Sundowners Bulletin March 2021 (Mar 08, 2021)

Canberra Sundowners Rotary Club

Satellite Club of RC Canberra Sunrise

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/570406773121654

Sundowner Scratchings

Send contributions and photos for the next Bulletin to Peter (pnhill121@gmail.com).

Sundowner Scratchings Bulletins are normally issued to Sundowners and friends monthly, around the end of the month. Contact Peter if you or a friend would like to be added to the distribution list.

Upcoming Events

Check our Facebook page for details: here

30 March - Club meeting, 51 Blackall St, Barton, from 6.30pm. PHF award.

6 April - Social event (TBC)

8 April - Time TBC afternoon - launch of Street Library at CS#1, Narrabundah

10 April - Birthing Kits packing event (see below)

13 April - Club meeting, From 6.30pm. Venue TBC due to Canberra Club room not being available. Discussion to support drafting of club by-laws

20 April - No meeting

27 April - Club meeting, 51 Blackall St, Barton, from 6.30pm. Guest speaker - Janelle Weissman, Executive Director of UN Women Australia

21-22 April - Melbourne Peace Symposium

Dates to be finalised:

Installation of 2nd Street Library

Mark the Dates:

15 May - Club and District Development Seminar (Young) (more info below)

23 May - RC Canberra Sunrise Planning Day

12-16 June - Virtual Rotary International Conference

Chatter from the Chair

Hi team,

One of the things I love so much about being in Rotary is that I not only learn more about what’s going on in the world, but I have an opportunity to contribute to positive change. April is Maternal and Child Health month. As a mum myself, I have dozens of small anxieties every day about my child. Is he warm enough? Is he kind? Is he going to fall and crack his head open? Am I screwing him up?

But when I consider that approximately 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation, it really puts my own worries into perspective. To think about that level of suffering in a small child, not to mention the 6 million mothers who will never hold their baby again, it shatters my heart. It makes me hold Archie tight and feel so grateful for the (unfair) privileges we have. It makes me want to change the world. And with Rotary, we can.

Emma

Sundowner Club News

Club Meetings and New Members

The hilight of our first 2nd March meeting was Mitra's induction and welcome to the club. Welcome Mitra. We have already witnessed your energy, baking and organisational skills and look forward to your ongoing support to the community through our club. And now our chocolate sales queen!

We also welcomed Emma's 3 year old son Archie to his first Rotary meeting. See Archie's thoughts on our meeting below:

Our meeting on 16th March saw us welcome Helen and Masothy to club membership. Helen has transferred across from the Rotary Club of Canberra City. Both are keen to make an impact on our community. Welcome!!

That night we also enjoyed hearing from our guest speaker, Megan Evans from Zonta about the great community work that Zonta is involved in, as well as a detailed explanation of what is involved in packing birthing kits - our next major community service activity. More information on Birthing Kit packing is provided under Community Service below.

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Chartering

A chartering committee chaired by the Club Development Officer – Sam Doyle has been formed. The team met on 22nd March and has developed an initial plan on what we need to do to charter. Work has been allocated in developing a draft Constitution and By-Laws, establishing a budget for establishing the club and a number of other smaller tasks.

A club discussion in relation to how we want the club to operate, which will assist in developing club by-laws, is planned to be held on 13th April.

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Fundraising

Thanks Mitra for initiating and organising our current fund raiser selling boxes of Cadbury chocolates. Hopefully it will not mean too many extra kilos on member's weights through the enticement of supporting our club!!

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Sundowners Web Page

The Canberra Sundowners web pages are available within the Canberra Sunrise web site - located here. We welcome your thoughts on how we can improve it. Send your thoughts, recommendations and photos to Peter. We have included pages on our community service events, some background on the club, our fundraising and more.

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Our Meeting Routine

We meet on Tuesday evenings, typically from 6.30pm.

We alternate our meeting routine, with fortnightly club meetings at our home venue, the Canberra Club at 51 Blackall St, Barton. Club meetings are normally held in the meeting room downstairs and start at 6.30pm. At these meetings we like to discuss club activities, community service options what is happening in Rotary. We also have guest speakers at some of these meetings. If you would like to order a meal it is best to arrive about 15 minutes early to place your order and you are welcome to eat it during the meeting. On these meeting nights a number of members like a social chat and drink after the meeting finishes (around 7.30pm).

Between our club meetings, we typically will have one social event a month and one or more community service activities.

Check our Facebook page for details of what is happening over the next few weeks.

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Where's Ser

We will miss Ser Sim's smiling face around club meetings over the next three months, while he is is spending his Tuesday evenings undertaking the Crisis Supporter training with Lifeline. Well done Ser on committing to this important training for another avenue of community service!

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Corporate Sponsorship Update

Keane Consulting is a Corporate sponsor for the club. Keane has recently added to their existing corporate support of the club by contributing $500 toward the upcoming birthing kit packing activity. This is a wonderful and generous donation which will make a bigger difference and allow more people to be involved. We will now be packing 600 birthing kits - which will make a great difference to women in countries where hospital support is not readily available. Several members of the Keane team will be joining us to collate and pack the kits on 10th April. Thanks very much to Owen, Melinda and Sean and their team for their continued support. For those of you who are unaware of Keane Consulting's business and community focus, a little background from the Keane team is provided below.

Owen and Melinda have stated: “We are really “keen” to live our values, and this means more than simply providing financial support to those organisations we sponsor and/or donate to. This means being active members of our local, Canberra community. We want Keane Consulting to have a social conscience.”

The Keane sponsorship and philanthropic work aims to benefit and support three key areas:

grass roots development of youth through sport,
the impoverished and vulnerable, and
progression for women in STEM-based careers

Keane Consulting’s business is also about helping others. They provide specialist professional contractor placement services, helping people to attain career goals. They also have a small business advisory service, delivering coaching and support to individuals and small businesses looking to grow, develop and mature. Check out the Keane Consulting website to get a bit better understanding of what Keane Consulting does as a business and as a community organisation.

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Membership of the Canberra Club, Barton

We receive generous support in access to the meeting room from the Barton Canberra Club. Members are encouraged to support the club by taking out a membership ($5 for social).

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Prospective Members or Friends

It is great to continue to have a number of people joining our meetings and our activities to check us out. We hope that you enjoy your initial experiences with the club. Please feel free to reach out to find out more about us if you would like to do so.

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Community Service Update and Opportunities

Look Out for These Community Service Events Coming Up Soon

Tuesday 6th April - time TBC. Street Library launch at CS#1, 63 Boolimba Crescent, Narrabundah. Tara has been finalising the decoration of the CS#1 library, with a Cat in the Hat themed library. Photos of this street library are provided below. Doesn't it look marvellous!! Ash is completing a second Street Library for installation in the not too distant future.

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10 April - Packing of Birthing Kits to send to countries where women are not assured of being able to get to a hospital to give birth. Read more about this charity here.

With wonderful donations of $500 each from Canberra Sunrise and Keane Consulting, we have purchased 600 birthing kits for packing, at a total cost of $3,000. We will be packing the items that form the birthing kits in an extended packing workshop at Legacy House, 33 Geils St, Deakin, on 10th April in two packing shifts, as follows:

a. 8.30-9.30am. Setup. Approx 8 people.

b. 9.30-noon (or until 300 kits completed). First packing shift. Five tables of 4 people, plus 4 runners/support people (used to keep tables stock of stores good, taking bags of packed kits out to packing area, relieving anyone that needs a break etc. Total 24 people.

c. 12-1pm. Lunch

d. 1pm-3.30pm. Second packing shift. Five tables of 4 people, plus 4 runners/support people (used to keep tables stock of stores good, taking bags of packed kits out to packing area, relieving anyone that needs a break etc. Total 24 people.

e. 3.30-4pm. Packup. Approx 8 people.

This event will be undertaken in a COVID-safe manner. It also requires cleanliness by packers to ensure that the items in the kits are clean. As such all involved in packing or related tasks will need to wear protective gloves, which will be provided by the club.

Members and friends are invited to participate in one or more shifts. We anticipate we will need some people to undertake multiple shifts. Members are asked to nominate themselves and any friends joining them into our on-line shift spreadsheet - available here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14uSNMvX0hszj2evRp5CS75p62nCqEKpcFwm2njvRcB0/edit?usp=sharing, by 2nd April. Please email Sam S or Peter with any questions.

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Clean Up Australia Day

On 7th March , a small team of Sundowners joined the Ahmadi Muslims ACT Clean up Australia Day event on the top of Mount Ainslie. The team had a great deal of fun. learnt a little about the Canberra Ahmadi community, and helped collect a bunch of rubbish from the area.

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Peace Walk 27/28 March

A number of Sunrisers and Sundowners accepted the challenge to volunteer support to the Peace Walk over this weekend. We provided support at checkpoints, with water and other refreshments for the walkers. On Saturday we staffed Checkpoint 7 at around the 34km mark of the 42 km walk. A few photos of the team, including one with District Governor Elect Leo Farelly, are provided below. Thanks especially to Lynne and Sam D for their parts in organising the club's contribution and supporting this event.

We also had quite a few members out again at checkpoints today. Thanks to everyone that supported this event.

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(If you have ideas for more community service ideas contact Peter or raise them at one of our club meetings. We are always looking for more ways to support our community!)

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