President's Final Report June 2022

 

 

Another interesting year as we continue to navigate what some call the ‘new normal’, this living with covid and the resulting infections and isolations. This has not stopped us from getting on with Rotary business though and it has been great to get out into the community with some Rotary projects.

I was last President in the 2015/16 year and following the resignation of President Rebecca in January, with the support of the Board, volunteered to step into the role and complete the year. We were able to continue our community work with minimal disruption as all members continued in their roles and got things done. Thank you to all for all your efforts.

Membership continues to be a source of concern and we can go around in circles discussing what to do but at the end of the day we need to support the great, members that we have now and by our actions, small or large, attract like-minded individuals. We have lately inducted a new member Murray and a few more are in the wings.

The Rotary Club of Albury’s Foundation continues to be our biggest asset, enabling us to support a number of great projects within our community.  Once again, we have been fortunate to assist many organisations within the local area and we had one of our biggest grant giving distributions. We distributed a total of $245,416 during the year, with a couple of projects to be completed in the next year.  We have continued to work with these organisations and invite them back to the Club to keep us informed of what they have been doing with the grant monies that they have received.

Peter Elias joined the committee and with his contacts within the community we have entered into a number of collaborative projects with organisations. For example, a few of our members are involved with the Thurgoona Men’s Shed and we have worked with them on projects such as the Corryong Secondary College’s revamp of the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden. They supplied the technical know how and labour

for welding and fabrication, we supplied the funds and some labour to complete the project.

Mercy Connect kitchen revamp – another great initiative and where communities are working together. Working alongside the Thurgoona Men’s Shed, the old kitchen has been gutted and awaits the renovation as supplies and approvals are sort. It is great to supply the funds and bring other organisations in on the fun.

We continue to work closely with Ian Clarke from Findex - Crowe Horwath to ensure that the funds entrusted to us are invested wisely. We thank them for their expertise as the markets continue to be unstable and volatile.

Peter Elias and Bob Walker, as well as organising the work at the Corryong Secondary School, went on another road trip to Corryong as part of the Bushfire recovery work. They gave two presentations of the Heroes of Black Summer book. We purchased a number of copies of the book to distribute to the students of the Sacred Heart Primary school and Corryong College.

Our Club hosted a movie night in March to raise funds to End Polio Now.  A great evening watching the movie The Duke with other Rotarians from local clubs. 

 

Rotarians are known for their BBQ cooking skills and we haven’t let the side down this year participating in a number of community events. The Albury City Council asked us to cook up the free sausages as we all celebrated the opening of the brand new Albury Skate Park. It is an awesome facility and it was great to see so many families out and about enjoying themselves.

We ran the bbq at the Days for Girls annual walk around Wonga Wetlands in March and cooked up a storm on a cold winters night at the Lavington East Public Schools Banger and Bingo night.

In December, Winston, Peter and Glen were out helping Parklands Albury Wodonga improve the safety on the Tree Top Trail on Gateway Island.

We had a couple of off-site meetings during the year, in November, we participated in a working bee to put together some of the components of the Cancer Care Supports CBag.

An offsite visit to the Albury PCYC to checkout their new gymnastics equipment. Enjoying some catering from the Purple Chicken – a hospitality training program and café for young adults with disabilities.

The Albury Police gave us their unclaimed haul of bicycles for us to distribute into the community. A number were fixed up and then distributed to the Albury High School and to the Sanctuary Refugee Group.

At $78,444 was counted at the Hume Bank on Good Friday as part of the Royal Children’s Hospital Annual Good Friday Appeal. A plethora of Rotarians and family congregated at the Hume Bank working alongside volunteers from the bank to count all the money. It was pure pleasure witnessing the community spirit. Well done!

Our Christmas party was a special night for as well as collecting pasta and biscuits for Country Hope, we presented Judy Clohesy from the Hume Bank with a Paul Harris Fellowship. Judy has been a longterm supporter of the Good Friday Appeal and has worked with our Brett Perston over the years, alongside her staff, to ensure smooth counting of money on Good Friday. A well deserved recognition.

Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) – really excited to be participating in this program again following the covid suspension. Thank you to Alison for taking on this role and coordinating. Alison has joined the District RYE organising committee and has organised a number of host families in preparation for our ‘inbounds’. We are preparing to welcome Eliiana from Finland in July/August. We have sponsored a few ‘outbounds’. Given the covid suspension, there are an excess of local students wanting to participate.  In August, Abbey Conallin will be off to the Czech Republic for 12 months and in January 2023 Tanner Kirwin will be heading off. We are hoping that we can continue to support this longterm Rotary project but that will be dependent on finding suitable host families and having the funds. Please prepare to welcome Eliiana and include her in any upcoming outings, family events and local community happenings. A big thank you to Karen Perston who is our female counsellor for Eliiana and assisting Alison.

A number pf Rotarians are involved in other organisations but I do need to mention two of our members in particular for the work that they do outside our Club.

Huge Congratulations to two of our members for the work that they do in our Community. They again headed off in ‘Carol’ in May, participating in the Shitbox Rally raising over $20,000 for the Cancer Council. In wet conditions and enduring sleeping in Carol it is no wonder that they have both deservably been recognised within their community and State.

Simone Russell – the ninth recipient of the Vitasoy Triple M $20,000 Community Chest. $1,000 for making a difference in the community.

Scott Russell – won the Rotary Clubs of NSW Police Officer of the year awards for 2021

We continued to have a very interesting and diverse range of speakers attend and present at our Monday night meetings. 

So much more that could be mentioned. Such as running the Friday night Country Hope raffle at the Astor Hotel every week – thanks to the Burkes for organising this. Harvey Norman bbq’s every month – thank you Burkes and Brett Williams. Raffles at our meetings raising funds for the student exchange program – thank you raffle king Geoff. Collecting bread tags – thank you Pam and egg cartons for FoodShare – thank you Jean.

I would like to thank all my fellow board members for their hardwork during the year, it is often a thankless task but I have appreciated everyone’s hardwork and seamless transition into the President’s role.  Jean, our hardworking Secretary, enjoy your much deserved overseas trip.

Great delight in handing over the reins to the very capable Peter Elias and his new Board which has a wealth of experience on it. It looks to be a great year ahead. Keep up the great work everybody and continue to do what you can. Every little bit helps.

 

Charlene Gleeson

President 2022