I was searching for a superlative. “Mother Teresa”? Too corny. Others were too religious, too… whatever. Then I recalled a statement by Sir Clem Renouf, the first Australian to be elected Rotary International President (1978/79) and one of the giants of Rotary. He coined the phrase that “Rotary takes ordinary men and gives them extraordinary opportunities to do more with their lives than they ever dreamed possible”. There were still no women Rotarians in those days. Today, of course, his statement would include women.After well over 3 decades in Rotary, I still marvel at the opportunities I get to meet those “ordinary” people doing extraordinary things. Dianne Kozik is the General Manager of St Johns Crisis Centre in Surfers Paradise. After meeting her and witnessing her presentation, I warrant that she is one of that band of “ordinary” people doing extraordinary things which Sir Clem referred to.
Visualise: on the Gold Coast, there are some 4,000 people homeless, 800 of them youth. They are not necessarily what we look upon as the ‘proverbial beach bum’. They include victims of domestic violence, ordinary people in crisis not necessarily of their own making. Every day, St Johns Crisis Centre provides food, Chemist script vouchers, fuel vouchers, counselling on all sorts of aspects. Where possible, they provide assistance with accommodation (there is never enough). Do you think that’s all? Not by a mile. Check out Dianne’s PowerPoint Presentation (saved as a PDF) in the Download section on the right.
Obviously, St Johns needs not just funding and donations, but needs volunteer personnel, from drivers to cooks to consultants in whatever field you are strong in. Got a couple of hours to spare? You’ll be in good company: our member Mario Fairlie volunteers there, in the capacity of a Director of the organisation.