Volunteers are the heart and soul of Ripon. Every single day they do so much for our region, and we are so grateful to all of them. I want to give a big shout-out to some special volunteers I have met over the last two weeks. To controller Dylan West and his team at the Ararat SES unit, thank you for always going above and beyond. To captain Rob Haughie and the 52 brigade members of the Kingston fire brigade, I look forward to helping you get the station upgrade you deserve. Thank you to Jenni Sewell and Chrissy Austin from the Creswick Neighbourhood Centre, who are creating delicious free community lunches residents in need, and Alex, Gavan and Alan Holt, Jon Chandler and Michelle and Bruce Hargreaves, who helped make the over $6 million new Donaldson Park complex happen in Wedderburn. That is a game changer for the local footy, netball, hockey and harness racing clubs. A big congratulations also to Dianne Radford and the Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Ararat branch volunteers, who raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Ararat hospital at their annual gala night, and to Adam Liversage, Ben Carey, Bobby Norris and the Woady Yaloak Football Netball Club committee, who raised over $10,000 at last Saturday night’s fun-filled bogan bingo. It is legends like these who have put their hands up to help others, and we would be lost without them.