Twelve-year-old Scout Abbie Kelly from 3rd Broken Hill Sea Scouts has won the New South Wales Volunteer of the Year Award as well as the Young Volunteer of the Year.
The student, who also won this year’s Broken Hill Young Citizen of the Year Award, volunteers for organisations such as Clean-Up Australia Day, Land Care and National Tree Planting Day as part of her Scouting journey.
On top of that, Abbie has written to the Prime Minister and other MPs about banning single-use plastic straws and raised $3,500 for the children’s charity Variety by holding cake stalls to help raise money as a young Cub.
Her volunteering passion began when she was a young Joey. Abbie says “Scouts was the starting point for my volunteering. I started Joeys when I was 6 years old and from that day on Scouts has encouraged me and helped me to find my passion for volunteering”.
In 2017 Abbie was awarded the 3rd Broken Hill Sea Scouts ‘Joey of the Year’ award. As a Joey Scout, Abbie completed her Promise Challenge Badge, which is the highest badge that can be awarded to a Joey Scout.
Abbie has been an active member of the Cub pack and in 2019 was promoted to a ‘Seconder’, a leadership position in her pack of Cubs. With her Scout group in 2019, Abbie participated in the Broken Heel Festival Pride march in support of the LGBTI community.
In 2021, Abbie received her Grey Wolf Award and has also been participating in flag-raising ceremonies and ANZAC Day marches.
Abbie says “Scouts has taught me how to be a true leader and how to make the world a better place. I truly believe in leaving the world better than it was before”.
Abbie’s charitable works will continue next week when Broken Hill community takes part in Abbie’s Crazy Sock Day to raise funds for cancer research charity, Love Your Sister.
Scouts NSW is truly grateful for Abbies’ astonishing achievements and can’t wait to see what else she accomplishes.
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