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A relatively small group was in attendance last Thursday but, as normal, a lively group enjoyed the St. Johns atmosphere. Co-President Penny welcomed all and started the meeting by inviting directors to provide updates; - John L. provided an update on where we are at with the project at Ruapotaka School where we are wanting to remove an aged playground and replace it with a Sand Pit. We need access to some heavy machinery which is taking a little longer to source than had been expected.
- Peter B. advised the meeting that he, Gary and Kevin will be attending a community meeting this week to report on the status of the upgrade of Apirana Reserve and the role St. Johns Rotary will play.
- Gary K. reminded members that, as reported in the last Bulletin, Have A Go Sailing will commence on May 5th and if anyone is interested in spending time at Akarana or on the water along with Yachting NZ they would be most welcome.
- Robyn I. recapped the club's schedule of meetings and activities over the next month. It will be a busy period with some very good speakers and activities planned. Details will continue to be highlighted in each week's Bulletin and members are asked to respond on time to all RSVP requests circulated.
- Co-Presidents Lesley and Penny updated us on the status of District Conference which should now be able to go ahead unrestricted. At this time 9 members / partners are intending to attend. Others interested are encouraged to talk to Penny or Lesley for more details.
Our guest speaker at the meeting was Lisa  Rudolf who is the Director of Fund Raising at Presbyterian Support Northern, (PSN). Lisa describes herself as a Carer Fund Raiser and has only been with PSN for a few weeks, and in fact St. Johns Rotary was her first presentation in her new role. Prior to joining PSN she was with Auckland Museum in a similar role. PSN aim is to help anyone struggling with age, disability or injury to enjoy a better lifestyle. They also work with families who are struggling financially to teach them how to move towards financial independence. Their emergency food bank in Auckland feeds thousands of families and children in need every year. With over 1000 staff in 25 service centres, they work with communities right across the upper North Island, from Turangi to Whangarei. They primarily support 4 community organisations as listed below: "Enliven" - Enliven maximises the independence of older people and those with disabilities or injuries. This home support and community services enable people to live in their own homes, stay healthy and engage socially with others. "Family Works" - Family Works delivers social services that help children and families learn, grow and thrive. They offer counselling and social work support for children and families, along with a range of group programmes. "Shine" - Shine is a leading specialist domestic abuse service provider. Shine’s services help adult and child victims of domestic abuse to be safe and motivate men who’ve used abusive behaviour to change. "Lifeline" - Lifeline provides personal and telephone counselling to those in need. Over the past 53 years Lifeline has developed as one of New Zealand’s leading support organisations, working to help New Zealanders live healthier lives through emotional and mental wellbeing. Many thanks for your time Lisa and very best wishes in your new role.  Apart from Lisa, our guest speaker, we also hosted two other guests for a second visit; Madison Faber and her partner Alex.
Madison recently served for two years as President of Rotaract Club of Wellington, (2018-2020), and she was District 9940 Rotaract Representative (2019-2021). After completing her conjoint LLB/BA degree last year, she accepted a position at Norris Echetebu Law (based in Parnell), so is now living in Epsom with her partner Alex. When she felt ready to get back ‘into’ Rotary, (having left Wellington and Rotaract behind) her parents recommended our club and accordingly they contacted Robyn. Lisa has a PHF for her work with Rotaract! Madison and Alex have been made to feel extremely welcome at the RC St Johns and she is now in the process of applying (via Beryl) for Membership. |
Co-Presidents St. Johns Rotary, Penny McGarry (Ph: 021 702 310), and Lesley Harris (Ph: 027 4935 498)
THURSDAY APRIL 21st - BREAKFAST MEETING: GUEST SPEAKER -Roger McGarry 
THURSDAY APRIL 28th - BREAKFAST MEETING: GUEST SPEAKER - POLICE CONSTABLE CHRIS MALATIOS: 
St. Johns Rotary 2022 - Saturday June 18th 2022 - Remuera Golf Club:
Nice photo, paying good attention to the speaker and good clean breakfast plates!
I did get it - it was a great joke!
I acknowledge that I don't get every joke, so I'll just hide here until I am needed again.
Thanks for taking good care of our speaker Robyn! Nice photo too.
Not only was I the only one who caught anything, it was this big as well!
This looks as though it's a serious conversation - I'm certainly not going to get involved.
Nice to see you back in town Beryl. We hope that John looked after you well!
I'm not going to look at you until you take your hand off my shoulder.
Our lips are sealed - you will need to ask someone else!
