On a very cold morning, with no heating in our room, it was very welcoming to see quite alot of YELLOW amongst us!
Daffodil Day collection for Cancer was on the schedule for Sergeant Linda and members were very generous, giving $500 to the Cancer
cause. Thanks to you all for partaking – it was fun.
St Johns Ellerslie Rotary members have been extremely busy over the weekend. The Lightshow in Stonefields was on for 4 nights from Thursday to Sunday. Amazing laser lights, so many families from the local community and further wide, were able to view the display without being disrupted by wet weather. I wish to thank all our members who volunteered during the weekend, to assist the Stonefields Residents Association control the crowds and to man our Rotary Display tent for our public relations campaign.
At the Club Board meeting last Tuesday, it was agreed to donate to the following:
Rotary NZ World Community Services
$2,000.00 towards Emergency Response Kit boxes ERKs
Glen Innes Food Bank
- $2,000.00 to go towards food for their needy customers.
I am looking forward to our next dinner meeting on Thursday 3rd September, to catch up with everyone and discuss the outcome of the wonderful 4 nights of Lights in Stonefields. Muriel and Patrick were very involved with the Stonefields Residents Association which
assisted with the organisation and supplying volunteers during the event. St Johns Ellerslie Rotary Club was a major sponsor alongside the Orakei Local Board. Will it be an annual event?
Sunday morning last week was a special time – christening the brand-new chase boat down at St Georges Rowing Club, Kings Road, Panmure. St Johns Ellerslie Rotary Club have donated funds for this boat so the Glendowie College students will have the latest equipment to help improve their rowing skills.
Keep following our Bulletin to keep you up to date with future activities within the Club.
On Thursday 20 August our newest member Lindy told us briefly about her super interesting life. Lindy grew up in India and is Scottish. She has lived in NZ for 35 years now and calls Auckland her home. When you next see Lindy make sure you talk to her as she has some fascinating stories to share with the club members. Thank you Liny for joining our club we value your input.
Ian Fulong from Glen Innes Foodbank- Making a difference in our community
David Hartstoneintroduced us to Ian who is the chair person of The Glen Innes Food Bank:
Ian thanked our club for its ongoing support of the Glen Innes Food Bank, which Rotary has been assisting for the past 7–8 years.
The food bank has been operating next to the Glen Innes Police Station for around 30 years. It was originally established by a detective at the police station and is now run extremely efficiently by Pete, a former UK Merchant Navy seaman.
The food bank is entirely volunteer-run, with volunteers preparing the food parcels and ensuring that all donated food goes directly into the boxes. The parcels are provided to households who need immediate assistance to help them through a difficult period.
Some interesting facts about the food bank:
Around 1,800 food boxes are distributed each year.
Pete collects donated food from businesses and organisations throughout the area.
Rotary regularly collects outside supermarkets and typically manages to deliver around 100 boxes from each collection.
The food bank costs approximately $30,000 a year to operate and has its own van for collecting donated food.
Around $20 is spent on each box to purchase food or other essential items that have not been donated.
Demand for food boxes continues to increase and is expected to grow further.
There are clear guidelines around the number of boxes a household can receive, with a maximum of four boxes per household.
Proof of address is required when collecting food boxes.
While the rules are clear, they can sometimes be difficult to enforce, as the food bank is trying to support households experiencing genuine hardship and needing ongoing assistance.
A number of generous suppliers regularly donate food to the food bank.
The ongoing search for funding is an important part of keeping the food bank operating and meeting the increasing demand.
Our Rotary Board recently donated $2,000 to the Glen Innes Food Bank, and Ian expressed his sincere appreciation to the club for this generous contribution and for our continued support over many years.
Here are some photos of the lightshow held at Stonefields last weekend.
What an incredible three nights!
We’re incredibly proud to have supported Lightfields Manugarei and to have played a small part in bringing this special three-night event to the community.
A huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event! Your energy and enthusiasm helped make it such a wonderful celebration
Families, children and friends have come to the Lightfields on Maungarei Springs through each evening 21–23 August to experience breathtaking light installations, cinematic soundscape and a backdrop of brilliant laser projections on the quarry wall.
The wetlands in Stonefields is a uniquely stunning urban location for this large-scale lighting event, with a boardwalk leading you over shimmering water, surrounded by a majestic cliff face, and overlooked by Maungarei and its rich history.
Congratulations to our Winners and the $50.00 will be credited to your account.
Available numbers.
Members are billed $26.00 each quarter, which is $2pw each weeks winner receives $50.00. Available numbers are: 4, 5, 12, 13,18,21,23,25,27,29,30,36,40.
