Kirsten Birch, Club Development Officer from the AFL, thanked the volunteers on behalf of the AFL, for their contribution to the Essendon Football Club and the football industry in general. Birch instigated the Volunteer recognition program across all clubs and has been travelling around Australia thanking volunteers for their contribution to football. Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy, is the AFL Ambassador for Volunteers in 2001. He was impressed with the number of volunteers at the Essendon Football Club and thanked them for their dedication to the club. The volunteers were presented with a gift (Bomber binoculars) and AFL Volunteer recognition certificates.
The Essendon Football Club has over 130 volunteers - ranging in age from 16 years to 85 years. Volunteers are a very important part of the club and integral to it's success both on and off the field. Volunteers help out in a number of departments - range of jobs include office work, computer work, mail outs, cataloguing and raffle work. There is rarely a shortage of jobs to be done. ""There is always a lot of work, especially around raffle time. Our volunteers provide a wonderful back up to the staff and perform a wide range of duties,"" the curator said. The Essendon Football Club's longest serving volunteers - Murray Hicks and Bob Woods - have been assisting at the club for over 45 years.
Photos from the volunteer function will be available on the Community Page, early next year on the BomberLand website.
