President Sangeeta welcomed members to probably her last formal meeting in the small room, which was where her first meeting was.
Sangeeta advised the members that Tom Watson would no longer be attending dinner meetings due to declining health. Members are encouraged to visit Tom at the Glades. Thank you to John Ritchie for bringing Tom to meetings.
Anna St Clair was presented with her Dinner badge.
Chairperson's (Carol Cain) Introduction.
Tonight was Carol's first time as Chairperson, and she did a great job. To start, Carol welcomed Guest Speaker Samantha-Jade Potter from Extended Families.
Guest Speaker: Samantha-Jade Potter - Extended families.
Samantha spoke first about her previous professional life, which revolved around music, performing vocally all around the world. During her world travels she was introduced to Patch Adams. This changed the course of her life and she commenced singing to people in palliative care and then developed further until she became involved with Extended Families Australia.
Extended Families are a community group that believes in the importance of joy and inclusion for all. Living with a disability can be challenging – it can feel isolating, as though life is happening around you, without you. The group support children, young adults aged 0-40, and their families in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula to cultivate friendships and forge meaningful connections within the community. Regardless of who you are or where you come from, there is always room to grow, learn, and connect. The group is looking for volunteers as they currently have 350 families on their waiting list.
In addition to her connection with Extended Families Samantha-Jane is an Independent candidate for Officer, Cardinia.
Vocational - Gayle Barrot
As mentioned in last week's Sparkle, next Tuesday 26th June there will a presentation to 2 MacLeod Murphy recipients - Benjie McAllister and Jacob Barrot. They will be attending along with their families.
Deb Ball - Toni-Anne Griffin & Lyn Beckwith
The Deb Ball - June 15th - was a huge success with $945 being taken on the night for the raffle. Lyn advised that the event raised just short of $17,000, which was acknowledged as outstanding by the meeting.
Here is a link to some photos from the evening:
The Changeover - Sunday 23rd June
On Sunday 23rd June, Emerald Rotary inducted our new President - Kelly McAllister - to lead the club and board throughout the year. This event took place at Marybrook Manor.
The Club celebrated a successful rotary year that included a $50k donation to cancer research at the Monash Children's Hospital from the Kids Fun Run with Puffing Billy fundraiser, a successful All American event, the inaugural EarlyAct Club where primary school pupils at Emerald Primary School became the youngest additions to our local Rotary family, support of Polio eradication internationally and many local projects to support our wonderful community in the hills.
As a proud and happy Rotary group, we would like to say a very big thank you to (now Past President) Sangeeta Bajaj for leading the club this past year.
A couple of pics from the day. If you have any more photos, please send them through to Kris Ash.
Meeting close was delivered by President Sangeeta.
