Noyea Riverside's Ep Lammers is no stranger to volunteering.
Throughout his working life, Ep Lammers was a member of his local Rotary Club and spent weekends running cash–for–can collections.
Now, at the age of 83, he spends two or three days a week mentoring disadvantaged young people.
‘Braking the Cycle’ is a Queensland-wide program run by Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) that helps 16–to 25–year–olds get their licence so they can find work.
Last year, the program had a 97 per cent success rate.
Ep has around 100 students every year and said the program is about more than just teaching them to drive.
“These kids have no money, no family, nobody to support them,” Ep said.
“They can talk about their problems with us, and what we talk about in the car stays in the car.”
When he’s not busy mentoring, he steps into the driver’s seat of the PCYC bus as part of a before and after school care program.
“We constantly have a minimum of 50 kids and we run two buses twice a day,” he said.
“We give them breakfast and then we take them to school and then pick them up from school and give them some afternoon tea.”
According to Volunteering Australia, the average volunteer donates 136 hours per year.
Ep gives more than 900.
His extraordinary dedication was recently recognised when he was selected to be a Commonwealth Games batonbearer in the Queen’s Baton Relay.
He carried the baton through Beenleigh on 1 April, flanked by a police escort and cheered on by his neighbours at Noyea Riverside.
“I can’t even describe it—it was magnificent.
“It was the experience of my life and I’m proud to have been chosen.”
Not taking any time off to celebrate the occasion, Ep was back at PCYC Logan at 6:30am for his usual Tuesday shift.
“I wanted to get back and do the work,” he said.
“It’s very rewarding, helping the kids to get their feet on the ground—that’s why I do it.”
