We wish to send a big congratulations to LBG’s Board Chairperson, Morrie Goodz, recognised on Australia Day 2022 by the Shire of Donnybrook as the Community Citizen of the Year.
Since his retirement from the mining industry, Morrie’s love of the Donnybrook community in which he lives, and his understanding of the values and lifestyle attributes that people want here, have resulted in volunteering becoming his passion. As such many local organisations, including the Leschenault Biosecurity Group and the Argyle-Irishtown Bushfire Brigade and more, have been the fortunate benefactor of his volunteer services in which he tirelessly provides expertise in management, governance, overall strategic planning and more.
Morrie’s life focus is all about his local community, and he takes on a leadership and mentoring position in each organisation in which he becomes involved. Morrie’s contributions to many area initiatives genuinely make a difference, as he brings extensive expertise, business knowledge and compassion to the community. He believes in the outcomes and benefits these groups give to the community.
According to LBG’s Executive Officer, Ange Pusey, “In his role (as LBG Chair), Morrie is responsible for the governance of the organisation and to ensure we are adhering to our funding guidelines. Morrie does this admirably, however it is humanity that sets him apart. He is so skilled, knowledgeable and professional, but, he is also a caring, compassionate and kind man, who will literally do anything for anybody. His phenomenal knowledge and high level strategic expertise is willingly and skillfully shared with us at the LBG. He will patiently explain, helping people to understand the most complex of issues without making people feel lesser in any way. It is easy to describe Morrie as an asset to the LBG but he is so much more – he is a leader, mentor, critic, advocate, environmentalist, helper, and consistently patient. He sets the standard high for himself and helps the rest of us to reach those standards. He shares in our successes and offers support during the not so good times. I have the most enormous respect for Morrie and truly feel privileged to work with and for him, as he has taught me so much and offers so much to our community.”
His altruism touches a wide span of community members through the different groups, and he really cares, not only about each organisation, but about the people within the organisations. He demonstrates this by making himself available at all hours to community members. He encourages people to challenge themselves, the norm and his ideas, encourages brain-storming, and is very open-minded about including their ideas when problem-solving.
It is hard to say which Donnybrook community group reaps the most benefit from Morrie’s volunteering, as he is fully committed in all roles he takes on. His current community roles are:
- Board Chairman of the Leschenault Biosecurity Group (4 years)
- Has acted in both the Committee Chair and the Executive Officer roles of the Blackwood Biosecurity Group for much of 2021.
- Co-founder and Immediate Past President of the Donnybrook Gourmet Toastmasters Club (2 years), and has now taken on the role of Membership Officer for the club.
- Committee Chairman of the Argyle-Irishtown Bushfire Brigade (2+ years)
- Chaired the New Fire Station sub-committee (2+ years)
- Technical Consultant for the Donnybrook Historical Society on a voluntary basis.
In all roles, Morrie contributes far more than is required, and mentors committee/board members, as well as members of each organisation.
In addition to these roles in our local community, he re-established the southwest branch of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) three years ago. The branch has grown to 235 members, and organises technical presentations on a monthly basis, attracting up to 300 participants. Morrie has also been acting as a mentor for three “Women in Mining” professionals ranging from 22 to 50 years old, who are at varying stages in their career journeys.
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