COVID-19 halted several years of volunteering at Barwon Health for Marg and Mal Smith, so they began feeding the homeless at Lazarus Community Centre instead.
They speak to Luke Voogt about helping out and almost half a century of marriage.
Tell us a bit about you…
Mal: We live in Wallington and we’ll have been married for 50 years in a few weeks.
Marg: And I still like him!
Mal: I was born in Wallington and my parents had an orchard and a 50-acre farm. My father subdivided the land in ’68 and he gave me a half-acre block to build on.
Marg: We met on a blind date in 1969 about a year before we got married. I thought he was kind of nice. He was very polite, sincere and smooth.
We have two daughters and seven grandchildren – three boys and four girls. We’re very active in their lives and love spending time with them.
Mal: I taught 30 years out at Corio Tech starting in ’73. Marg: And I was a primary school teacher.
How long have you volunteered?
Mal: We volunteered for five or six years at Barwon Health until they gave us the bullet with the coronavirus.
I volunteered out at McKellar Centre, mostly as a driver.
Marg: I was at Wallace Lodge and I was what they call a companion – I would go and see older people who didn’t get a lot of visits.
Mal would also help Cor Horsten, whose head was painted on the Fyansford Silos, with the woodwork class there and I would bake a cake so they would have something for morning tea.
We really miss it. We understand why we had to stop but it’s sad.
How did you become involved with Lazarus Community Centre?
Marg: When we couldn’t volunteer anymore, in the thick of the shutdown, a friend of mine Leah was cooking for the homeless because all the outreach centres were closed.
When everything eased up two months ago students from Joeys took over that.
She said, “go and see Michael at Lazarus Community Centre, he needs volunteers.”
I do the cooking and the dishes and Mal serves up and chats – he has a good time while I work hard!
Malcolm has the knack of getting on with people and treats them very kindly regardless of their background or circumstances. That’s one of the qualities I love about him.
I love cooking – my father was a pastry chef.
Mal: At Lazarus they can have a shower, wash their clothes, watch television and have something to eat.
How has COVID-19 affected you?
Marg: It was hard when we couldn’t go to see any of our grandchildren. We’ve got our health and we’re retired, so it hasn’t affected us financially.
While staying at home we’ve been very proactive keeping the wine industry going, we’re doing our bit! We love to travel, unlike now!
What do you like to do locally?
Mal: I play golf at least twice a week over at 13th beach. Marg: I like to go out with my friends for lunch.
What’s something about you people might not know?
Marg: Malcolm doesn’t like chicken and it took him 50 years to tell me!
