Federal Member for Holt Anthony Byrne MP awarded five belated 2022 Holt Australia Day Awards to deserving recipients for their contribution to the local community.
The winners were recognised last week as they were unable to attend on Australia Day.
Kimbarlie O’Reilly was recognised for service in tackling domestic violence and creating the It’s Never OK initiative.
Ms O’Reilly was hospitalised after she was horrifically assaulted by her former partner in January 2019.
Her partner was allowed to football for Dimboola in 2019 while he was on bail and facing charges for assaulting her.
As a result of the support that he received from his club, Ms O’Reilly launched the ‘It’s never OK’ initiative, which calls on sporting clubs to take a stand against violence.
She is currently talking to clubs around Victoria including in the City of Casey about committing to the ‘no violence tolerance’ policy.
She is campaigning for a national policy which will see players banned from playing sport while they are facing charges of violence, and for convicted players to be banned from clubs altogether.
In June 2021 she was invited to Parliament House to meet with members of the federal opposition to discuss her campaign.
Les Rand was recognised for service to the Pearcedale Football Netball Club.
Mr Rand puts his heart and soul into volunteering for the club.
He is always around the club helping out and providing a positive spirit for all members.
He helps write club grants and helps out with maintenance around the club.
In 2021 Mr Rand was coach of the Dales, which is the Women’s Football Team.
Yaneth Orellana was presented with her award for service to the Spanish Speaking community through Spanish Window Community Services.
Mr Orellana is a welfare worker who works alongside an awesome team of volunteers to deliver welfare services to the Spanish speaking community in the City of Casey.
Spanish Window Community Services (SWCS) was originally known as Ventana Hispana Inc.
The organisation was established in 2008, due to the special needs of the local Spanish speaking community.
Ms Orellana’s welfare work supports individuals and families suffering from crisis or in need of assistance to access services.
Ms Orellana helps to provide to support to many clients each year that suffer from family violence, mental health issues, and support & referrals for international students, to legal services, immigration assistance.
Mr Andrew Pinxt OAM’s recognition was for service to the Rotary Club of Cranbourne.
In 2021 Mr Pinxt was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his years of service to Rotary Club of Cranbourne & was a former CFA firefighter.
Mr Pinxt migrated to Australia from Holland as a 20-year-old and has been involved in Rotary for over 46 years.
At the Rotary club he has been the president twice, community services committee chair, international committee chair, vocational services chair, student exchange councillor and aid project coordinator. Mr Pinxt has worked on many projects at the rotary club, including travelling overseas to help those less fortunate.
Dr Kim Son Vu is the Vice President of the South East Melbourne Vietnamese Association Council Inc (SEMVAC). The service of SEMVAC Helps has been an outstanding success to the South Eastern community assisting the disadvantaged Vietnamese refugees and migrants including temporary residents like students.
Last year Dr Kim Son Vu led efforts to inform the local Vietnamese community about how to get vaccinated and also campaigned for extra vaccines to be sent by the Australian Government to Vietnam.
Poor English and cultural skills often create great difficulties in their normal living activities.
Each year the service records over 3000 cases of clients requesting assistance. These ranged from general inquiries to specific topics of Legal Aid, Centrelink, Citizenship, Housing, Employment, Immigration, Superannuation and Medicare.
As a local health professional it has been an extremely difficult last two years dealing with Covid-19 but Dr Kim Son Vu has been keen to help in any way to assist people in need. His key message now to the local Vietnamese Community is get your Booster Vaccine now.
