As you all know Neelam Badve has been nominated for membership and we hope to induct her very soon. Neelam works with the State Department of Communities which for the last seven years has been running the Christmas Presents Drive to bring joy to the lives of children and young people in state care. She has written to us seeking support for the 2018 Christmas Gift Drive. It is a very worthy cause which involves sponsoring a gift for a specific child at a cost of about $30. See Neelam's letter below for all the details and please support her if you can.
And while on the Christmas theme, Club Director of Community Service, Ashley West, reminded us that he would again be seeking support in cash or kind for Manna and will provide more details when he hears back from them. Manna provides meals for the homeless and has recently been under some financial pressure and so needs all the help it can get.
It was a delight to have a very bronzed Anna back with us from her trip to Sydney which (apparently) she thoroughly enjoyed. She climbed the bridge, sailed the harbour, dined at a sky high restaurant and generally had a great time. Since then she's been to Mandurah and will shortly be going to Bali. However the most significant thing is that she has just turned eighteen and so it was only right and proper that we sing her Happy Birthday and present her with a gift or two.
A further highlight of the evening was the presentation of and by four budding scientists, Brett Nigli, Mutia Daruso, Bianca Stevenson and Mihan De Silva from Willetton Senior High School (WSHS) who will be sponsored by us to attend the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF). You can read all about them below.
Club Director of Youth Service, Simon Cubitt, was also delighted to announce that fifteen (15) WSHS students have been identified to attend the ConocoPhillips Science Experience conducted here in Perth during December and January; that Josephine Santosa and Luke Warlik will be sponsored to go on the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp at Jarrahdale in January 2019; and that some 380 WSHS Year 10 students will be attending the Rotary WA Driver Education (RWADE) course at Claremont show grounds on either Thursday 29 November or Friday 30 November.
It's great to see all the ways the Club is succeeding and Club Foundation Chair, Stuart Diggins, had another to report. That was the Charity Dinner on Sunday 25 November in aid of widows who have lost their husbands in the prolonged Civil War in Sri Lanka. It was attended by 71 people and raised well over $6,000 towards the funds needed before the Club can apply for a Global Grant from the Rotary Foundation. The Club was represented by Erwin Biemel, Stuart and his daughter, Ric and Leesa Davies and Ian and Jenny Ross.
We will be having our Christmas breakfast on Sunday 3 December 2018 at the Pagoda Restaurant in South Perth. Director of Club Service, Greg Hamilton, is the organiser of this event and also the visit on 6 December to Campbell Barracks. Greg has done a great job with the programme this year and we have a lot to thank him for.
Toward the end of the evening we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and I thank Secretary John Erkins, Treasurer Richard Ibbitson, Simon Cubitt (who stood in for Richard) and David Honeychurch (who stood in for John) for making the AGM so easy to run. We have achieved a great deal over the past twelve months and our results, both pastoral and financial demonstrate this.
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