That was Lyndon Khune's motto when he started volunteering at the Dimboola CFA branch 16 years ago.

Volunteering was imbued in Mr Khune at an early age, he remembered being taught by his parents the need to give back to the community which raised him.

"My dad had a great saying, 'anyone can pick out a problem, anyone can point out that something needs fixing, but it takes a very special person to say that I'll do that'," he said.

"It takes a little bit of effort and a little bit of community spirit to get off your tail and do that. That is what we instill in ourselves at all times."

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Born and bred in Dimboola, Mr Khune worked as a boilermaker for 16 years until he made a career change into teaching.

Since 2009 he has worked as a teacher at Horsham College, teaching product design and technology, metalworking and woodworking. He also teaches VCAL classes and coordinates the school's VET program.

He said the skills he acquired as a boilermaker and teacher had helped him in his CFA career, and vice-versa.

"That is the beauty of the CFA by its nature. You put together a bunch of volunteers who have a broad background and broad experiences," he said.

"Sure, there are a heap of skills that I've got that have helped with my time in the CFA, but having said that my involvement in training and being a senior member of the brigade has helped me in my everyday life too.

"You do bring a lot of skills in and that is the nature of the CFA. But you get more skills out of it than you bring in most times."

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Dimboola's CFA brigade averages 40 - 60 callouts a year, and responds to a diverse number of incidents.

Mr Khune said Dimboola had a unique landscape, with the Little Desert national park on one side, broad acre farming land on the other, and the Western Highway through the middle.

"A lot of people think we go out and put the wet stuff on the red stuff, but we get a lot of other calls; car accidents, structure fires, haystack fires, all sorts of things," he said.

Mr Khune said he volunteered for two main reasons; to give back to the community and to take himself out of his comfort zone.

"If I ever need somebody to drag me out of a house or pull me out of a car crash I would expect someone to do it for me. It goes back to my ethos and what I was always taught as a kid, why don't you be that person to do that. That is why I volunteer, because I find it is really important to do that," he said.

"It also takes me out of my comfort zone. There is nothing like being woken up at 3 o'clock in the morning and going to a situation that everyone is running away from and you are running towards to sharpen your senses and take you out of your comfort zone."

Mr Khune's wife and 24-year-old son also volunteer for Dimboola CFA, with the family often responding to the same incident.

Beyond his work with the CFA, Mr Khune is a life member at the Dimboola Roos Football Club, having played more than 400 games for the team.

He encouraged people to try their hands volunteering at the many volunteer organisations around the Wimmera.

"Really consider volunteering, particularly in smaller communities but also for bigger communities," he said.

"Believe me, you get far more out of it than what you put in. At the end of the day, it is a great outlet, a great way to meet people you would never meet, and have a real positive impact on your community."

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