WHEN she received the letter saying she was to be awarded the Order of Australia Medal, Norma Thorburn's first reaction was disbelief.
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"Why me, when there are so many volunteers out there who do such a great job — especially our fireman?" she asked. But since then she has been thrilled with her OAM.
The mother of one, grandmother of one and a great-grandmother of a one-year-old is kept busy five days a week teaching computer skills to seniors at Kogarah School of Arts.
The school was her idea back in 1999 when she was brushing up on her own computer skills at the University of the Third Age st Gymea.
"We didn't have anything like that in Kogarah so I asked the council for help," she said.
She got a cheque for only $600 but luckily Kogarah MP Cherie Burton added $5000.
At least 100 seniors came to the inaugural meeting. They began with four classes a day and there was a waiting list.
About two years ago, the numbers seeking desktop computer skills began to dwindle as laptops and iPads began to take over.
No problem! Mrs Thorburn organised classes for laptops, iPads and androids and is about to embark on a letterbox drive to get the student numbers up.
Mrs Thorburn began her voluntary work in 1983 when she began the weekly Variety Show on Radio 2NBC, which she did for 25 years.
She got into more community work after 1996 when she gave up her job as Kogarah Meals on Wheels co-ordinator and joined Kogarah Carlton Senior Citizens.
"When you have an opportunity to do that [community work] you should seize it," she said.
"This is a great country and we all have a great lifestyle here, so if you have the opportunity to help it's just handing something back to the community."
