Age shall not weary tireless volunteers
Bill Johnson is 92. His wife, Gwen, is 90.
For the four weeks leading to Christmas Day, they will spend two hours a day, two days a week collecting donations at a Wollongong shopping centre so that people in need can be assisted.
Bill and Gwen are soldiers of the Wollongong Corps. Despite their advancing years, they approach their annual Christmas collecting as a privilege.
They have been collecting at Christmas for most of their adult life. Bill started at Cessnock. The couple then collected for many years at Deniliquin before moving to Wollongong.
Only the Second World War interrupted their Christmas service together, according to Bill, who was a navigator in the Air Force, based in Europe.
In Wollongong, they are part of a team that usually collects about $30,000 from two sites over the four-week period.
They encourage anyone with the time to help out this Christmas, wherever they live. “Anyone can do this job,” Gwen says. “You don’t need special qualifications; just a smile and a ‘thank you’ will do.”
She hands out Salvation Army calendars to donors and small cards with a Bible verse to children.
“People don’t need to worry about what to say,” says Bill. “You don’t have to say anything, except ‘thank you,’ if you are a bit shy. We like doing the collecting because it is vital to raising money for the work of The Salvation Army.
“People appreciate the chance to be able to give to our work. It’s not hard; just a little bit tiring standing for two hours when you get to 90.”
Article re-printed courtesy of Pipeline magazine.
Photo: Bill and Gwen Johnson, faithful Wollongong Christmas collectors. (Photo re-printed courtesy of the Illawarra Mercury)
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