Ask Sharyn Mackenzie about her life-changing work and she’ll tell you many other people are doing the same.
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The humble 69-year-old, from Corrimal, has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to the community through refugee support.
As a co-founder of Wollongong volunteer refugee aid group SCARF – Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families – Mrs Mackenzie has been a conduit for community compassion.
“It’s my vision, it’s my passion, but it’s a wonderful story of community engagement,” she told the Mercury.
“So many people have made a difference in the lives of resettling refugees because they’ve found a way to do that through SCARF.”
SCARF was formed in 2005 and has changed thousands of lives since. Over the past decade it has seen split families reunited and refugees who arrived speaking no English leaving high school for university.
As refugee entrants are educated about our community and lifestyle, Australians were also learning along the way, Mrs Mackenzie said.
“I think we’ve become much more the global citizen because of that,” she said.
“Some of our original entrants have now graduated from university and are going on to make substantial contributions in the community.
“Seeing people actually see their dreams realised, that’s been very special.”
In 2008, Mrs Mackenzie gave up paid work to volunteer full-time at SCARF. She was manager of the not-for-profit association before moving to a community and volunteer liaison officer role at the start of last year.
“It’s been a lovely journey,” she said.
“It’s not entirely altruistic, we are very much rewarded in return for the connections that we’ve made both with the beautiful refugee community and with the host community.
“I think it’s a lovely demonstration of Wollongong’s generosity of spirit as a community; the way they have embraced an opportunity to engage with incoming refugee entrants.”
Mrs Mackenzie received a Refugee Support Humanitarian Award in 2014, a Wollongong City Council Australia Day community award in 2010 and was given the title of Illawarra Volunteer of the Year in 2009.
She described her OAM as “very humbling”, adding the recognition would be shared among everyone at SCARF.
“I’m being recognised for something that I absolutely love to do,” she said.