CLRS life members: Dave Callanan and Kathy Kostoglou.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
It was a shock and a delight for Kathy Kostoglou and Dave Callanan when it was announced at Community Living & Respite Services’ annual general meeting that they would be given life membership.
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“We were all sitting down and someone said, ‘Now, life membership awards’, and I’m thinking there’s only one person this can be, and it’s not going to be me,” Mr Callanan said.
“I thought it was just going to be Kathy.”
With all of the work they’ve done with the committee and their combined multiple decades on the team, such a title should come as no surprise.
Mr Callanan has been involved with CLRS for about 10 years and has helped raise money to build multiple houses.
He said he got involved when he moved to Echuca and wanted to be part of something positive.
“I’ve been a school teacher and a school principal and I’ve done lots of things. I came up from Melbourne here to sort of semi-retire, and I saw an ad in the paper that had ‘volunteer wanted’,” he said.
“So I talked to them here, and I said I just want to be able to help people if I can and make a difference about things. They said, ‘You’re not leaving this room until you sign up’.”
CLRS life members: Dave Callanan and Kathy Kostoglou.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Ms Kostoglou, who has been part of the CLRS volunteer team for even longer than that, since 2009, said that seeing the reaction of the parents of the people they help house is her favourite moment.
“My emotional moment is always when I see a mum and a dad and they’re dropping off their 40- to 50-year-old child in their forever home,” she said.
“Sometimes caring for that person has become a full-time job, and to see them let go because their child is with beautiful workers in a luxurious environment and they’re going to be okay. That’s my emotional moment.”
As a local businesswoman, Ms Kostoglou has always prided herself on being entrenched in the Echuca community and has always tried to give back.
“This area is our family, and if one business is not doing right and these people aren’t well, it hurts everybody,” she said.
“If we’ve got a thriving community, thriving businesses and people that are together, we are one family. That’s how I sort of see it.”
Mr Callanan said his time in Echuca had been special and that he had built a real home base in the town.
“Echuca is a magic place for people to move to. There are so many opportunities for people to be supported and to give back if that’s what they choose to do,” he said.
Ms Kostoglou said it didn’t really hit her — that she was a life member and what that meant — until she saw the other life member photos hung up in the building.
“It just occurred to me when I saw those photos that we’re going to be recognised as life members,” she said.
“The things that we used to look up to for those people other people will say of us. I think that’s pretty cool.”
