SPRING has sprung and I haven’t yet been pecked on the cranium by an angry Collingwood mascot.
The days are warming up and the rains abating.
Last month, there have been some very cold and rainy nights and on one of those cold, wet nights I was out and about for a few hours with my teenage daughter as part of the Australian Red Cross Soup Patrol Service.
My daughter was volunteering to fulfil her community service activity organised by her school.
This night we were doing the Fremantle soup patrol with another dad and daughter team.
We picked up the donated soup and bread from Hollywood Hospital and launched into the inhospitable night.
At each designated stop, as the rain fell and wind blew, men and women of all ages emerged from the darkness.
It was with some disbelief and trepidation that my daughter and her classmate filled the paper cups for these West Australians.
The men had proud, almost defiant looks in their eyes.
They just seemed to be blokes who had hit some sort of hiatus in their lives.
There was a verbal “thanks” but no sense of humiliation.
All up, we served about 60 cups of soup and 15 loaves of bread to 25 people who literally vaporised back into the night once they had their steaming cups.
There are people reading this column who think, “Yeh, maybe one day, when I retire, I might do some community work …”
You don’t have to wait until you retire to get involved.
Just do it. For more information got to www.redcross.org.au.