Merle Wells didn’t aspire to live a life serving others, “it just sort of happened that way”.
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The Stanley resident is one of the Australians who will receive a Medal of the Order in recognition of her work in the community this Australia Day.
Miss Wells said she was very surprised to be nominated for the Order of Australia awards.
“When I first read the letter they sent me I thought, ‘I can’t accept that’,” she said.
Miss Wells is being recognised for her many volunteer roles over the years, especially her 40-year association with Meals on Wheels.
She began delivering meals while she was working as a police officer in 1977.
“I got a lot of satisfaction from knowing that these people were being fed nutritious food and it was enabling them to stay in their own home for longer,” she said.
Miss Wells was a member of the Devonport Meals on Wheels Committee since 1994 and served as president from 2011 to last year.
She also served on the board of Meals on Wheels at a state level and filled the role of state vice-president for three years.
Working with the organisation, she got to know the other volunteers and many elderly people in the community.
“It’s a lovely group of people who all have the same thing in mind. We’re there to help people and get great satisfaction out of that.”
Miss Wells began her volunteer work from a young age.
When she was 14 year old and working her first job at the general store in Stanley, she started visiting an elderly woman to help her take care of the garden and her pet cats.
She spent a short time in Launceston and Hobart and then served as a police officer in Devonport for 11 years before retiring for health reasons.
Miss Wells began to get even more involved with volunteering when her health improved.
Miss Wells was involved in Girdlestone Neighbourhood Watch, was a volunteer at Mersey Community Care and served as chairperson of the Devonport Friends of Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust.
She moved back to the town where she grew up at the end of last year.
She has left her position at Meals on Wheels but plans to find another role to give back to her community.
“I haven’t taken up my volunteering role yet but I have a couple of places in mind.”