Challenge of disability not stopping Kenny for reaching 30 years at work

Known as Kenny at work, Ken Loft recently completed a rare milestone of his life, 30 years of employment.

For the past three decades he has been working through Koomarri, a not-for-profit organization that provides people with disability access to employment opportunities.

In his early childhood Kenny fell down from his high chair which resulted in damaging a part of his brain but thankfully his memory wasn’t affected, however it made him stammer.

He has also had another part time job for 17 years; administration support at DTZ, one of the corporate organizations in the city.

“I have worked at DTZ for 17 years,” Mr Loft said. “I catch the bus to Civic in the morning and then to Woden to come to Koomarri.”

Both DTZ and Koomarri value Ken as an employee, particularly his enthusiasm and commitment to his job.

Both his jobs have different levels of public interaction however despite his disability he likes to do the effort and be interactive with his co-workers. Although he is comfortable to when within the circle of his old colleagues. Still looks up to go to work everyday.

“Ken rarely has a day off, he is friendly and productive,” Koomarri CEO, Miranda Garnett praised.
In fact Ken knows the birth dates of everyone in the Koomarri office and prides himself on getting them the perfect birthday card.

“Kenny remembers my birthday every year and makes sure he gets me the most cheeky and funny card” told one of his colleagues.

At Koomari he works at the pack n post where he packs headphones for an airline and at DTZ he gets the mail sorted and delivered on everyone’s desk in the morning.

His favourite part of work is to seal the headsets for people on planes plus he really enjoys writing tips for the games. “I go for the Green Machine” told Mr. Loft when asked about his favourite team.

“His tips are mostly right” said another co worker of Mr Loft.

When asked about retirement Ken had a simple answer, At 65 or 70 he just pictures himself with a beer watching rugby at his favourite club.