Awards 2014

Mrs Margaret Moore - Howard Springs NT 

Margaret was born in Whangarei in New Zealand's North Island in 1936. When she left school she accepted a position in the Dental area of the Health.

Department. Margaret was introduced to volunteering at a young age when she assisted in Sunday School and sang in the local church choir.

In 1962 Margaret went to Fiji on a work assignment and there met her husband. They

later married in Auckland then moved to Sydney where their first child was born. Soon after, the family was transferred to Darwin where they settled down to enjoy a new life. Then along came Cyclone Tracy. After Tracy, Margaret's husband became a member of the local Lions Club and as the children were older, I became a Lion Lady and my first real taste of community volunteering. Their activities included the early days of the Beercan Regatta, erecting play equipment in schools and parks and with Lions working bees, cleaning up the city and suburbs parks.

Margaret's husband passed away in 1983 and I joined the Casuarina Lioness Club. I spent many happy years here including several stints as Chairperson, afternoon teas at Tracy Aged Care each month, painting the water pipes along the Stuart Highway with the school children, student speech making contests that were run locally and nationally among a number of other voluntary activities.

In 1988 she retired from my position in the NT government and joined Adopt-a-Park Committee. This was truly a great innovation that proved to be very successful both throughout the NT and then nationally. This initiative brought families and businesses together in an amazing activity that brought Fun Days in the Parks, much cleaner and tidier parks, the reduction of vandalism and school competitions run by the Lioness Committee and members with whom it was a privilege to work.

In 1998, I joined the Palmerston Senior Songsters and after Judy Joyce left I took over as coordinator, a task that I still continue with today. We sing at the Nursing Homes, Palliative Care Shopping Centre's, Carols By Candlelight, small business openings Harmony Day and school fetes.

In 2012 Margaret joined the Palmerston and Rural Seniors Week Committee and we annually and successfully run a week of fun filled activities for our 'oldies'. To help finance our activities, we run a raffle at Cazaley's Seniors morning teas which raises around $1,000 and with the support of businesses in Palmerston and Litchfield, the success of the projects is measured in lots of happy smiling faces. What joy!

She also work in a voluntary capacity on the Seniors Advisory Committee which informs the Minister for Senior Territorians of the concerns and needs of Seniors in our communities. She works with the Palmerston Community Wheel each Saturday morning. The money raised goes to Palmerston and Rural community groups needing assistance including Breast Cancer, Space School, CareFlight, Volunteer Drivers, Student Exchange projects, and schools needing equipment for their school vegie gardens. Each Christmas we prepare and distribute Christmas Hampers to Anglicare, Alzheimer’s and needy seniors in the Palmerston and Rural areas.