We had a great turn out at our Club's Melbourne Cup Event held at Sheila & Tom's lovely home!! Over 40 people came out for an afternoon of fashion, food, fun, and of course horses.

 

All eyes were on the screen to see whether the race would continue despite the intense rain in Melbourne.  

 

 

Thankfully the races continued and Tony Gardner (1st), Penny Walker (2nd), & Greg Walker (3rd), made lucky bets on the race winners. Frankie Crellin also won the raffle sweep.  

 

 

Speaking of winners, Susanne Loesser won a lucky raffle gift basket where $360 was raised from ticket sales for the Sunshine Fund. 

 

 

 

Fellowship Chairs Kat & Gareth decided to shake things up a bit and instead of having a "best dressed man" and "best dressed lady" identified two lovely ladies - Margaret Jenkins and Penny Walker as winners.

 

While this event was intended to be a social one, we raised approximately $1500 from the sale of tickets, betting and donations from members who returned their winnings to the pot. From these proceeds $750 will go towards the Sunshine Fund (plus $360 from lucky raffle= $1110) and $750 will go towards sponsoring the ingredients for the next Ronald McDonald Cook night planned for Apr/May. Well done everyone!

 

This is a great example of how our collective efforts as a club can bring about positive outcomes for all.

 

I would like to say a special thank you to Sheila & Tom for hosting us in their home, to Gill, Wayne, Christine, Tony Gardner, Frankie, Tim, Mark & Margaret Jenkins, Byran and Kat & Gareth for organising this fantastic event.

 

Next week we have Professor Sally Merry and her team from the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Auckland coming to speak to our club and to provide an update on the various projects our Club has partnered in supporting.  Please come out to hear about how these projects are making a difference.

 

In less than 2 weeks, we will have our Nadia Lim fundraising dinner on 21 November. There are a few tickets left so please make sure to register or contact me ASAP to avoid disappointment. We have some generous donations and a stellar list of auction items for the evening including an All Blacks jersey signed by David Kirk and Richie McCaw; a chartered luxury yacht day cruise for up to 10 guests with captain, crew and catering; Urban Gourmet chef prepared dinner at your home;  2 nights stay at luxury lodge on Waiheke Island, and many more. Please come out to support KiwiHarvest who is the beneficiary of funds raised on the evening. It will be a great night out with bubbles, a Nadia-lim inspired menu, a chance to hear Nadia's story, all while supporting a great cause.

 

At the beginning of the year, we put in place a Social Cause structure. To help ensure everyone is clear on which groups they are a part of, I will email the members name-list and organisation chart later today. These groupings are based on the initial feedback members provided in the November 2017 survey and through our club-wide social cause selection process. Several members have participated in more than one cause/function and members can change groups/teams. The purpose of this chart is to help us be more effective and to know who to contact for what roles. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions on the above.

 

The amount of good work our Club can do for the community depends on the collective efforts of us all.

 

Thank you all again for helping make our community a better place.

 

Lucy