At our last meeting we learned about the work done by one of our members, Nazrin Azzizi. Nazrin is the Executive Director of Resolution Community Services, which she founded in 2018. Nazrin spoke about her work with Afghani refugees in Australia, and the efforts she makes to get them out of Afghanistan and re-settled here. It was a powerful presentation that made us all realize the benefits we enjoy from this country.
If you want to support Nazrin to raise money to bring a family here, please go along to the Feast for Freedom that Jo Karaolis is hosting at Harrington Hall, Chatswood at 6.30pm on 22 June. Contact Jo on jokaraolis1@bigpond.com
The Board met last Tuesday. Decisions/actions were:
· The success of the PhD Research Scholarship application. Australian Rotary Health has notified that La Trobe University has made a successful application. The title of the research, which will begin in July this year, is Characterisation of calcium regulation and mitochondrial function in Parkinson Disease lymphoblast cell lines. Great news!
· Rotary Citation goals will be finalised asap.
· Contributions to the Annual Report are coming in. These will be collated by me for distribution.
· I will resume the role of Chair of the Membership committee in the next Rotary year. Jo Karaolis has stepped down. Thanks go to Jo for the great job she did in 2023/2024.
· A global grant will be investigated for the Starfish Foundation in Cambodia.
· Funds from the Wine Women & Song event have been distributed.
· Cost of breakfast will rise from 1 July to $30.00.
· The Club’s annual dues will remain the same, even though District has increased the amount each club pays to them.
This coming week we will hear from Janelle Speight, who will talk about social media and its role within our club.
It will also be my final week as President. It has been a privilege to lead the club, and I thank each and every member for your support. This a vibrant and engaged club, with lots of energy and enthusiasm. We welcome Sallianne to her Presidential year.
A chilly start (7.00am) at the Claude Cameron Oval East Wahroonga on Sunday morning opening up to a beautiful sunny day and the volunteer members had a great time - Dave Rigby, Len Stanley, Ross Catterall, Greg Starr, Peter Kirkwood, Ian Cameron and Rob Giacometti tended the BBQ while Fiona Thomas, Arija McQuillan, Nermine Toma with Helen Clark and Mentie Knowles looked after the customers. Thanks to John Julius for sourcing the bread for the day, Berowra Rotary for loaning us the BBQ trailer and Mildren Events for the marquees and tables.
We sold all our sausages/bread and drinks so a very pleasing day. 350 Knox boarders and day boys and 250 competitors participated in the day.
Wahroonga Rotary spent $39,000 in 2023 2024 on Youth Projects - many of which were District events such as RYLA where we sent another 5 young people.
We also participated in the Wine Women and Song event run by Sallianne. This ensured we also supported Jim Jam Music, KYDS and Streetwork who all provided wonderful and varied prizes for the night that resulted in a net return of $19,000.
ABBOX, Bursaries for St Lucys and St Edmunds (with the superb help of the Craft Stall at our Fair in December), The Science Awards for Turramurra and Killara, NYSF awardees and the PCYC kids in Crisis all benefited again this year.
We did not send students to the Summer RYPEN for students going into Year 10 as we had no candidates nor can we send students to MUNA this year as it is being held out of Term. We will pursue these for 2024 2025.
Our District submission is attached here for your information.
We are delighted to have won the District Award for Youth for this year but we still believe we have a lot more to do and we will continue to look to the future to achieve more in the Youth sector.
Sincere thanks to all the members of the Youth Committee and the Boards of Wahroonga Rotary for supporting our endeavours over the past 15 years.
Finalist – Benjamin Power - Land Search Operations Instructor - Ku-ring-gai
We were delighted to learn that our Club’s nominee for a 2024 NSW Rotary Emergency Services and Community Award (RESCA) has been selected as one of the four SES NSW finalists. Ben Power has given ‘Service Above Self’ for many years to Ku-ring-gai SES unit and a range of other organisations. These include Scouts NSW, Life for Koori Kids Inc, Homeless shelter TERESA House, OXFAM Australia, Relay for Life, Bush Search and Rescue (BSAR), and RFS NSW. In civilian life he is a qualified land surveyor with Transport NSW. He is working for accreditation as a Hydrographic Surveyor.
Ben Power is a most worthy RESCA finalist. The winners for each of the seven NSW Emergency Services, will be announced at the RESCA dinner at Bankstown Sports Club on 10 August 2024.
Benjamin Power
Ben with Acting Commissioner Debbie Platz and
Kaili Johnsen, Blacktown SES
Ben with Warwick Richardson, (DGE for District 9675)
ded in 2018. Nazrin spoke about her work with Afghani refugees in Australia, and the efforts she makes to get them out of Afghanistan and re-settled here. It was a powerful presentation that made us all realize the benefits we enjoy from this country.
