{"id":115384,"date":"2026-05-26T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/?p=115384"},"modified":"2026-05-20T16:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T06:59:49","slug":"volunteer-marilyn-white-recognised-for-raising-more-than-700000-in-food-support-for-health-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/volunteer-marilyn-white-recognised-for-raising-more-than-700000-in-food-support-for-health-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Marilyn White recognised for raising more than $700,000 in food support for health district"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A volunteer who has helped raise more than $700,000 in support of local services was among the award winners at the Northern NSW Local Health District Quality Awards in Ballina.<\/p>\n<p>Marilyn White from Murwillumbah District Hospital, who has volunteered at the hospital coffee shop since 2008.<\/p>\n<p>In that time, she has helped raise more than $700,000 to support local health services through her work as Volunteer Food Supervisor.<\/p>\n<p>The annual awards celebrate innovation, compassion and service excellence across the health district.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/VolunteeroftheYear-M_80629.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"767\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteer of the Year, Marilyn White was recognised for her efforts in food services. Photo: NNSWLHD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Other major winners were Staff Member of the Year recipient Staff Stephanie Pages.<\/p>\n<p>Pages works as the clinical coordinator of the Adult Survivors Program within the Integrated Prevention and Response to Violence, Abuse and Neglect team in Lismore.<\/p>\n<p>She was recognised for her leadership in supporting and mentoring staff, including empowering more than 550 workers through education, clinical supervision and professional development.<\/p>\n<p>A new category introduced this year, the Emblem of Kindness award, recognised staff members for small but meaningful acts of compassion towards patients and colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>Ballina District Hospital Palliative Care Nurse Therese Melton was selected as the district\u2019s representative for the statewide NSW Health Awards later this year after receiving the honour.<\/p>\n<p>Other recipients included Darren Cormick from Murwillumbah District Hospital, Andrew Doueihi from Tweed Valley Hospital, Anna Law from Aboriginal Health and Carmen Spiegel from Ballina District Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>NSW Health secretary Susan Pearce said the awards highlighted the importance of compassion in healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery day, our remarkable staff across NSW Health perform small acts of kindness that make a big difference in the lives of people across NSW,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Emblem of Kindness awards are a simple but powerful reminder every kind gesture, no matter how small, has the potential to make a lasting impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other category winners included initiatives focused on environmental sustainability, Aboriginal healthcare, mental health services, patient safety and healthcare innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Northern NSW Local Health District Chief Executive Tracey Maisey said the growing number of nominations reflected strong staff commitment to improving healthcare services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith twice as many nominations as last year, it\u2019s incredibly encouraging to see strong staff commitment to improving services, supporting colleagues, and introducing new ideas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Winners from the Northern NSW Local Health District awards will now be nominated for the statewide NSW Health Awards to be held in October.<\/p>\n<p>The District\u2019s 2026 Quality Awards Winners in each category are:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Environmental Sustainability<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Joint Winners: Right-Sizing Gas Cylinders: A Sustainable Approach to Reducing Waste in Healthcare, NNSWLHD Corporate Services (Procurement), and<\/p>\n<p>CleanFlow: Sustainable Systems, Nursing and Midwifery, Murwillumbah District Hospital<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2026\/05\/StaffmemberoftheYear_86458.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Staff Member of the Year, Stephanie Pages has been a key contributor to he Adult Survivors Program within the Integrated Prevention and Response to Violence, Abuse and Neglect. Photo: NNSWLHD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Excellence in Aboriginal Healthcare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: Promoting Cultural Safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families, Casino and District Memorial Hospital<\/p>\n<p><strong>Excellence in the Provision of Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs Services<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: Voice to Action \u2013 Embedding Survivor Experience\u200b, Community and Allied Health<\/p>\n<p><strong>Health innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: Keeping Care Close to Home &#8211; Urgent Care Reimagined\u200b, Tweed Heads Community Health Service<\/p>\n<p><strong>Health Research<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: Multi-Purpose Service Dining Experience\u200b, Aged Care, Multi-Purpose Service Network<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keeping People Healthy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: eMR Referral Pathway to the Get Healthy Service, NNSWLHD Health Promotion<\/p>\n<p><strong> Patient Safety First<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: Better Flow, Better Care \u2013 Lismore Base Hospital\u200b, Nursing and Midwifery, Lismore Base Hospital<\/p>\n<p><strong>People and Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: Infection Control Management Processes and Flow in the OT\u200b, Operating Theatres, Tweed Valley Hospital<\/p>\n<p><strong>Transforming Patient Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Winner: ADHD Co-Management \u2013 improving access and bringing care closer to home, Child Youth and Family Network, Planning, Partnerships and Allied Health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A volunteer who has helped raise more than $700,000 in support of local services was among the award winners at the Northern NSW Local Health District Quality Awards in Ballina. Marilyn White from Murwillumbah District Hospital, who has volunteered at the hospital coffee shop since 2008. In that time, she has helped raise more than [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/volunteer-marilyn-white-recognised-for-raising-more-than-700000-in-food-support-for-health-district\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":115390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-115384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Volunteer Marilyn White recognised for raising more than $700,000 in food support for health district - Ballina Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Northern NSW health district awards honour Marilyn White for helping raise more than $700,000 for local health services.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/news\/volunteer-marilyn-white-recognised-for-raising-more-than-700000-in-food-support-for-health-district\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Volunteer Marilyn White recognised for raising more than $700,000 in food support for health district - 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