Gallery: RangeCare marks 40 years of neighbours helping neighbours
RangeCare has begun its 40th anniversary celebrations by honouring the community spirit that grew from a small Flaxton meeting into an organisation supporting thousands of older and vulnerable people across the Sunshine Coast and Gympie regions.
Chief Executive Officer Gary Holland launched RangeCare’s “40 Years of Making a Difference to Living” celebration at RangeCare Montville on April 17, welcoming Mayor Rosanna Natoli, board directors Greg Mannion and Leigh Watkins, patron Emeritus Professor Jennifer Radborne, life members, clients, families, volunteers, team members and community partners.
Mr Holland said RangeCare would officially turn 40 in October, with anniversary activities to run over the coming months.
The organisation began in 1986 as the Montville Care Group after local doctor Margaret Griffiths recognised that some of her elderly and frail patients needed more than medical care. “They needed connection, support, and community,” Mr Holland said. “Dr Griffiths believed, and rightly so, that the Montville community could step in and help. That spirit of local people supporting local people remains at the very heart of RangeCare today.”
Mr Holland gave special acknowledgement to Sue Delaney, an original committee member who attended the first community meeting in Flaxton.
There were about a dozen people at that meeting, which led to the formation of the Montville Care Group and laid the foundations for what RangeCare has become. “Sue, we’re grateful for your presence today, and for the legacy you represent,” Mr Holland said. “A legacy that has carried right through to today and supported thousands of people along the way.”
Mr Holland presented Ms Delaney with a Montville Rose grown in the garden of RangeCare Services Manager Kate Danielsen-Jensen.
He also acknowledged board chair Lenore Simpson and life members Ian Rolle, Glennis Barber, Thea Caffin and Daphne Haderup, who could not attend but were watching the live broadcast.
Mr Holland said RangeCare’s anniversary would be a chance to reflect on the people, moments and impact that had shaped the organisation from its early days on the Range to its broader work across the region.
“What I’m most proud of is that RangeCare is more than a list of services,” he said. “We’re all part of something bigger, something that has genuinely made, and continues to make, a difference to living.”
Mr Holland thanked clients for their trust, volunteers and staff for their compassion and professionalism and community partners and local leaders for backing work that kept people connected to home, community and each other.
Mayor Rosanna Natoli congratulated RangeCare on 40 years of service, acknowledging the generations of staff, volunteers and supporters who had helped make the organisation such a valued and caring presence in the hinterland community before presenting lifetime membership badges.
