Kawana Companions, a Centre-based Day Care Service (CBDC), will mark 25 years of service on the Sunshine Coast with a celebration on Monday, 12 November.
Established in 1987, Kawana Companions is an innovative centre-based day care program for the youth, aged and disability sectors, provided by community transport and care organisation, ComLink.
ComLink Chief Executive Feda Adra said the program was based on a seniors’ social club model and aimed to address social isolation for the frail aged and younger people with a disability.
“Since Kawana Companions began 25 years ago, the program has continued to grow quickly mostly through word of mouth because our clients love the program so much,” Ms Adra said.
“At the first meeting there were nine clients and almost as many volunteers but now the centre caters for more than 150 registered clients and over 30 volunteers,” Ms Adra said.
“In fact, one of our regular clients describes Kawana Companions as her ‘weekly dose of vitamins’,” she said.
The event will be held at the Kawana Community Hall from 10am and will see more than 140 clients and over 30 volunteers come together to celebrate over morning tea and lunch, with entertainment provided by the ‘Scotchy Pocket Songbird’ a country and western singer.
Teachers and students from the Caloundra State High School “Lighthouse Group” will also assist on the day setting up tables and chairs, serving and cleaning up lunch.
There will also be five 25-years service awards for Joy, Val, Margaret, Lesley and Trudi, who have volunteered with Kawana Companions since it began. Certificates of acknowledgement will also be awarded to 16 clients that have been with Kawana Companions since the first 10 years of opening.
“These are services we just wouldn’t be able to provide without our volunteers, which is why it is so important for us to recognise them as part of the 25 year celebration,” Ms Adra said.
Kawana Companions is held every Monday from 10am to 1pm in the Kawana Community Hall. ComLink provides a door-to-door transport service to and from the program for clients with limited mobility.
ComLink is a not-for profit organisation and charity providing community transport and care for the frail aged and younger people with a disability to attend medical appointments, shop and maintain their social inclusion from North Brisbane, throughout the Sunshine Coast and north to Bundaberg.
