General News
9 March, 2023
Ted Fenske retires after a decade on the job
Dedicated volunteer and local resident, 76-year-old Ted Fenske has retired from Maryborough’s Red Cross Patient Transport service after helping the community for more than a decade. After initially volunteering in the program as a driver in 2012...
Dedicated volunteer and local resident, 76-year-old Ted Fenske has retired from Maryborough’s Red Cross Patient Transport service after helping the community for more than a decade.
After initially volunteering in the program as a driver in 2012, Mr Fenske quickly took up the position of convenor for the transport service — and after being in the role for around 10 years, he decided to step down last month.
Leaving a significant legacy behind, Mr Fenske went above and beyond for the community, organising drivers and ensuring that his clients would always make it to their medical appointments, irrespective of the distance — it was this dedication which led to him receiving a Red Cross Service Award and 10-year service medal in 2022.
Mr Fenske moved to Maryborough about 13 years ago, after retiring from his job in the transport industry and joined Red Cross soon after.
“This is the second retirement of my life and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it — being a convenor has been wonderful, I have a lot of wonderful memories,” he said.
“Giving back to the community has been really important. When I came from Melbourne, I looked around and there were a lot of senior citizens who needed help. They needed to get to appointments, to the doctors and hospitals so I thought I’ll join Red Cross and become a driver.”
For Mr Fenske, being recognised for his work comes second to helping people.
“It gives me a lot of pleasure to be able to sit back and think that I assisted people and while I got the award and the medals, I didn’t do it to get those things. I did it because I like helping people,” he said.
“We did it because it was something that had to be done. People needed help and some of them have nobody so we helped them.”
Throughout his time as a convenor, Mr Fenske said the hardest and most challenging period he faced was during COVID.
“We were all sort of locked down and couldn’t do anything — that was really difficult,” he said.
“I used to have people ringing me up and asking if I could help but we weren’t allowed to and that was the hardest part.
“Sitting back here, taking all those phone calls and knowing I can’t do anything was very hard.”
Sign up to volunteer with Red Cross is Mr Fenske’s message to the community.
“If people have got time, please really think about using that time for a good purpose,” he said.
“Should people like to donate a day of their time please contact Red Cross.”
To volunteer or get involved with the Red Cross visit www.redcross. org.au