This week our meeting centred around our Club service activities with the main attraction being our Social Cause Champions who each shared highlights of the past year.

 

Mal McLennan kicked off our meeting as our 5 minute speaker and told us of his experience as a member of the e-club of Aviation (https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=2198) which is part of Rotary's network of global fellowships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The e-club of Aviation consists of pilots or aviation enthusiasts who meet twice a month online and in person at the two functions they hold every year (fly-in or fly about/sightseeing), normally along side the Rotary International Convention. In addition to listening to speakers, the members also do community projects such as providing complimentary flying trips to disabled people or those in need. 

 

 

Steve Briggs, our Club Services Director started our report out of highlights of the year on behalf of Edmund Hilary Primary School Champion Jan Malcolm. He shared with members that this year has been a busy time for the school and we have tried to work closely with the principal Ngaire to provide experiential learning opportunities for the children.

 

 

This year our Club raised $3,500 for the school and we spent $2,000 in partnership with Papakura Rotary and a District Grant from Rotary, where we jointly funded a $6,000 program to enable 90 students to attend a 4-night Camp.

 

Kenneth Winstone, Champion of Trees for Survival (TFS) shared that approximately 800 trees per school are planted at sites around Auckland which the council organises for each of the TFS school planting day. Our efforts with TFS not only help with erosion control and climate change, but also provide students with an opportunity to see "biology in action." While some the planting days are mostly during the week, companies such as Westpac offer employees volunteer days which they can use during the week. It's a great opportunity to engage with the community.

 

 

Heather Robinson, Champion of Auckland Girls Grammar School (AGGS) shared that in addition to the Rotary District Youth programs which our Club has funded and implemented at AGGS, our members have also volunteered for a variety of other programs to help the students at this decile 3 school. This year our Club has raised $25,000 for Youth programs and we have paid $15,000 for various programs including STARS program - which is run by Graeme Dingle Foundation and is a mentorship program for 200+ students and 50 mentors (year 9). Our members have also volunteered to be mentors of the YES (Young Enterprise Scheme) business plan competition and also have provided teachers with assistance in exam invigilation -helping over 600 students and 10 staff.

 

James Langton, Champion of Auckland City Mission (ACM) shared that this year with the help of Kat & Gareth, our club members have volunteered in a number of service activities such as unpacking food and sorting clothing at the warehouse or cooking meals for the homeless. One of the goals of ACM is to raise $98million for Project HomeGround (new fit for purpose facility). Currently $78million has been raised. Our Club's Battle of the Suit's fundraising event in August will help raise funds that will go towards this project.

 

Keith Robinson, Champion on KiwiHarvest opened his talk by saying the size of the problem we have in Auckland is that 240,000 people per day struggle to put food on the table. KiwiHarvest provides 4,275 meals per day which is only the tip of the iceberg. Our Club has helped with a number of volunteer activities such as driving delivery trucks, harvesting vegetables, donated phone and also funded a volunteer coordinator. However, KiwiHarvest needs more support which we had hoped to provide in a fundraising dinner event which got cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Thanks to Simon Walton's US War History talk which generated $2,500 in donations and Karen Hally's Cook school event ($400), we are able to provide KiwiHarvest with some financial support. We are also looking at a broader club initiative where some funds from the purchase of a new magnetic badge & rotary pin will go towards KiwiHarvest. Stay tuned for more info from Gill or me. 

 

Bill Daniels stepped in for Graham Hendry, Champion of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and spoke about how our Club has had a long standing and deep relationship for more than a decade with the University of Auckland Psychiatric Medical Health team led by Dr. Sally Merry. Our Club has supported visiting scholars from the US or Australia who come to Auckland to share their expertise and knowledge with students/practitioners and general public. The last two years, we have been fortunate to partner with the Ted & Mollie Carr Foundation and have had financial support from them to fund the travel of these overseas experts. In addition, our Club raised $2,100 at our fundraising dinner and $5,000 through private donation which has been used to support the CAMH network that connects practitioners with the latest cutting edge knowledge for better diagnosis and outcomes.

 

John Boscawen, Champion of SPBD Micro financing shared with us a 3-part good news update. The first part resulted from the joint efforts of Downtown/Auckland Rotary/Suva Rotary which enabled us to raise US$72,000 which has been lent to 140 women entrepreneurs in Vanua Levu in Fiji. The process is that the funds get lent for a 12month period (repayment on a weekly basis) and lent a second time. After the repayment, the funds become capital of SPBD. The second part is a series of loans which our Club provided $25,000 from our Club Trust to be loaned out at 3% interest over 3 year period. Mark Jenkins and John Boscawen have both individually loaned the same amount, bringing this total to NZ$75,000. The third part is something John is still working on and that is to expand the network to see if other Rotary Clubs who have Trusts and interested in using the funds for good and for some return, might be interested in joining the efforts. Stay tuned for more info.

 

Ray Stonelake stepped in for Mark Jenkins, Champion of Ronald McDonald House and shared that this year has been predominately service focused Cook Nights for families staying at the RHM. Ray also mentioned the Annual Supper Club event which is one of RMH main fundraising event and how there may be an opportunity for our Club members to partner on that event or possibly host one of those events in the future.

 

Some of the questions raised during the meeting was around Fundraising & the Battle of the Suits event. David Graham shared that there is a weekly BoS team planning meeting held every Wed at 7:30am at the Rydges Hotel and that all members who are interested can attend. Currently the team are trying to get auction items (both for the silent auction and "hero" prizes).   

 

Other questions/feedback from the Champions is that they are keen to hear your experiences if you have volunteered for their Cause. Please share any new ideas or suggestions for improvements. 

 

 

Finally we closed our meeting with former outbound exchange student Laura Sinclair sharing her experience at Challenge Camp with us. Challenge Camp is a week long camp where inbound/outbound exchange students are paired/buddied a physically or mentally disabled person. The time together is both challenging as it is rewarding and life changing. More photos to come from Laura.

 

 

 

Please note there is no meeting next week as it is Queen's Birthday. Enjoy your break with family & friends.

 

See you all again on 11th June for our speaker Dr. Ann Hood from Refugees as Survivors New Zealand (RASNZ) a not-for-profit mental health and wellbeing service for people from refugee backgrounds living in Auckland.

 

Have a wonderful long weekend ahead!

Lucy