Fred Fawke says when he was a superintendent in the Australian Federal Police he was nicknamed the "waste control officer". He hated things going to waste and always found a way to repurpose what he could.
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Fast-forward a few years later and Fred, now 75 and retired, is a dedicated volunteer with the Belconnen Rotary Club, still trying to avoid waste and meet a need when he sees one.
"I joined the police force when I was 22. It's about service and that's what Rotary is about," he said.
Fred has also turned out to be something of a masterful negotiator, artfully sidestepping bureaucracy and unnecessary process to deliver very practical solutions to need in the community.
He rehomes medical equipment such as wheelchairs, shower chairs, hospital beds, walkers, whatever may be, when they have become technically obsolete but are still usable. Or just need a bit of tinkering to get right again.
They come from hospitals and nursing homes and other medical facilities.
Under the auspices of Rotary, the equipment is shipped overseas as far away as patients in Sri Lanka. Other items such as wheelchairs have gone to an indigenous community in Moree. Locally, a former hospital bed has gone to someone who wanted to die at home.
"The biggest obstacle we have is people don't believe it's a free service," Fred said.
One of the organisations which appreciates Fred's help is Technical Aid to the Disabled ACT (TADACT), a volunteer-based, not-for-profit outfit.
Its team of volunteers design and manufacture unique equipment tailor-made to children or adults with a disability and older people to help make their life a little easier and more comfortable.
But they also refurbish a range of second-hand equipment including motorised scooters, bathroom aids and walkers for sale to help fund the organisation.
That's where Fred comes in - bringing items to TADACT that can be reused and taking away items they can't place but which could assist someone else in the community.
He's often assisted in the pick-ups and deliveries by his 19-year-old grandson Kyle, who has his own succinct description for what TADACT does: "It has answers for very specific equations".
TADACT chief executive Julie Lobel said the service Fred - and Kyle - provided was part of a "philanthropic life cycle that blows my mind".
"It's recycling and re-using and getting things to people who need them," she said.
"Without Fred we couldn't continue to be, in many respects. We've got to have donations of things to sell to people who aren't funded [by the National Disability Insurance Scheme]." TADACT also often gave away items to people waiting for or unable to access NDIS funding.
Fred said Storage King at Belconnen donated to Rotary storage space and the use of a truck to make the local deliveries of medical equipment, which was critical.
And he has a poignant message for anyone who tries to put any limitations on older volunteers: "We've got a worth. Don't take it away from us".