Penny Smith has had a triple heart bypass and is recovering well. Thoughts with Penny, Bob and family.
The book sale made in excess of $10,000 which is fantastic work.
There is a Child Cancer appeal on 17th of March, look out for the roster for this coming soon.
There will be a collection at the Otago Rally on 8 April so keep an eye out for that roster too.
We welcomed some people to the meeting last Tuesday including Randall, Richard Bourne, Glynn, Michelle and visiting from the Rotary Club of Clacton on Sea, John and Sue.
Here are Derek and John exchanging banners.
Outward Bound Opportunity
The JR McKenzie Youth Education Fund sponsors young people to attend a 21 day Outward Bound Course. They have 2 fully funded positions to give away and are on the hunt for potential course participants.
The J R McKenzie Youth Education Fund is providing 100% funding for 2 young school aged people (aged 16-18) to attend a Mind Body and Soul course at Outward Bound. The course duration is 21 days and will be held from the 3rd to 23rd of July 2017. The cost of the course is well in excess of $4,000 so this is a great opportunity for 2 young people from our district to attend. The selected candidates will need to find their own way to and from Picton.
Ideal candidates would not normally be the head boy or girl of their school etc, but someone who would benefit greatly from attending, who otherwise would not normally get the opportunity to attend.
If you have ideas for possible candidates please contact our Youth and Chair, Lisa Foster. Applications for the places close 8th of April 2017.
Accomodation going at Sue's place!
Sue has a spare bed for anyone wanting to go to the Conference in Wanaka 12-14th May.
Get in touch with Sue if you're interested.
Last Week's Guest Speaker
Last week we had Councillor Lee Vandervis give a most riveting presentation on his ideas for the future of Dunedin.
The main focus was on opportunities there for improving our city. 'Let's make Dunedin great again'.
Areas mentioned were South Dunedin, Port Otago, Forsyth Bar Stadium, Otago University, the medical school, the harbourside, Delta Aurora, the Hospital and both the DCC and ORC.
There were some positive and insightful ideas, and a different suggested approach to our current local policies.
To mention a few, there is the opposition to having the new Hospital in the city centre, possibly on the Wakari site which could provide easier parking and a 'greenfield' site. More of a link between the council and the University so some of the research needed by the council could be done by students instead of expensive consultants. Lee suggested we have a Dunedin Unitary Council to avoid the conflicts between the DCC and ORC (demonstrated by Nelson City Council).
Another Idea put forward was having astroturf laid in the Forsyth Bar Stadium so that more sports like soccer and Hockey could be played there as well as rugby. Some might say it could also go some way to helping the current home form of the Highlanders!
Rotaract and Project Starfish
Next weeks speakers will be members of Rotaract talking about Project Starfish, their recent project with Rescue Mission for Children. This organisation runs the Akha Academy in Mae Suai, Northern Thailand. The Akha Academy provides a safe home and access to local primary and secondary schooling for children at high risk from human trafficking, particularly those from the Akha Hill Tribe in Thailand and Myanmar. Education (and vocational training to begin here in the future) will teach them life skills and help them to gain crucial Thai citizenship. Citizenship will help protect these children by helping to build greater understanding and decrease discrimination of Hill Tribes by Thai people.
Click here to go to the 'Rotaract for Project Starfish' website.
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