Dianne Sides has been a Research Action Partner (a Burnet monthly donor) since 2007. Here, she shares with us a little about her life, one filled with children, and how she came to support Burnet Institute.
“My husband William and I have been married for 39 years. We lost our only son as a baby but have been very blessed to have had our house full of children most of our married life. We have had foster children, 40-plus exchange students, friends’ children board with us, and we’ve lost count of the amount of adopted grandchildren and nieces and nephews!”
Having trained as a Nurse, midwife and Neonatal Nurse in Melbourne, Dianne had many very happy years working in community and Neonatal Intensive Care until her retirement. At one point in her career she was fortunate enough to visit a friend on a mission station in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
“I was there for several weeks so was able to work in the hospital and learn a bit about the people and their health system or lack of it! I saw the enormous gap between what we had available in Australia and how basic the care was in PNG.”
Dianne was brought up by parents who were very involved in the community. So, volunteering has been part of her life since she was 14 years old. Currently she’s chairperson of a NFP organisation in Boroondara, a Consumer Adviser at Monash Health, and has also been a Rotarian for many years.
“I remember hearing a speaker from Burnet at a Rotary meeting. I was impressed by the talk and did some research on Burnet. I liked the feeling of the organisation and particularly the work with mothers and babies. Burnet appears to me to be very open to share and work with local people. The researchers are also available to share with donors. As a donor this makes me feel I am really appreciated.”
Dianne and her husband consider themselves fortunate in that they’ve had continuous employment, as well as their own business, and it is this that has allowed them to give back to the community.
“We believe if we can help some person, or some organisation, no matter how small, we will. It’s not about a thank-you as many of our donations are kept anonymous, it’s just about being able to maybe make a small difference.”