The WA People’s Choice ‘Spirit of Volunteering’ Award recognises the thousands of unsung heroes who through their volunteering have enhanced the lives of others and the community.

Sarah Kennedy (Philpot, Class of 2005) is a past student of Santa Maria and one of the finalists. Sarah is the Western Australian team leader for the organisation ‘Share the Dignity’.

Share the Dignity supports women and girls in need, all across Australia, providing them with essential sanitary items. There are many women experiencing, or at risk of experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence or otherwise suffering financial hardship and they believe access to sanitary items is a right, not a privilege.

Sarah works full time as an ED nurse and is studying to be a midwife, yet still, she has found time to volunteer as the WA team leader since 2017. Ultimately, she is responsible for how Share the Dignity is run in WA.

She coordinates three campaign drives and all the events that occur in WA each year and leads 300 volunteers. She coordinates volunteers to pick up items donated by the public and deliver them to 282 partner charities; liaises with businesses who want to donate; supports partner charities, and represents WA at a national level within the charity.

In 2018, with Sarah at the helm, the WA team collected 21,153 sanitary items to distribute to women and girls in need.

Sarah encourages an amazing team culture in the WA team where everyone is keen to support each other. This makes Share the Dignity a stronger and better charity so they can help even more women and girls throughout WA during 2019. Her fellow volunteers are always in awe of how Sarah manages to juggle everything so effortlessly and with a smile.