WEDNESDAY 15TH APRIL 2020
LATEST NEWS
All meetings and Sausage Sizzles have been cancelled until further notice.
PRESIDENT'S NOTES
Easter greetings to all our members and families. I hope everyone is managing as best they can in these unprecedented times, in our lifetimes at least. Can you remember just some months ago when we could stand so close to each other as in the photos here?
They say “take time to smell the roses”. Well we’ve got that time now so let’s make the most of it. Michael and I have been taking more time to look out for the amazing variety of butterflies around at the moment.
Rotary is still in action and clubs are connecting in lots of different ways. The board is meeting next week on Zoom, so I’ll be able to report next bulletin on some of the outcomes of that. The club will still be presenting the schools with books to honour Anzac Day as we have done in previous years.
We have received 11 applications for the community grants, so while we may not be able to enjoy our Community Grant Dinner scheduled for May, as we have done in the past, we will still be processing these applications and funding as many as we can to assist a broad range of organisations on the range. Our fundraising will be severely curtailed this year, with the cancellation of the Maleny Show and the Wood Show and no sausage sizzles to bring in a few dollars. However, we are hoping the annual Rotary calendar will still be produced to boost club and community spirits. I’m not sure if everyone has an IGA Community Benefit number to use when they shop there? Maleny Rotary does benefit financially from those who have assigned the club as their beneficiary. If you don’t have a number and do shop at the IGA ask there about getting a number to link to the Rotary fund.
It is important that members keep abreast of information sent out by Bernice, such as District newsletters, updates from Rotary Health etc. Rick V attended a teleconference last week of a special COVID-19 meeting of the Sunshine Coast Human and Social Recovery Sub-group. The club had been contacted a few weeks ago by the Sunshine Coast Council to see what capacity we had to assist with emerging community needs in this emergency situation. Some of the interesting facts that came out of the meeting (from reading the minutes) are:
• About 21,000 people have signed up in Queensland to be part of the Care Army.
• IFYS (Integrated Family and Youth Services) on the coast is generating 500 meals a day through their Feeding Families Program to deliver across the coast.
•The Department of Housing and Council have secured 125 rooms across the coast for those who are sleeping rough or in an immediate housing crisis.
• A number of national hotel chains have put their hands up to assist rough sleepers.
• The Community Recovery Hotline has received a lot of referrals including 972 for emotional support and 4,276 for practical support as of 7 April.
• The Red Cross reported that many seniors are feeling “helplessness and frustration”.
• The Dept of Housing has had a big demand for the Rental Grant Assistance.
• The Caloundra Community Centre has an issue with USC international students who are struggling to pay rent due to job losses.
• The Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre has had lots of requests for food supplies and food hampers. A key issue for them is finding accommodation for those who are homeless.
• Family and Child Connect had key concerns about escalating family and domestic violence, and an increase in new families that haven’t used support services in the past.
One way we personally could help with food hampers is to donate a couple of items when we shop, to the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre charity bins at IGA and Woolworths. They are looking for items such as pasta, pasta sauce, oatmeal, UHT milk and baked beans.
As I said earlier we now have time to look and admire nature that surrounds us. That’s when we’re not working from home, Face-timing, Messaging or phoning the family, checking the virus updates on the news, reading emails on the computer – and this does take a chunk of time. As Chris B started the ball rolling with some funnies to entertain us, I’ll start the ball rolling with the backyard pic of the week. Check out the reptilian visitor we had at our bird feeder last Thursday.
Stay safe and stay connected to Rotary.
CANCELLED EVENTS
2-4th May Parking for Wood Expo.
9th May Smart Living's Gangsters and Flappers Night.
31st May Maleny Show
FUTURE MEETINGS
None scheduled
BIRTHDAYS FOR APRIL
1st Nancy Baker 4th Phillip Stark 12th Chris Brooker 23rd John McLennan 27th Chris Ross Smith & John Whan
WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES FOR APRIL
13th Jeff & Jan Cornfoot 16th Brian & Gillian Allen 26th Bill & Marlene Hankinson
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT
THE WORLD IS AWASH WITH CORONAVIRUS JOKES AND I THANK THOSE MEMBERS WHO HAVE KEPT ME WELL SUPPLIED. LET US HOPE THAT LAUGHTER KEEPS IT AT BAY!
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