Just in the past week we have this with the floods and terrible wind damage inflicted in parts of Gippsland and in the Dandenong Ranges.

Far closer to home, such events are commonplace, such as the disastrous fires through the summer of 2019-20 that came on top of a run of similar bushfire events in the 2000s.

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Lifeline Albury Wodonga, part of a national organisation that gives people access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services, witnessed the personal toll of those fires.

Lifeline chairman John Brogden remarked during his visit to the Border earlier this week for the Winter Solstice event in QEII Square that 2700 calls a day were being received during the 2019-20 fires.

And about 3300 calls a day were coming in during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. In comparison, Lifeline usually receives about 2500 calls a day across Australia.

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Such statistics bear witness to the crucial role Lifeline plays in helping to address the mental health needs of all who need such support.

But it also demonstrates the special role played by those who volunteer as crisis support workers.

Without them, the national charity simply could not exist.

It's because of people such as Jenny Binovec that those reaching out for support in what for them is a time of absolute crisis are able to receive what is needed to put things back in order.

Ms Binovec makes a three-hour round trip from her home in Wagga to fulfil her duties as a volunteer crisis support worker for Lifeline Albury Wodonga.

It might seem difficult for a lot of us to grasp but she loves what she does, for something she sees as " meaningful and really contributing to people's lives".

It's that kind of selflessness, in the support for community connections it represents, that makes Lifeline Albury Wodonga such an important part of our Border region.

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