Living Treasure
Marjorie Smith grew up in Benalla, Victoria, studied in Bendigo, and worked as a primary teacher in Tallarook where she met her husband. They moved to Dandenong in 1959. She has two daughters, one son and six grandchildren.
In 1962 Marjorie and a friend began a Girl Guides district in Dandenong North and was President for five years. Marjorie believes it is a wonderful movement and gives young girls a lot of good challenges and good standards to live by.
Marjorie was also a Treasurer of the Dandenong Legacy Widows Club, which assists families of men who have served overseas in any war. Her support for war veterans and their families extends to her involvement in the RSL Whirlybirds social club which is open to everyone.
Marjorie has performed community work over the last twenty-five years for a number of different charity groups. This includes working as an elder with the Dandenong North Uniting Church, which included the duties of playing the organ and being the Church Council Treasurer. She has been involved with the Church funded Dorothy Bailey House that provides supported, independent accommodation for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Marjorie has worked in The Church’s Outreach Program, and an Opportunity Shop opened in 1975. She was on the Auxiliary of the Trewint Nursing Home and also a Uniting Church facility for two years.
With years of fundraising experience, including the annual Red Cross Door Knock, Marjorie is convinced that it’s not how much or how little you can give, it’s the fact that you can give at all; and she believes everyone has this capacity.
Although Marjorie believes that governments have increasingly taken on the responsibility for welfare, people feel less responsible themselves and are less exposed to the needs of people in the community.
It is with Marjorie’s committed and generous ethos that one makes a difference to the community by stepping forward and giving support. Marjorie was awarded the 1993 Senior Citizen of the Year Award and has been selected as a Living Treasure in 2005.