The meeting this week at Kooyong was an opportunity to present the inaugural Service to Seniors Award to Margot Boyle, a very deserving recipient. Margot in her unique style lead members and guests in a singalong as her acceptance speech. This week’s Bulletin will include further details on Margot’s background and the award.
We had the Mayor of Boroondara, Cousellor Lisa Hollingsworth (left), as our guest and she spoke about support services provided within the local community.
Our guest speaker was Gerard Mansour (below, right), former Commissioner for Seniors and currently President of Winteringham, a not-for-profit welfare organisation created to address the scourge of elderly homelessness.
Gerard spoke about the work he did as Commissioner for Seniors, his current role with Winteringham and how in som
e ways it was complimentary. It is a sad refection on our society that 5,000 people require Winteringham’s support every night to avoid homelessness. All of these people have had a series of unfortunate events in their lives and lacked the family or social support to overcome these problems. Gerard said the positive side was that each person they supported had an improvement in their lived experiences and personal wellbeing.
It was a very full meeting and everyone gained some insights into the importance of supporting seniors in our community.
Announcements
Bunnings BBQ
Saturday 20th April. Please note the date for our BBQ has been changed from 27th April to 20th April at Bunnings’ request. We will need many helpers to make this activity a success. If you could email Terry at terrykitchen57@icloud.com and let her know your preferred time for the roster that would be appreciated. Your duties and other details will be emailed to you. Members’ partners are also welcome to boost our numbers.
Rotary Hawthorn AFL Tipping Competition Update. Round 1 has concluded and the top tippers are Purring (whoever you are), Simon O’Donohue and Richard Logan. Don’t forget to submit your tips for this week’s round.
A reminder about the Taverners Sporting Chance Raffle with the major prize a trip for two to London and tickets to the One Day International at Lords, with a $10,000 Harvey Norman voucher as the second prize. Ticket prices are $5 each and half of the proceeds are given back to Rotary Hawthorn. Tickets can be purchased via the website connection included in this week’s Bulletin.
MHU Care Packs Packing day Tuesday 26th March from 9:30 am. Just a reminder if you are available to join us please let Katrina know and we will be finished in time to join the monthly Zoom meeting after.
The next Club meeting will be via Zoom on Tuesday 26th March at 1.00pm. The guest speaker is Dr Kate Robb Director and Head of Research at the Marine Mammal Foundation. Dr Robb is the Founding Director at the Marine Mammal Foundation, with over 17 years experience researching dolphins across southern Australia. Her research led to the formal description and naming of a new Australian species of dolphin, the Burrunan dolphin. She has also done media work with the BBC, ABC, The Age and Herald Sun.
We look forward to hearing her speak on the work she is doing with marine mammals.
Doug McLean
President 2023-24