Shine awards: CWA member Marilyn Mackie from Meeniyan nominated

Marilyn lived through a horror crash, then her husband was killed in a road accident. Rather than live in fear, she threw her all into giving back.

Shine award nominee Marilyn Mackie is a long-time CWA member and community and emergency services volunteer at Meeniyan. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Marilyn Mackie takes every opportunity to give back to her South Gippsland community.

A member of the Country Women’s Association since 1969, Marilyn has always been a rock in the small town of Meeniyan.

“CWA has just been a fantastic thing to belong to because it gives you the friendship and support and feeling of being useful,” said the 76-year-old, who grew up on her family’s orchard on the outskirts of Melbourne, and moved to Meeniyan when she was 18.

“Whatever I put in, I’m getting back as well.”

If she isn’t busy running baking workshops for the CWA, Marilyn can be found helping at the local Meeniyan Dumbalk United Football Club or many other community groups.

Over the past four decades she has volunteered for everything from Scouts to the Red Cross, where she was the catering officer who organised food for response crews at major emergencies, from fires to floods.

Marilyn Mackie. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Her dedication to helping emergency services stems from the support she received from them after two separate road accidents more than 20 years apart.

In addition to running a dairy farm with her late husband, John, the couple for many years owned and operated a coach business.

In 1993, Marilyn lived through a horror highway crash, in which a car transporter ran the coach she was driving off the road.

Rather than live in fear, she threw her all into giving back, particularly to the emergency responders who helped her after the accident.

Tragedy struck again in November 2019 when John was killed in a traumatic road accident at Leongatha.

“I miss him like mad, but then I appreciate I had him as a vital person right up to the very end and I didn’t have to see him have to change,” Marilyn said.

His death robbed her of their shared future, but it didn’t stop her from living to help others.

This year Marilyn has stepped up as her region’s CWA group president and plans to jump into action as soon as Covid restrictions allow a return to cooking workshops and community get-togethers.

In the meantime, she has been doing what she does best – baking up a storm, and supporting the families of her three sons whenever they need it.

Marilyn is a nominee in The Weekly Times Shine Awards, supported by Harvey Norman.