Italian Community Volunteer Awards 2021

The 2021 Co.As.It (SA) Italian Community Volunteer Awards were held on Thursday the 13th of May at The Grand Ballroom in Fulham Gardens. Despite the impact of Covid-19, we were grateful to host an event that reflects our usual proceedings for an awards day and this year’s celebration was truly a memorable one.

There were over 200 people in attendance to acknowledge and celebrate all individuals who volunteer their time to support the Italian Community. We’d like to thank guest speakers and special attendees including Adriano Stendardo, Consul of Italy, Peter Malinauskas, Leader of the Opposition, Joe Szackas, Member for Cheltenham and Antonietta Cocchiaro, Deputy Chair SAMEAC.

We were inundated with nominations for our three major award categories and whilst all nominees were certainly worthy of their achievements in the past year, our major award winners are as follows:

Aged Care Service Award
Pina DeGuisa

Pina has been a volunteer at St. Hilarion for 30 years. She is well respected among the residents, and enjoys cooking and baking biscuits and cakes for the residents, to bring a taste of home to them. She embodies the Italian culture through sharing the same beliefs and love of traditional Italian food and events with the residents. She also is involved with working with volunteers and festas especially the Carnevale and other feast days and is an active committee member of the St. Hilarion Society.

Congratulations on a fantastic achievement Pina!

Community Service Award
Dora Taddeo

Dora has volunteered for the Casa D'Abruzzo Club for 31 years. For the past 8 years she has coordinated Wednesday night exercise classes and Friday night Bocce for the older Italian ladies. She has helped successfully create a group whereby these women can exercise and socialise in a friendly environment, helping many who have struggled through the COVID pandemic with isolation. She extends herself to ensure that after each session there are refreshments for the groups, providing them with a time to talk and chat with other members from the group. Dora has a big heart a passion for helping vulnerable groups of people. She gives up her own personal time to ensure the wellbeing of her groups members and takes time out to personally get to know what makes each member happy.

Congratulations on your outstanding efforts Dora!

Lifetime Achievement Award
Carmel Stefano

Carmel has been an active member of the Society of St. Hilarion for over 25 years, and has been heavily involved in the executive committee for the Society, taking on many roles including religious coordinator. She is welcoming and ready to teach the next generation about St. Hilarion history, pastoral care and traditions. She has also dedicated 25 years service to the Western Adelaide Italian Community as Chair to Mater Christi Parish, but still serves as a Eucharist minister and provides support to the parish priest, sisters, ministers of the church and wider community. She always acts with good will and from the heart, and with such a great wealth of knowledge she is an irreplaceable member of the St. Hilarion and valued community member.

Congratulations on an excellent achievement Carmel!

On behalf of Co.As.It (SA), we would like to extend our thanks to everyone who assisted in taking the Italian Community Volunteer Awards to new heights. A special thank you to all of our sponsors on the day, Radio Italiana 531 FM and Radio Italia Uno Adelaide 87.6 FM for their live broadcastings, The Grand Ballroom for their hospitality and all Co.As.It (SA) staff for their dedicated efforts in the coordination of the event. We look forward to celebrating with you all again next year.