Congratulations to Pauline OAM
Pauline Maniskas OAM of Wamberal for service to the community of the
Central Coast
Pauline Maniskas believes that disabled people
should enjoy full inclusion and has had a 22-year association with Camp
Breakaway, where she has been a Board Director since 2019.
“I started as a personal carer and then moved on to
programming activities and organising campers,” she said.
“When the NDIS came in there was a lot of work and
I’ve been there just about every day for the past three years.”
She is also a founding member and secretary of
Central Coast Disabled Surfers Association of Australia, which started in 2005.
“I had never heard of the organisation but I swim
in the ocean most days and I thought disabled people should be able to do that
too,” she said.
Maniskas is at the group’s regular surf days and
also travels to other branches to help out.
She has volunteered with Our Lady Star of the Sea,
Terrigal, for 30 years and is also a volunteer with Youth Off the Streets. She
said she was “dumbstruck” by the award and accepted it on behalf of every
volunteer on the Coast.