By Leonie Fuge
Rosalyn Keim was presiding over the Warwick Leukemia Foundation meeting when the call came to announce she had won the Citizen of the Year for Southern Downs northern region.
Rosalyn, well known as Ros, is also Lions Club Disaster Coordinator for the West and said she was more than honoured with the award, but the phone call from the Southern Downs Regional Council initially left her speechless.
“I was just standing there,” said Ros. “But it is an honour to be recognised.”
Ros said she was glad her committee were there to share in her good news and jokingly blames two of her committee members for her nomination, Karen Shepherd and Elaine Stewart.
Ros has volunteered as president for the Warwick Leukemia Foundation for over six years and has been a member of the Lions club since 1979.
“I don’t volunteer for an award,” said Ros. “It is nice to get, but in saying that, volunteering helps me more than I help other people. It has kept me away from depression after my husband died.”
Ros lost her husband Mike to cancer after years of battling Leukemia.
“We’d been married for 43 years, so it got very lonely. Four walls don’t talk to you so I had to get out,” said Ros.
“It was hard at first, but after you do it, it gets easier,“ she said.
Choosing to serve others has proven extremely beneficial for Ros, who along with serving in leadership positions with two recognised organisations, also crotchets blankets for those doing it tough, such as victims of domestic violence.
“I have crocheted around 50 rugs so far,” said Ros. “I love seeing the look on people’s faces when you give them a blanket.”
Along with fundraising and community awareness events for the Leukemia Foundation, Ros found herself delivering meals to families displaced by the floods.
“I drove around handing out meals in Brisbane after the floods, we fed around 250 people at WIRAK when the floods hit here, and I also helped with flood relief in Lismore.”
Ros describes the Lismore floods as beyond imagination.
“It was a real eye-opener. I was there only a fortnight after the floods, I saw a plane up a tree, dead animals lining the road and cars washed into paddocks. Lions have since spent $600,000 in that area supplying help.”
Ros said the secret to her longevity in volunteering comes down to a desire to help people who are less fortunate than herself.
“But in saying that, volunteering has done more for me than I have ever done for others,” said Ros.
Ros encourages people to become volunteers saying it is a wonderful privilege that gives back more than you could understand.
