“Today was the Thanksgiving Day of sports”

“My dad is a volunteer worker!” With this sentence, Franz Pichler from Hagenberg was nominated for the OÖN sports volunteer award and presented yesterday at the award ceremony. And anyone who talks to the father of three children knows that this sentence is more than appropriate, that’s how committed the Mühlviertler is.

This sentence also represents the 16 district winners who, like Franz Pichler, won the volunteer award yesterday “Thank you very much!” the OÖN and the sports region of Upper Austria were brought to the fore. The joy of the volunteers could be seen in the happy faces in the room – which was also aptly noted by the evening’s moderator, Dagmar Hager from Life Radio: “They all radiate joy, you can really feel it.”

“What drives you?”

All winners were also asked what motivates them and why they are active in volunteer work. And the answers – see also above – can be summarized in a few words: the value for society; to give something back; to stand up for others; to share these moments with children and young people and a large group.

And what is the reward for these millions of hours that the more than 200,000 volunteers work in the country’s 2,500 clubs? The answer was consistently that it was the children’s laughter, their emotions and joy. But also the experience of what we have in common. “When I see all the coaches and all the children moving around on the field at our youth day, I get goosebumps of joy running down my spine”said Harald Hehenberger, winner of the Rohrbach district. Theresia Schenk from the Urfahr-Environment district said: “I’m happy when I go to a regatta and the children are just having fun.”

Having fun is one thing, volunteering is all about, working for a social cause, people and society is another. A touching example of this is provided by the district winner from Schärding, Günter Dieplinger. He won on behalf of his team, which works for seriously ill people. To do this, he has already walked from the origin of the Inn to Passau, from Esternberg to the parliament in Vienna. He and his team were still tired on Monday because they had come to the award ceremony from a 24-hour charity event for a seriously ill person from St. Roman.

There were more examples of this kind on Monday and more – and there are thousands of them every day across the country. And that is also why the OÖN – with the entire media group Wimmer Medien – and the sports region of Upper Austria show these achievements, which are often hidden. Gino Cuturi, managing director of the Wimmer media company, emphasized: “This prize is awarded by the entire media company – we give publicity to those who deserve it.”

Thomas Arnoldner, deputy editor-in-chief of the OÖN, also appreciates the value of voluntary work, after all, he once headed the sports department of the OÖN: “Otherwise it is always said that time is money, but when it comes to volunteering it is different. People invest their time in society. They keep a ‘work’ going that wouldn’t otherwise work. They give children and young people a feeling of community and give them self-confidence for life. This is an achievement that deserves applause – in the form of this honor.”

“Joy comes from the heart”

Sports and Economics Councilor Markus Achleitner (VP) was also happy that evening. Are for him “The volunteers are the good soul of sport in Upper Austria and this event is the high mass of volunteerism. When you look at the faces of the people here, you see pure joy, it comes from the heart. At the moment, no one thinks about the many hours and days and weeks that they invest. This is also typical of Upper Austria.”

As a sports councilor he is “proud and grateful because what we sow, what we invest in sports facilities, comes back. This seed is sprouting – today was the Thanksgiving of sports.”

Many of them serve as harvest helpers “volunteer workers” in the country.

The volunteer award is awarded annually in cooperation with the media from Medienhaus Wimmer – OÖNachrichten, Life Radio, TV1 and Tips – as well as Sportland Upper Austria.

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