This week has been busy and very productive for the club, as you will see.
On Wednesday, our guest speaker, John Dalton, gave us a detailed look into the work of the Blue Light Club, which is organized and run by several members of the Bendigo Police force, mainly in their own time. John has been heavily involved in this program for a number of years, and when you read Jim Rolfe’s full report on the program and its impact on young people, it is truly inspiring. Thanks, Jim, for arranging for John to come along and speak to us again.
On Thursday evening, over dinner at Camp Getaway, it was the traditional night for Rotarians to meet the participants in this years’ RYLA program, which is held there over the course of a week. Our sponsored participant, Joe Deane, of Bendigo Foodshare, was very much enjoying the experience so far, and was looking forward to the remaining two days of this life-changing gathering of young people. This year, there were approximately 30 attendees, ranging in age from 18 to about 23/24, and coming from both metro Melbourne and the country. Joe will be invited to come to one of our meetings in the new year to give us his impressions and thoughts on how the program has impacted him.
On Friday morning and early afternoon, a number of our members, and staunch volunteer Greg McBain, cooked breakfast and lunch on our barbecue at Belvoir Park Golf Club. This was to assist a fundraising golf day in aid of Bendigo Foodshare, sponsored by Bendigo Toyota. From our perspective, the golfers seemed to like our gourmet offerings, with plenty of appreciative comments. We don’t know how our team performed, but no doubt next week we will hear about some great shots and some bad luck ….. Thanks very much to Kevin Reade and Rob Rosaia for all the prior work they did in getting us organized so we could play our part on the day.
We represented our club at the Foundation dinner on Friday evening 8 December. It was a good opportunity to meet our DG and AG as well as past DG Grant Hocking who delivered a presentation on the important work of Foundation and the impact it is making. Our club was recognised as a Level One Rotary Foundation Donor for its generous annual contributions to Foundation. It was an honour to receive an associated certificate on behalf of the club. (See certificate below).
We have secured a meaningful amount of clothing – 2 pallets in fact - from the Donations in Kind warehouse in Melbourne, for us to distribute as we see fit. These goods are not to be sold, but responsibly given to those in need. John Cannon and Graeme Lynas will have more detail to give us on Wednesday at our club forum. However, please start to think about those groups, schools, organizations or individuals you may be aware of that could benefit from new clothing. Bring these ideas to the forum, please, for discussion and quick action prior to the holiday season.
- Co-Presidents Adrian and Ray
