At just 20 years old, Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ) Burdekin volunteer Logan Hutton is already helping keep his local boating community safe – while continuing a family tradition stretching back decades.

This National Youth Volunteering Week, MRQ is celebrating young volunteers like Logan who are stepping forward, learning new skills and making a difference in communities across Queensland.

For Logan, that journey started long before he was old enough to officially become a volunteer. His dad has volunteered in marine rescue for around three decades, meaning Logan grew up around rescue boats, crews and the close-knit community behind them.

As a kid, he would help mow the unit’s yard, spend time with volunteers and join the crew at local community events. So, when Logan turned 18, becoming a volunteer himself was a natural next step.

“I’ve been volunteering for about two and a bit years now, since the day that I was 18,” Logan said.

Today, he describes himself as a bit of an “all-rounder”, contributing as boat crew and on the radio at MRQ Burdekin.

It’s a role that fits naturally with Logan’s life outside MRQ too. He works as an apprentice boilermaker for a local boat builder and has spent much of his life around the water in a region where boating is an important part of the community.

But for Logan, one of the most valuable parts of volunteering is the opportunity to learn from people who have spent decades serving their communities.

“The older generation are trying to hand their experience down to us younger generations, to keep the organisation going and keep helping everybody else,” he said.

That passing of knowledge is particularly personal for Logan.

Many of the volunteers he now serves alongside have known his dad for years, sharing stories of past rescues, experiences on the water and the achievements of crews who came before him.

It reflects the strong sense of family at MRQ Burdekin, where several generations and families volunteer alongside each other with the same goal: helping people return safely from the water.

No two days volunteering are quite the same. Whether training, responding as part of a crew or learning more about the local boating community, every experience brings an opportunity to develop new skills and learn from the people around him.

“Every time we go out on the boat, it’s something new,” Logan said.

“You learn new things that you’re never going to learn anywhere else, and everyone’s here to help.”

National Youth Volunteering Week celebrates the energy, ideas and impact of young volunteers across Australia. This year’s theme, Your Year to Lead, recognises that leadership can start simply by showing up, taking action and making a difference.

For Logan, the message to other young Queenslanders considering volunteering is even simpler.

“Just do it. You won’t regret it,” he said.

“Every day is a different opportunity.”

Ready to make a difference in your community? Join the MRQ crew and register your interest in volunteering today.