms Barrie said she wasn’t expecting to be nominated for an OAM, let alone win one.
“It was the biggest shock I’ve ever had,” Ms Barrie said.
Unlike many OAM recipients, Ms Barrie knew who had nominated her for the award.
In her case, it was her son’s friend who nominated her.
Ms Barrie plans to celebrate her OAM by having dinner on Saturday, January 27, with her son and the friend who nominated her.
Ms Barrie will officially receive her OAM later in the year in a presentation in Melbourne.
She said she would be shaking like a leaf and probably lost for words, which she joked wasn’t common.
As for anyone wanting to volunteer, Ms Barrie said they have to know what they want to do as volunteers and be prepared to give it their all.
“You need to commit to it,” she said.
“Rather than come today and then six months later, come again. You really need to put yourself in the right spot.”
The Governor-General of Australia, David Hurley, said that all recipients of the OAMs richly deserved the accolade.
“Congratulations to the outstanding Australians recognised in today’s Honours List,” he said.
“Recipients have made a difference and had an impact at the local, national and/or international level.
“Individually, they are inspiring, and collectively speak to the strength of our communities.”