Each week at Olive Way, we are joined by a wonderful group of volunteers who come from many different places. Some belong to other churches, while others do not come from a Christian background but share our commitment to hospitality, compassion, and community. Because many of them are not part of our Sunday congregation, we do not always have the chance to meet them at church. So, over the coming months, I’ll gradually introduce you to some of the volunteers who serve alongside us. This month I’m introducing the delightful Angela Di Natale.

Angela’s Story

Some of you may recognise that surname, Di Natale. Angela is, of course, the mother to the former Greens leader, Richard Di Natale. Her daughter, Deborah, is the CEO of the Council to Homeless Persons. She’s been volunteering with us for four years this September, having joined us at the tail end of the COVID lockdowns. It was her brother in Daylesford who encouraged her to do something to keep herself active, to get out of the house, and keep herself busy doing whatever she could manage. So, he did a bit of research and found the Olive Way, which wasn’t too far from where Angela lived, and got her in touch with Ruth.

Angela says that most of her friends are from the Italian community, and all at similar age and stage as herself. She migrated to Australia when she was very young, having come from a small village in the South of Italy. She grew up most of her life in Australia, consequently she doesn’t rate her Italian very well. She spoke a local dialect and didn’t have much schooling in Italian before coming to Australia, but she understands it very well. Her husband Paul was passionately Italian and came to Australia when he was 29. Paul was older than Angela, and in recent years he became increasingly frail. Having a break from caring for him was what initially prompted the idea of volunteering for us. Paul moved into a nursing home at the end of 2024 after a couple of falls and some surgery. He died only last year after a short battle with Influenza A.

Angela misses Paul but has been able to keep herself busy by volunteering, catching up with and hosting other Olive Way volunteers at her house, and keeping up with the grandchildren and her extended family. She likes to keep her hands busy, whether it’s cooking, sewing, crocheting, knitting (often staying on from Olive Way to join in with the Multicultural Women’s Sewing Group), or catching up with fellow seniors at the local Neighbourhood House. She’s well loved by our guests, and I love watching the way she greets and chats to some that she’s gotten to know well, always greeting them with a warm, friendly smile. She’s fit and healthy (perhaps owing to her many years where she was a self-described ‘gym junkie’), and you’d barely know she was about to turn 80! What a delight it’s been to have her on board. We love Angela.

Peter Blair
Olive Way Pastor