We had an enjoyable meeting on Wednesday night although due to a few apologies (it's assignment crunch time!) we decided not to have club committees but instead talk about projects as a group.
Community Service
* Amanda has to confirm but we have set a tentative date of Nov 22nd to decorate the Children's Surgical Ward for Christmas. It will only take us a few hours at the moment but it will definitely make a different for the children who have to spend time there in the leadup to and over Chrissy.
* The Sherwood Christmas Festival is the week after on Friday 28 November! This is one of our major fundraisers so it'd be great to have all hands on deck! The money this year will probably go to Brisbane Youth Service which works with homeless young people and young families. The festival is a lot of fun and may or may not include a tub of ice-cream and several spoons ;)
* Emily has floated the idea of developing a calendar to raise money for the local community. At this stage members have suggested donating raised funds to the Milpera art and music therapeutic program for refugee students.
* Jen West from Zonta is coming on October 15 to talk to us about their club's work with the Murri Sisters's Safety House.
* Anti-Graffiti will be cancelled in November and December due to other projects in November and the silly season in December! So please consider coming to the ones on the last Sundays of September and October as they will be our last anti-graffiti mornings this year.
International Service
* Jenna finished her bike ride from Bundaberg to Brisbane and she and her two friends raised well over $750 for Polio Plus! Look out for a blog post soon about the ride. Well done Jenna! You're a star :D
* Richard told us that he actually grew up in Malawi in central Africa and he has connections to an orphanage there. He raised the idea of the club fundraising for the orphange there which we all thought was a fantastic idea. We even floated the idea of putting together a trip to visit and do some hands-on work!
* And our friends Valmor and Marcelo from Brazil told us that their club in Brazil is interested in putting together some sort of joint project and everyone at the meeting was very excited about this possibility!
* Emily has been in touch with Ailsa Hay who works in RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service) to talk about opportunities for Rotaractors to join in overseas volunteer work (like my trip to Daru, PNG last year) - people should talk to Emily if interested.
* Meryll let us know that the Rotaract Club of South Brisbane is co-ordinating a collection for the Uplift Project which co-ordinates the collection and donation of second-hand bras for women in Fiji, PNG and the Cook Islands. Second-hand bras don't attract import duty and give women access to a necessary and expensive item. Women often suffer from a fungal infection due to the tropical climate and lack of support. Bring along any second-hand bras you can collect to Meryll who will pass them on to South Brisbane.
Professional Development
* Michelle McDowall of TickTax Australia will be presenting a mini-seminar at the next club meeting (Wed 1 Oct) on tax preparation and services. Michelle is a CPA Accountant and Past President of the Rotary Club of Sumner Park. If you have any specific questions you'd like answered on tax please email Cat at catherinemcdowall [at] hotmail [dot] com who will forward your questions on to Michelle.
* Our recruiting stand at the Engineers expo at UQ was a great success so Anthony and Sharon will co-ordinate setting up similar stands at a UQ market day. Thanks guys!
Club Service
* It's just under two months until our first birthday - everyone's keen to have a barbeque and drinks to celebrate!
* On the last Wednesday in October we will have a club movie night in the auditorium.
* Our Chrissy party will be on Friday 5 December, replacing the meeting on Wednesday 3 December. We will probably be going out to the Steak House at the Regatta for dinner and drinks.
Until next time!
Showing posts with label community service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community service. Show all posts
19 September 2008
15 August 2008
One Punch Can Kill
The One Punch Can Kill campaign is such a startling reminder that people's lives can be ruined, or even lost, in an instant, simply by one bad decision. I felt this was a really important and positive message to support and to reaffirm the fact that any kind of violence is absolutely not ok. -- Kendal Nagorcka aka Picasso from The Shak.
At the BETS day earlier this year, several of our members were privileged enough to hear Jonty Bush talk. She shared her story as a victim of homicide and challenged us to fight back against violence in our society.
Jonty is the current CEO of the Queensland Homicide Victims' Support Group, an organisation that provides support to victims of homicide, raises awareness about their needs, and aims to promote education and reform .
As part of this education and reform, Jonty, the QHVSG, the Queensland Government and concerned people throughout the state have supported the One Punch Can Kill program. "Every year far too many young Queenslanders are assaulted at parties, in bars and out on the streets. We exist for one purpose: to reverse this. All too often young people are getting hurt or even killed when they are out just trying to have a good time."
06 August 2008
Time for Change
At tonight's meeting Anna Keenan came to speak to us. Anna is a Community Outreach Officer with the Australian Conservation Foundation and an impressive and passionate speaker.
In November 2006 Anna Keenan was the youngest (aged 21) of 85 Australians to be personally trained by Al Gore as part of 'The Climate Project – Australia' to present an Australian version of his now-famous slideshow 'An Inconvenient Truth'.
She is currently the Chair of Queensland's Youth Environment Council and International Coordinator with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Anna actually attended the UN negotiations in Bali for the next phase of the international climate protocols and watched as Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Out of her message, one of hte most memorable stories for me was an anecdote about Bali when the US was blocking proceedings. The representative for PNG, Kevin Conrad, spoke:
"And there's an old saying 'if you're not ready than get out of the way'. And I would ask the United States, we ask for your leadership, we seek your leadership, but if for some reason you're not ready to lead, leave it to the rest of us: please get out of the way." [Shorter YouTube video][Longer YouTube video]
Personally I think there's a message in that for all of us. :)
The take home message that I, well, took home, was that while big, bad things will happen with climate change, we're not yet at the point of no return. We're all in this together and we can all make a change together.
Hopefully we can have Anna come back later during the Rotaract year, possibly to talk about what we can do on an individual and local level if that interests club members. She also explained that Rotaract SWB can become a member of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition so we can also look further into that if members wish.
On a related environmental note, the Community Service committee is trying to organise a guest speaker from the Oxley Creek Catchment Association some time later this year.
Finally, it was nice to see some new faces (and returning new faces) at the meeting, we hope you enjoyed yourself and that we'll see you again soon. :)
In November 2006 Anna Keenan was the youngest (aged 21) of 85 Australians to be personally trained by Al Gore as part of 'The Climate Project – Australia' to present an Australian version of his now-famous slideshow 'An Inconvenient Truth'.
She is currently the Chair of Queensland's Youth Environment Council and International Coordinator with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Anna actually attended the UN negotiations in Bali for the next phase of the international climate protocols and watched as Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Out of her message, one of hte most memorable stories for me was an anecdote about Bali when the US was blocking proceedings. The representative for PNG, Kevin Conrad, spoke:
"And there's an old saying 'if you're not ready than get out of the way'. And I would ask the United States, we ask for your leadership, we seek your leadership, but if for some reason you're not ready to lead, leave it to the rest of us: please get out of the way." [Shorter YouTube video][Longer YouTube video]
Personally I think there's a message in that for all of us. :)
The take home message that I, well, took home, was that while big, bad things will happen with climate change, we're not yet at the point of no return. We're all in this together and we can all make a change together.
Hopefully we can have Anna come back later during the Rotaract year, possibly to talk about what we can do on an individual and local level if that interests club members. She also explained that Rotaract SWB can become a member of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition so we can also look further into that if members wish.
On a related environmental note, the Community Service committee is trying to organise a guest speaker from the Oxley Creek Catchment Association some time later this year.
Finally, it was nice to see some new faces (and returning new faces) at the meeting, we hope you enjoyed yourself and that we'll see you again soon. :)
09 April 2008
Youth Homelessness
Homelessness seems to be a 'hot topic' in the media at the moment with today's release of the National Youth Commission's Inquiry into Youth Homelessness. In last week's edition of The Satellite Merrin Jagtman's cover story talked about an increasing number of people who are homeless in Brisbane's south-west suburbs. (Merrin is the same journalist who wrote an article about our club in celebration of Rotaract's 40th anniversary.)
The Sunday Mail reported that "more than 100 000 Australians live on the street, a third are under 25, a quarter live in Queensland." [April 9, 2008, p26). The article contained several quotes from Angela Barnes, executive manager of Brisbane Youth Services. She emphasised the importance of meeting basic physical and emotional needs before beginning employment training and job seeking.
The ABC reported a fortnight ago: "As mortgage stress rises across the country, more and more Australian families are reaching crunch point and having their homes repossessed. The aspirational suburbs of Sydney are among the hardest hit.
In the city's south-west, there are reports that working people are moving into homeless shelters because they have failed to meet their loan repayments. Home repossessions for 2008 are already at record highs and are expected to increase further through the year.
Phil Hancock from Brisbane Youth Service will be visiting our club on Thursday May 1 to discuss youth homelessness with us. BYS have been operating for more than 20 years and run a range of services including street outreach, a drop in centre and a health clinic as well as a parenting program for yong parents or parents-to-be who are homeless or at the risk of homelessness. As always, feel free to bring a friend with you. It should be a good night as we learn about youth homelessness and perhaps start thinking how we might be able to do our little bit to help.
The Sunday Mail reported that "more than 100 000 Australians live on the street, a third are under 25, a quarter live in Queensland." [April 9, 2008, p26). The article contained several quotes from Angela Barnes, executive manager of Brisbane Youth Services. She emphasised the importance of meeting basic physical and emotional needs before beginning employment training and job seeking.
The ABC reported a fortnight ago: "As mortgage stress rises across the country, more and more Australian families are reaching crunch point and having their homes repossessed. The aspirational suburbs of Sydney are among the hardest hit.
In the city's south-west, there are reports that working people are moving into homeless shelters because they have failed to meet their loan repayments. Home repossessions for 2008 are already at record highs and are expected to increase further through the year.
Phil Hancock from Brisbane Youth Service will be visiting our club on Thursday May 1 to discuss youth homelessness with us. BYS have been operating for more than 20 years and run a range of services including street outreach, a drop in centre and a health clinic as well as a parenting program for yong parents or parents-to-be who are homeless or at the risk of homelessness. As always, feel free to bring a friend with you. It should be a good night as we learn about youth homelessness and perhaps start thinking how we might be able to do our little bit to help.
06 March 2008
Update
Steph and Suzanna visited the RSPCA today and presented a cheque from our club for $600. The money will go towards the wildlife centre where they have rehabilitation programs for skinks, possums, birds, bats, snakes and even a blue tongue lizard. The RSPCA officers were telling Steph and Suzanna that our donation is equivalent to three times the annual food budget for the centre or the cost of a heating pod-thing (can't remember what they said it was called!) so it will definitely go to good use.
We had a very informal meeting tonight, held outside in the undercover area next to our meeting room. Tim very thoughtfully provided us with some red and blue paint and we got cracking on creating some club banners... one of which is very professional looking and others slightly less so.
Laura passed around a roster as we have secured a spot to visit several Rotary clubs and talk about Rotaract, our club and our projects. There are still quite a few blanks spots so if you weren't at the meeting please, please, please email Laura and see what spots need visitors. Centenary and Ipswich both have meetings on Wednesday mornings that meet at 6:45 for 7:00 I believe so that may fit better if you have work and other evening committments.
Everyone who went along to anti-graffiti last weekend reported back that it went really well (see your Bulletin for photos) - the next one will be held on the last Sunday of March, the 30th. Instead of splitting into a painting team and a bbq team we will see how it goes having everyone painting then everyone helping set up the barbie. Hopefully we can make the bbq/picnic a meet and greet and information session for any people potentially interested in becoming a member.
Our next meeting on the 20th March is Bring A Friend night and we will hopefully have some guest speakers talking to us about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Everyone and anyone is welcome so get all your mates and family and bring them along.
We had a very informal meeting tonight, held outside in the undercover area next to our meeting room. Tim very thoughtfully provided us with some red and blue paint and we got cracking on creating some club banners... one of which is very professional looking and others slightly less so.
Laura passed around a roster as we have secured a spot to visit several Rotary clubs and talk about Rotaract, our club and our projects. There are still quite a few blanks spots so if you weren't at the meeting please, please, please email Laura and see what spots need visitors. Centenary and Ipswich both have meetings on Wednesday mornings that meet at 6:45 for 7:00 I believe so that may fit better if you have work and other evening committments.
Everyone who went along to anti-graffiti last weekend reported back that it went really well (see your Bulletin for photos) - the next one will be held on the last Sunday of March, the 30th. Instead of splitting into a painting team and a bbq team we will see how it goes having everyone painting then everyone helping set up the barbie. Hopefully we can make the bbq/picnic a meet and greet and information session for any people potentially interested in becoming a member.
Our next meeting on the 20th March is Bring A Friend night and we will hopefully have some guest speakers talking to us about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Everyone and anyone is welcome so get all your mates and family and bring them along.
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