If you ask 100 Rotarians "what is the problem with Club Assemblies?", 99 will reply "half the members won't turn up"... Well, NOT SO at Surfers Sunrise! We had a near record turnout. Of course, it could also be that people wanted to see a (mostly) recovered President Andy Bell back on his feet after his hospital stay, though still nursing a severely bruised ribcage. ☺President Andy opened the meeting, emphasising that the assembly had to be interactive, with individual committee chairs presenting on their portfolio and discussions (and possibly debates) welcome. First cab off the rank was Fundraising Director Ross Augustine, outlining the current status: Did you know that we need around $15,000 per annum to run our club and those Wheelchair project shed overheads that are to be carried by the club? Many may not know that funds that specifically are donated to the Wheelchair Trust must be spent on purchasing goods to manufacture wheelchairs, before we run any projects and programs or support third parties. Luckily, Ross keeps a tight watch on getting income in (and Treasurer Charles on spending it...). Ross outlined various fundraising activities that are currently running. A discussion evolved around a potential 'Hero Luncheon'. Watch this space!
Wheelchair Chairman Geoff Croad (Photo, with President Andy "in the chair", informed members about happenings at the shed, including his recent arrangement with RARE (Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment) to ship our wheelchairs and other goods to various overseas destinations. Currently, we have raw materials stock for about 150 wheelchairs. Geoff also specifically mentioned the great support we get from the Palen Creek Correctional Centre: to date they made some 6000 wheelchairs and also raised funds by stripping aluminium wheels, which they bring to us for recycling and fundraising. Foremost though is the need for another major project to be decided on and planning to be started.
Dr Elizabeth Celi, our club's new Chairman for The Rotary Foundation (TRF) will attend an interactive workshop, organised by District 9640 on Sunday 17th November at Twin Towns Services Club. Any member of our club is welcome to join her.
Our new Youth Services Director Thomas Robinson, supported by PDG Darrell Brown, announced that we are sponsoring (50% of the total cost) of a National Youth Science Forum awardee. You'll meet Chloe Chan on 30th October, and she'll be our guest speaker in the new year, after she has completed the event. As is customary for our club, we'll support the traditional programs such as RYTS, RYPEN and RYLA.
Membership Director Angus Miller acknowledged that recruiting new members is not easy, Treasurer Charles Thomasson kept us calm: our finances are in good order. With the upcoming Golf Day promising to be a record with some 86 players registered so far, and over $5,000 worth of raffle prizes secured, we'll get some replenishment.
And then we ran out of time... It's one of the (slight) disadvantages of a breakfast club: the meeting closes at 08:30 am, irrespective of whether the speakers have finished or not...