Two outstanding citizens who have served the City of Logan for decades have been named the city's top volunteers.
Gary Hollindale and Joan Clough were crowned joint winners of the Frank Lenz Memorial Award at the annual Logan Loves Volunteers Breakfast on Saturday in front of more than 500 attendees.
Gary has volunteered in the Beenleigh area for more than 30 years, most notably as a member of Rotary and other community organisations.
Joan has been the friendly face greeting and assisting arrivals at the Logan Hospital for 19 years.
Browns Plains Police Station won the Davida Steele Memorial Award for Community Organisation of the Year for its stewardship of the Browns Plains Blue Light Disco Association.
The Logan branch of JPs in the Community won the new awards for Volunteer Community Organisation Services.
This year's competition received a record field of nominations - 27 for the individual awards and 11 for the organisation awards.
Council's Director of Community Services Katie Barton-Harvey paid tribute to all the winners.
"With nearly twice as many nominees this year, picking a winner was tough for the judges," Ms Barton-Harvey said.
"In the end they couldn't split it and I can see why – both Gary and Joan have worked tirelessly for their community and are worthy winners.
"Browns Plains Police Station and JPs in the Community Logan also deserve congratulations for their distinguished service to our city."
Five hundred people attended the Logan Loves Volunteers Breakfast at the Logan Metro Sports and Events Centre on Saturday morning.
Regents Park criminologist Elijah Buol, the 2019 Queensland Local Hero, gave the keynote address.
Gary Hollindale
Gary has been a member of Rotary for 32 years and was previously the assistant Governor of Rotary District 9630, chairman of the Rotary Health Foundation and Rotaract and past president of the Rotary Club of Beenleigh. He was the driving force behind the establishment of the Beenleigh Men's Shed and was involved in transferring the Heck homestead from Jacob's Well to the Beenleigh Historic Village, a project that took over two years and many grant applications. He's passionate about preserving Beenleigh's heritage but friends describe him as very humble and happy to stay in the background.
Joan Clough
Joan has been the smiling face greeting visitors to Logan Hospital for 19 years.
She's always willing to spend extra hours volunteering and is happy to do basic and repetitive tasks, as long as she is helping. Joan trains new volunteers, looks after the hospital lost and found and also helps with administrative tasks, directional questions and often spends time chatting with patients. In 2012, she assisted the hospital in gaining a grant from Logan City Council which assisted in the purchase of feeding chairs and baths for the maternity ward, as well as toys for the children's ward.
Browns Plains Police Station
The Blue Light Disco Committee includes police officers, civilian volunteers and police recruits who regularly organise the discos which provide a police-supervised space free from drugs and alcohol for youths aged 14 and under.
JPs in the Community
With 79 dedicated volunteers across 11 sites in Logan, JPs in the Community services the needs of 50,000 Logan residents each year.
