Volunteers are those who selflessly contribute their time, effort, and skills. Filling out such roles as coaches, managers, officials, administrators, board and committee members, these people are often the glue that hold our community together.

On a week that highlights the importance of volunteers, Melanie Brazendale’s name is at the forefront.

Six years ago, Melanie, alongside her family, walked into the Moreton Bay Suns Basketball stadium.

“The people around us were very inviting and very supportive, it just had such a family vibe about it and that was something we loved,” said Brazendale.

Her husband quickly became a branch manager, before taking on the role of Junior coordinator at the club.

“I spent a lot my time helping him out where I could,” she said.

Known by many at the at the Moreton Bay Suns for her organisational skills and willingness to lend a hand, it wasn’t long before Melanie became more involved.

“I remember the club needing helpers and I had the time and I enjoyed being around the club and around the people, so I decided to start helping and I’ve just never stopped.

I just wanted to help run things smoothly, keep people happy, keep people wanting to come here,” she said.

Melanie began as branch manager but has most recently has fallen into the role of Rep Coordinator, a position she hopes to keep for years to come.

“It’s a lot of communication; emails, making sure people know how to register and all that sort of stuff, complaints, it’s a lot of everything,” said Brazendale.

But she says it’s the people around her that make it all worthwhile.

“The support from members of the board, other branch managers and our office ladies have made a huge impact on me continuing to volunteer.

We all help and support each other which makes a huge difference when there’s only a small number of people doing a lot of tasks,” she said.

Melanie highlights the importance of volunteers at the Suns and the need for more to sign on.

“We got a really good culture happening at the moment and I’d really love to see more people get involved,” said Brazendale.