In support of National Volunteer Week, 15-21 May, leading humanitarian aid agency Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is calling on Australians during National Volunteer Week to roll up their sleeves and make a difference through volunteering in their local community.

The ADRA Lend a Hand campaign aims to ignite people's passion for regularly helping those less fortunate in their local communities. "There are many ways ordinary Australians leading busy lives can still make an extraordinary difference in their community by volunteering," explains ADRA Australia CEO David Jack. "Even the gift of half an hour a month on a regular basis can make a huge impact on someone else's life."

Over six million Australians volunteered their time in the past year, providing important services to the health, community, education, environment, arts, sport and emergency services sectors. Without volunteers many vital services such as refuges, community centres and disaster relief would not be possible.

ADRA Australia is one of the country's leading humanitarian agencies providing community development and disaster relief projects for people in Australia and overseas. ADRA Australia's national program utilises the generous support of committed volunteers in projects such as at-risk youth intervention, refugee support, job-skills training, counseling services and op-shops. ADRA Australia is also fully accredited with the Australian Government's Agency for International Development (AusAID) and is a signatory to the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Code of Conduct.

For more information about National Volunteer Week, an initiative of Volunteering Australia, click here