Camden celebrates its finest citizens

Camden has celebrated Australia Day and its acknowledged its finest achievers at an Australia Day ceremony today.

Steve Cooper near Chellaston Park along the Nepean River in Camden. Picture: Carmela Roche

Camden has celebrated Australia Day and its acknowledged its finest achievers at an Australia Day ceremony today.

Some of the region’s outstanding citizens were selected for awards, including Camden Community Garden committee president Steve Cooper who was presented with the Citizen of the Year award.

International UFC fighter Rob Whittaker, a Camden local, won the Sports Achievement Award.

List of the Camden winners:

Community Event of the Year

The Camden Show Society Inc is a not for profit volunteer organisation that is one of the oldest community organisations in Camden. It has been producing and delivering an annual agricultural show since 1886 with the 132nd show held in March 2018.

The show provides an important rural education event for youth, schools, children and families to learn about the heritage of our area.

Camden Show Society enhances local talent and cultural activities and is committed to the education of others to ensure the future prosperity and agriculture awareness of our region.

The Show Society encourages participation by the community in the annual show and the show is a major drawcard to the area, providing a considerable financial benefit to the community and surrounding businesses.

Each year the Camden Show Society consider how they can further contribute to the community and the various organisations that offer their supports and assistance with the show and the Show Society. This is done by providing a monetary contribution to various groups and in 2018 the Society was able to assist with over $59,000 in contributions.

Arts and Cultural Award

Sana Al-Ahmar is a long-term Camden resident who has a strong commitment and has played a key role in promoting and advocating for cultural diversity. Sana’s tireless work aims to connect community members, new and old.

She is a dedicated person who outside of her work life has continuously volunteered for more than a decade in various programs and projects in Camden.

This includes Council’s Narellan Rhythms Festival to promote cultural diversity. Sana has been instrumental in the festival’s success since its inception showing dynamic leadership and community networking on the working committee.

She has also been a key community representative on Camden Council’s Festival of Lights Committee and has worked tirelessly with the Iraqi community in NSW.

Sana is an integral member of Camden Council’s Cohesive Communities Advisory Group and has been part of it since its original inception in 2008.

Sana draws from her own migrant background and transition to living and working in Australia to be a role model and demonstrate leadership and support to new residents and emerging communities in Camden LGA and the Macarthur region.

UFC middleweight title holder Robert Whittaker. Picture:/Stefan Postles

Sports Achievement Award

Professional UFC fighter Rob Whittaker is aligned with the TAFE NSW — Gracie Aboriginal Pathways program, regularly spending time with TAFE students as part of the program, despite his hectic training and travelling schedule.

The program uses Gracie Jiu Jitsu as a conduit between disengaged youth and higher education, bringing Aboriginal students from all over NSW, including from remote areas, who come in and do certificate studies or a diploma.

Rob regularly comes in and spends time talking to the students about life, fitness and also business. He also allows the students to come to his training sessions as he prepares for his UFC bouts, to show them how he and his team operate, which provides them an insight into the things that make him successful.

It is important for the students, as some of them are totally disengaged, so Rob showing interest in their lives and working closely with them is a massive thing for them.

Camden Youth Council member Joanna Kolevris. Picture: Carmela Roche

Young Citizen of the Year

Joanna Kolevris, 17, of Camden South is an inspiring young woman who dedicates her spare time to helping others in the local Camden community.

She migrated to Australia from Greece about five years ago and could not speak English. Since moving to Australia and Camden, Joanna speaks fluent English and has become a strong young leader for the young people of Camden.

She has been a member of the Camden Youth Council for the past two years. She attends all Youth Council meetings and assists in the planning, co-ordination and implementation of local youth-led events, including Youth Week 2018 and Paws for a Second program.

Joanna is a member of the Camden High School Student Representative Council (SRC) and runs weekly school assemblies as part of her role.

She was recently elected as the School Captain for Camden High School.

She was Camden’s Ambassador for the Multicultural Youth Ambassador Network (MYAN) in 2017 and 2018, as well as assisting with the organisation and implementation of the 2017 What’s Up West Bi-annual Youth Action Young People’s Conference.

Joanna is a current member of the YMCA NSW Young Leaders Team at Mt Annan Leisure Centre and has also participated in the 2018 YMCA Youth parliament Program. She has also co-led the 2018 Advocate for Children and Young Peoples NSW Youth Week Forum at NSW Parliament House in April 2018.

Joanna is also a member of the Youth Macarthur Greeks organisation supporting other young people from Greek heritage living in Camden.

Citizen of the Year

Steve Cooper is an inspirational role model for the many people who have committed to a garden plot within the Camden Community Garden.

Steve is president of the community garden committee and continues to encourage the community’s active participation in the garden. Steve maintains the watering, lawns, maintenance, weeding and trimming.

He operates the community garden stall at the produce market, provides local produce to numerous local establishments, manages the garden chooks and bees and spends hours upon hours collecting bees from all over the Macarthur area to generate the community garden’s award-winning honey.

Steve was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Camden Park Run. He researched, sought approval through council, initiated the run to encourage community health and participation. He has religiously committed to being there every Saturday to register participants and manage the run. The run goes from strength to strength with more families becoming actively involved in the run.