By Eleanor Wilson
She may be a full-time teacher and mother of two, but Liesel Kippen’s influence stretches far beyond the classroom.
Working tirelessly over the last three years, the Berwick resident has worked to raise $17,850 for the homeless community – earning her the inaugural Casey Woman of the Year Award at last week’s 2023 Casey Community Awards.
From bringing bread rolls for her students each Wednesday, to volunteering at local opportunity shops and coordinating a sleep-out for the homeless fundraiser, Ms Kippen selflessly gives up her spare time for the greater good of the community’s most vulnerable.
“It was during Covid times, during lockdown and people needed food – we had a great need to support the homeless,” she explained.
“We had raffles, online fundraisers, sausage sizzles and a sleep out for the homeless at Akoonah Park.“
She even woke up before dawn every Sunday to raise money for the homeless by selling secondhand goods at Akoonah Park’s markets. The $2000 raised from that project went to purchasing sleeping bags for the National Homeless Collective.
But one of her proudest initiatives was a care day for the homeless during Christmas in 2021.
The day featured a variety of meals, a shower van, free massages, haircuts, manicures and pedicures and Christmas gifts.
For Ms Kippen, the root of her dedication to investing untold hours into helping those in need comes down to her day to day experiences.
“Coming from South Africa, a large proportion of the population are unemployed and live on the streets, so seeing all of that, it becomes part and parcel of life,“ she explained.
“In addition to that, being a teacher, I’m surrounded by kids from a variety of different walks of life and you see the impact of that every day.“
While praise is not what drives her in her volunteer work, she said being recognised as Casey Woman of the Year was a great honour.
“For me it means that all the effort has been recognised and acknowledged… if I can be a role model and keep positively impacting the community to make just a small difference, that’s what counts.
She said she was honoured to be the first recipient of Casey’s Woman of the Year award.
It’s not very often you get that recognition as a female, so its a proud moment that we are being recognised for our efforts and hard work,” she said.
