There was no Rotary meeting at Kooyong Tennis Club on the second Tuesday of the month: as it turned out, we had a Working Bee at the Donations-in-Kind Store in West Footscray.
We had a great turn-out of eight enthusiastic workers, including Lorraine and Noel McInnes who fought the morning rush-hour traffic all the way from Blackburn, and the Drurys who kept us entertained with light-hearted banter.
Bob Glindemann had the team of heavy lifters (including Andy and Laurie on the fork-lifts) well organised to load the containers, so we were allowed to get on with the sorting of donated goods in the two medical aisles.
Our workers learnt some peculiarities of the medical world: sorting catheters, for instance wasn’t as simple as it first appeared. Cardiac, suction and urinary catheters are inserted into different bodily orifices, and had to be sorted accordingly. Some queries about other instruments were just answered with a “don’t ask!”
We certainly cleared some floor space, and we now have room to get the fork-lifts in to raise the pallets up on to the shelves. Julie Colette joked that we have only another 400 man-hours of sorting to do, to catch up. Was she really joking? Certainly we have lots more to do, and future assistance will always be welcome.
As lunch-time came around, the smell of a sausage sizzle filled the warehouse, and we enjoyed DIK’s hospitality over an easy-going lunch, catching up with old friends and sharing reminiscences. I remembered to thank Bob Glindemann on behalf of the club for our tea/coffee and lunch.
So a special thanks to all the volunteers: we had an enjoyable and productive day.