Vollie Spotlight: David Tea
If it was possible to be a professional Vollie, Tea would be one. Having completed projects with NFPs like Shine Cambodia, the Social Innovation Network and Care to Compare, the digital marketer has an emphasised skill set in SEO/SEM, analytics, ads and more. We spoke to Tea about his volunteer journey and how he came to link up with Vollie.
I’ve been doing volunteering work ever since I was in high school. During that time, it was part of the school curriculum and although I thought it was nice to help the community, I only really started to feel that my help as an individual was really valued and appreciated when I was volunteering in the Jeans for Genes day national charity event. I spent the entire morning and night asking the general public in the street in the CBD for donations and was grateful by all the people that were happy to donate their time and give me encouragement. When you’re going around the streets asking random strangers for help, when you find some generous enough to help your cause… it really changes the way you see people and how you take random kindness for granted. It really lifts up your spirits.
I made a New Year’s resolution to get more involved in the community somehow but I didn’t know how. But I realised that I had a skill that I could use and even develop which other people needed. Also, working with other organisations and their teams is the best and fastest way to get experience and exposure working in a team to develop your skills even more. When you surround yourself with passionate and driven people it rubs on you too. So I would encourage people to surround themselves with the right people that can lift them up. I’m glad I met the people I came across on Vollie. They’re now my friends and I feel like they really appreciate my work.
In terms of a cause-related passion, I would like to work with an organisation that deals with providing mental health and support to international students in Australia. There’s a lot of misconception that they’re wealthy and free from pressure, but they can be under a lot of pressure and culturally are afraid to ask for help. I haven’t come across an organisation like that yet, but maybe in a few years after more work with different NFPs, I can learn a few things and maybe even start something myself.