Preparing for uncertain futures: our 2026 Lift the Lid lunch
Professor Jodie McVernon AO spends her working life thinking about things that haven’t happened yet. As Director of Epidemiology at the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, she studies how previously unknown viruses and bacterial infections emerge, and how they might be controlled before they take hold. On Friday 2 October, she spoke to the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club as a guest speaker at our Lift the Lid fundraising lunch.
Her theme was preparing for uncertain futures. It’s a sobering subject, but Professor McVernon’s real interest is in what can be done ahead of time, and she left every table with plenty to discuss. Discuss it they did. The conversation was lively well after she sat down.
The theme suited the occasion. Lift the Lid supports Australian Rotary Health’s work in mental health research, which is a long-term investment in people who may not yet know they’ll need it. Twenty per cent of the lunch’s profit goes to Australian Rotary Health, and the rest funds our own club projects.
The enthusiasm in the room carried through the whole afternoon. Ron Steiner kept things moving as MC, and Jonathon O’Donoghue of Jellis Craig ran the auction, which, with a raffle that included Charlotte’s roses among the prizes, kept every table busy. Our sponsors once again gave generously. After costs, the lunch made a profit of $9,524, and $7,619 of that comes back to the club. As our President, Dorothy Gilmour, put it, that’s money we didn’t have on Friday morning, and it will go straight to work.
None of this happens by itself. Terry Kitchen carried the organisation from the first flyer to the final running sheet. He chased artwork, gathered auction items, briefed the MC and attended to the hundred small details that make an afternoon run smoothly. Doug McLean looked after the money. He kept the books throughout, and within a day of the lunch he had given the Board a full account of what it had achieved. Neither job can be seen from the tables, but the afternoon couldn’t have happened without both. Our warm thanks to them both.
Thanks also to Professor McVernon for her time and her insight, to our sponsors and donors, and to everyone who bought a ticket, a raffle ticket or an auction item.
Uncertain futures are easier to face with money in the bank and friends around the table. On 2 October we added to both.