By Jane Cullen
I want to tell you a story about two Lions, not QLD footballers or the ones that roar but the ones that serve, support and care. Chris and Christine Pullen give generously of their time and energy, despite their Noosa business nearly going bankrupt due to COVID-19.
I first move to Noosa from Newcastle NSW following breast cancer in 2017. I was worn out, tired, and knew no one.
I employed two men to paint my house and do odd jobs. Steve and Frank talked about the Tewantin Noosa Lions Club and seemed to love their volunteer community work.
I had done my share of volunteer work, Pets as Therapy in Victoria and Meals on Wheels in NSW. The last thing I wanted to do was volunteer. I was burnt out and exhausted.
For 2 years I resisted. One night I got a call from Bev, the Tewantin Noosa Lions Club Membership Officer, to attend an information night. Several members spoke about their Lions story and why they joined.
Christine Pullen got up to speak. Her husband Chris had been a member of Lions for 29 years, joining in Altona Meadows Victoria in 1991. Both had a strong family history of volunteering. Christine joined the Lions in 1997 and shared that volunteering was a way of life for them.
Christine and her husband Chris work 7 days a week managing a tourist resort in Noosa. Lots of people volunteer their time in the community, yet what struck me that night, was this couple volunteered for the Lions Club on Sunday afternoon, their only time off.
Christine spoke with commitment and confidence. “Give 100% or don’t do it!” Yes, they had a choice … watch TV, rest, go for a walk along the beautiful Noosa beach.
“I want to help people less fortunate than I am” explained Christine. This lady genuinely cares. I began to cry. By the end of the night I joined the Tewantin Noosa Lions Club.
I want to tell their story.
“It’s what we do…”
Chris and Christine married in 1974 and had two girls, Erin and Melinda.
Chris has had a variety of jobs from plumber, contract driver, welder, kitchen installer, storeman, and furniture maker. His family were always involved in volunteer work.
He was on school council from 1979 to 1991. He joined the Cubs at 6 years old, went onto the Scouts and became a leader in 1997. Chris received the Queens Award for 19 years’ service to the Scouts. In 2004, Chris earned the Rotary Award for Excellence in Community Leadership. In 2006 at the age of 54 Chris won the Citizen of the Year Award for Hobsons Bay Council. Christine had a long history of volunteering within her family too. She had worked in insurance, as a nanny and as a Brownie leader for 10 years in Victoria.
Chris was presented with a Distinguished Service Award for 25-30 years of Scouts volunteering.
“Community Service – it’s a way of life for us”
Chris and Christine had wanted to own a motel, a bed and breakfast or a caravan park for over 30 years. They were drawn to the social and communal appeal of interacting and working within the local community.
With the children grown up, Chris and Christine decided they needed a change. Moving from Victoria to Noosa was a common dream for many southerners. They fell in love with Noosa and bought management rights to a resort at the end of 2009.
Arriving in QLD on Sunday 14 February in 2010, they went to their first Lions club meeting on the Tuesday 16 February. Yes, within three days, they had joined the Tewantin Noosa Lions Club.
Keen to be actively involved and committed to service are understatements. They managed to sell their family home and two investment properties in Victoria in one month to afford their new lifestyle choice. Working 7 days a week from 8-5pm, the phone ringing with inquires during the night were part and parcel of the deal.
Christine had no management skills but knew they would be ok at she was organised, and Chris was handy. Their new life began.
It didn’t take long for Chris to win the Melvin Jones Award (Lions founder) in 2010. This was the Lion’s Club highest award for service to the community. Since joining, Chris has been president of Tewantin Noosa Lions Club in 2012 and 2015 and has been a board member.
Christine has her own list of Lions accomplishments. For service to the Lions Club she was presented with the Mary Jamison Award in 2000. Christine has also been president, treasurer and a board member for the Altona Meadows Lions Club.
“We are all in this together” COVID-19
Working for 10 years in their Noosa tourist business, Chris and Christine spent any spare time volunteering for the Lions. How they did this, is a miracle in itself yet they were always happily present at meetings, sharing, joining in, often being the first to put their name down for the next volunteering gig. They had two breaks in the last 5 years, seeing their grandchildren in 2019, and visiting Yeppoon with the Lions to support our famers.
The world had never experienced a pandemic of such intensity with COVID 19 affecting every human and every country worldwide. In Australia, deaths, high numbers of people with the virus, second waves of infection, closure of state boarders, loss of economic security, inability to see and hug loved ones, loss of jobs and income, changes in the way families live, lack of freedom to move and travel as we once did.
In QLD, Chris and Christine’s income stopped overnight. All their eggs were in one basket, their resort. They lost 75% of their income, no bookings, no calls, nothing. Silence was not golden. Due to boarder closures, Easter bookings vanished. Reservations for the school holidays, Anzac Day and Labour day weekend, disappeared.
The bank loans were frozen for 6 months. The boarders may open later in 2020. Christine went on job keeper, but Chris couldn’t as he was not an employee and didn’t have a job? He couldn’t access job seeker as he had a job… yes you guessed it, classic catch 22.
Victorians, customers from New Zealand many of whom had been coming to Noosa for 20 years were left disappointed and disheartened. A great deal of their clients were return visitors from New Zealand, NSW and Victoria.
Chris’ mood began to change, slowly slipping into hopelessness as his livelihood eroded before his eyes. Chris wanted to just sit and stare at the TV, drink his booze cupboard dry. No one would blame him. Christine felt like she was in shock, not knowing what to do. “…our future was in someone else’s hands… we didn’t drop the ball… we couldn’t fix it!”
Christine cried a lot as she had no control. Bills kept coming, Foxtel, phone bills, internet, insurance, public liability and car insurance. Little money came in whilst outgoing costs were unrelenting. This was their life and they were facing down bankruptcy.
Chris and Christine talked a little but really there was nothing to say. It wasn’t their fault. Chris’ despair started to turn to anger. Speaking to their daughters, they decided they had to adapt, to think outside the box if they were to survive, mentally, physically and financially.
On July 10, the 50km rule then 150km rule changed and the state of QLD opened to itself. By Monday the phone was ringing again, and bookings were taken from Ipswich and Toowoomba. Many regulars rang to offer their support. Queenslanders began to book Winter getaways. Christine’s plan was to show guests a great time, so hopefully one day they would return.
During such a stressful time, Chris and Christine didn’t drop the volunteering ball. No, just the opposite. They rallied, offering to help those less fortunate, participating in Tewantin Noosa Lions Club meetings via Zoom.
This period of great change definitely continues to challenge Chris and Christine. At times they appear to have reached their limits of endurance. Their decision to adapt to their reality, reveal great resilience. In honesty, they have no other choice with the continual QLD boarder closers. The day to day pressures exist. They suffer from not being able to visit their grandchildren in Victoria, worry about losing their livelihood and only asset. Persistent thoughts about how to pay their bills or questioning what their future will hold, creates feelings of fear and anxiety.
Still, they keep going, volunteering their time knowing that there are others who feel helpless and isolated.
2020 has not been a great year for all of us. ‘We are all in this together!’ so the slogan goes. Chris and Christine Pullen actually put that saying into action and give their time and energy to serve and make life a little easier.
Christine is 65 and Chris is 68 years old. They have worked hard and volunteered freely their entire life. They continue to give back to the Tewantin Noosa community with dedication to serve and a genuine commitment to care for others.
I admire them, value their integrity and am honoured to call them my friends.
I know in one phone call they would be there to help. They are strong and courageous.
They are true Lions.
