Wednesday morning 24^th April 2024 John Caddy and Margie Maloney from The Rotary Club of Burnside visited Baptist Care. We were there to see examples of the Emergency Food parcels that are available to people in a desperate situation trying to provide food for the family.

With a donation from the Rotary Club of Burnside and a District grant we were able to provide Baptist Care with enough funds to buy four hundred Emergency food parcels.

Baptist Care are finding the need for Emergency Food Parcels has increased due the high cost of basic food supplies. More people people are struggling to provide food for their families as well as the increase in homelessness.

The Rotary Club of Burnside are happy that we have been able to help in this time of great need.

We were also grateful for a generous donation from the St. Peters Rotary Club of $1500 which helped go towards the Food parcels.

Stefano gave us an update on the instillation of the Air Conditioner in the kitchen. This will be happening very soon and Gary the amazing chef is very grateful. The kitchen provides over 150 meals a day to the homeless struggling with food supplies. The kitchen at Baptist Care while very functional is small and very hot in the summer months.

We are having more people attending, and delighted to see that we have some regulars who enjoy the session.

This month as Guest Speakers we had Kate Kenning and Even Reay talk about the Aged Care Packages, Social Support Package and “the Shed’ The presentations were well received as there is a need for information on these topics. Thank you to Kate and Evan giving up their time to present.

The seated chair exercises with Instructor Clo from Support for Life are a big hit and enjoyed by the participants and The Rotary club of Burnside Volunteers.

The lunch again was delicious and many compliments from the group, thank you to Peter Fowler.

Ruby Balmer from the city of Burnside came with a photographer, Andrew for photos for the City of Burnside magazine ‘Focus.’

There was a post on the City Burnside facebook page about the Wellness Hub, thank you Ruby.

This event would not be possible without the volunteers who help put it all together. Thank you to S. Girke, S. Rockliff, J. Rockliff, P. Higgins, J. Caddy, and P. Fowler.

Next meeting for the Wellness Hub is May 16^th at Glenunga Hub. 11am – 1pm.

Guest Speaker for May is Jane Somers of Big Sky Flower Farm.

Hear Jane’s inspiring story of becoming a flower grower after her job as Travel agent was lost due to Covid. Jane also suffered through the Cuddly Creek fires 2019 with damage to the family property. Jane slowly set up her flower garden while raising to small children with her husband Dave.

Her floral arrangements are now very popular and she has quite a following.

John Caddy and I started the week by visiting Australian Timbers in Trinity Gardens. Last year John went to buy ten sheets of Plywood for Habitat Boxes for the scouts at Australian Timbers. The company donated another ten sheets of plywood for the scouts. This enabled the Rotary club of Burnside to make ninety flat packs for the scouts to build Habitat boxes.

We were extremely grateful for the donation as it enabled the club to make more flat packs.

We met with Deeon Otto and presented the company with a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of their kind donation.

Deeon was delighted and it turned out that he had a strong connection to the Scouts with his sons being part of the Woodhouse Scouts. Deeon himself had attended a Jamboree at Woodhouse many years ago.

A truly memorable evening with everyone keen to hear the winners of the awards. However, it was said many times that all the nominees are winners as they all do an amazing job protecting wildlife, Fauna, and the Parks.

We welcomed all our guests including:

• Paul Thomas, Immediate Past Rotary District 9510 Governor.
• Elizabeth Gagliardi, Rotary District 9510 Area 8 Governor.
• Ian Coat, Rotary District Chair of the CATE Committee.
• Duncan MacKenzie, President, Friends of the Parks Inc.
• Mary-Anne Healy, Director, Community and Nature Partnership.
• Stuart Paul, Director, Regional Operations.
• Helen Donovan, Acting Manager, Volunteer and Visitor programmes.
• Gill Peacey, Manager Volunteer and Visitor Programmes.
• Jo Podoliak, Acting Executive Director, National Parks, and Wildlife.
• Jack Batty Bragg MP. Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Assistant Minister for the Environment and Heritage.

It was exciting to see so many people attending, the nominees for the Parks Awards, families, and members of the Rotary Club of Burnside.

Winner of the Volunteer of the Parks Award was Penny Kothe – Volunteer Ranger, Flinders & Outback Region.

Winner of Leadership in Conservation Award was Tammy Leggett – Senior Ranger North Lofty District (Parawirra)

Both Jo Podoliak and Jack Batty gave a short presentation acknowledging the work done by the winners and all the nominees. We are fortunate to have such resolute people protecting one of our most valuable assets, the Environment. Their stories are all very inspiring and I know the selection panel had an exceedingly tough time selecting winners.

It is such an amazing evening and one that the Rotary club of Burnside are honoured to support. It has been 39 years since Rotary began supporting these awards and we all hope this will continue for many years to come.

A special thank you to Bob Cooper and Pamela Smith for all their hard work bring this wonderful event together.

Thank you to John Caddy and John Rockliff for aiding Bob Cooper with the evening and selecting the winners.

A beautiful day for a BBQ in the Warrego Reserve. Thank you to Neighbourhood Watch for inviting The Rotary Club of Burnside to do the BBQ. There were a number of residents there to enjoy a suasage or 2. Both Jack Batty and the Mayor, Anne Monreaux were their to support Neighbourhood Watch.

It was to be Andy Bill’s last event as president of Neighbourhood Watch. Both Andy and Margie have worked very hard to keep Neighbourhood watch alive and well and both will be greatly missed. Thank you both for all that you have done over the years.

Congratulations to Andy for receiving the Burnside Council Citizen of the year Award 2024.

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Burnside volunteers, John Rockliff, Des Munro and Keith Lowman. Thank you to Trish who came to enjoy a sausage but stayed to help with the serving, good job Trish

“Catherine House is South Australia’s only homelessness and recovery service for women. The aim at Catherine House is to end homelessness for every woman who walks through the doors.”

This amazing place offers more than a bed and a meal. Women who enter are treated with respect and empathy. The staff are very caring and make the women feel at home and safe. They provide many different services:

• Health Services
• Counselling services
• Mental Health and NDIS support
• Financial and legal advice
• Personal development
• Education and employment.

We had three staff members at Catherine talk about the services they provide and how over time they see the women grow in confidence and feel ready to move forward.

We were fortunate to hear from two women who have been in Catherine House and the benefits they gained. Both are now working and happy in their life.

The commitment and dedication of the staff at Catherine House was truly incredible. They invest time and support to the often-traumatised women. Their reward is to see the women gain their self-respect and gain life skills to enable them to move back into the work force and accommodation.

Catherine House is a very tranquil place to be in. There are gardens and an atmosphere helpful for healing.

Overall, our experience was truly heart-warming and could see how Catherine House is essential to help women in crisis.

I would like to thank the staff of Catherine House for helping us see the reason why Catherine House exists. Unfortunately due to the high cost of living more woment are experiencing homelessness and there is a wait list for Catherine House.

I would like to thank the 2 women who bravely spoke about their lives before entering Catherine House and how their lives have now changed.

We all felt very honoured to be part of this tour and hope many more people can have the same opportunity.

Mark spoke about his work in East, West Timor, and Flores Island in Indonesia. Mark has been going to these places for many years performing surgery on children and adults with Cleft lips, Palates and Burn injuries.

There are no Plastic surgeons in the villages and towns he visits so they are unable to receive any surgical repair. Mark values his time in these places and the joy of the parents when these congenital defects are repaired. There are also many burn injuries as the cooking is done on open fires causing extensive injuries. There are people who suffer from seizures and fall into the fires causing large burns.

There are times Mark sees a patient with extensive congenital defects that can not be done in the local hospital. These hospitals are basic with limited resources, inexperienced medical and surgical staff. There is no possibility of post-operative care and follow up with major cases.

Mark will then involve ROMAC to help bring the patients to Adelaide where they will receive the specialised care they need. He has brought many patients to Adelaide who receive good outcomes and can return to their village and lead a normal life. Without the support of ROMAC it would be impossible to help the patients needing complex surgery as they need special x-rays and imaging and extensive port-operative care.

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With the organising skills of Gerald Barker, the Rotary club of Burnside had the opportunity to tour the Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide. Our tour guide, ex-pilot Steve Nelson, was a wealth of knowledge. As we toured around the massive hangars, Steve had all the history of the various aircraft. There were aircraft from many different conflicts, again with much history attached. There was also a display of memorabilia from different Air personnel both male and female.

It was a fascinating afternoon and we all gained a great deal from the experience.

I recommend this tour to anyone with an interest in aviation and even to people wanting to see something very different.

We finished off the afternoon with a delicious lunch at the Birkenhead Tavern. It was a great opportunity to see Rotarians and their partners. We always look forward to the regular vocational tours and lunch. Thank you to Gerald and our tour guide Steve Nelson.

Another fun day organised by Craig. After a tram ride to Glenelg, we had a very relaxing lunch at the Stamford Grand, with a lovely view of the ocean.

Vocational tours are a wonderful opportunity for club members and partners to get together and enjoy each other’s company.

Rotary is very much about fellowship as well as community service. Vocational lunches and tours are the way we form close friendships.

With support from the City of Burnside, the Rotary club of Burnside held the first ‘Community Wellness Hub’ at Glenunga Hub on February 15th 2024.

The aim of these events is to bring local residents together to meet up with old friends or make new friends.

For the cost of a gold coin donation, the event provides tea and coffee, Guest Speaker, seated chair exercises with an experienced instructor and a light lunch.

At the first event, although small, we received very positive feedback and it can only grow from here. Guests were asked about topics they would like for future Guest speakers. Topics included health, fitness, speakers with inspiring experiences, weight loss and transition from Retirement living to Aged Care.

The plan is to provide speakers on programmes provided by the City of Burnside on Fitness, Pilates, yoga, knitting, Boxing, Chess, Burnside Shed and Home Care Support package and Waste Management to name a few.

We look forward to seeing many more local residents attend the Community Wellness Hub. If you require more information please contact Margie Maloney OAM, President of the Burnside Rotary Club on 0412 383 827 or at margaretmaloney733@gmail.com