Members and Guests, the meeting for the week of 1st December is being held at the Empire Hotel McIlwraith Street Sth Townsville
Visting Rotarians and Guests are always welcome
Members and guests at a recent meeting of the club had the privilege to hear about one of the very hardworking and dedicated work being done by the Family Emergency Accommodation Townsville (FEAT) team in our city.
The Speaker was Mandy Thompson, CEO of FEAT, who provided an outline of the organization's charter, the work they do, and how they are funded, which all highlighted the importance of this team of dedicated people trying to make life easier for people in our community.
The services they provide can be summarised as:
- Information, referral & advocacy
- Crisis intervention
- Referral to crisis housing & shelters
- Emotional support
- Support to sustain tenancies
- Link to a range of broader assistance
- Support services for children
However, a better explanation would be, the provision of long-term housing(when available), Homeless Services, No Interest Loans to those in need.
Most funds come from the Government, however, other groups in the community also provide valuable assistance with fundraising and support, especially the Sisters of Mercy who have supported them for many years.
Mundingburra Rotary has provided some financial assistance to the organization and are looking at other ways of support.
The following Web link provides a more detailed outline of the wonderful work they do for our community https://feat.org.au/
Thanks, Mandy for a great presentation and for allowing us to understand more of the work FEAT do.
A major project of Rotary International is to assist with the goal of stopping Polio around the world.
Below is some of the information on the progress todate.
What is polio?
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can then attack the nervous system.
Our goal
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we've reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
By the numbers
$3 average cost to fully protect a child against polio
430 million children in total vaccinated in 39 countries in 2017
$100 million cost to conduct polio surveillance worldwide
Member, Guests, and Visitors,
The club is holding an offsite fundraiser for the Rotary Foundation on Thursday 29th September. Visitors wanting to attend should phone the Club Secretary, the phone number listed on the front page, to see if space is available for guests.
The next meeting will be at the Townsville RSL at 6 pm on the 6th Oct 2022. at the Townsville RSL.
The club guest speaker last week was Sandra Richards who spoke of the important work going on with a company she is associated with, QPLUS, in turning waste wood and plastics into products that save polluting our environment.
Interestingly the company is based in Townsville and is working with other groups to encourage other likeminded groups to assist with making our planet a better place.
Sandra indicated plastic waste from farms has always created a problem for farmers, do they bury it, burn it, or find some other way to store it, however the new facility in Townsville can turn it into products that can be used in both commercial and private ways to replace chopping down trees. These products could be a simple as decking boards for household decks, to railway sleepers & fence posts, plus multiple other products.
The club had the pleasure of Helene James from the City Council as a guest speaker for our meeting telling us all about the way the council works with the community on various activities – actually a large list overall.
(Club President Ryan Lacaze presenting a certificate of thanks to Helena.
The club also made a donation of $100 to Australian Rotary Health for Mental Health research in appreciation of her talk to us.)
An enthusiastic Helena gave an overview of the team she is part of and then explained a number of their roles and the projects they are working with jointly with various community groups. These included the following, as they have too many to list separately,
The Club holds an annual ANZAC event to honour the service personnel who have served our country in various conflicts.
This year we had the privilege of holding the event during a visit to the 2RAR museum at Lavarack Barracks
Our special thanks to Defence for allowing the visit and a special thanks to Jason Harrison, and his staff, for the time they volunteered to conduct this memorable tour.
Following the visit, Rotarian Bruce Scott (Brigadier (ret), gave a special, and moving, talk to all members on ANZAC day. Thanks Bruce for assisting us to maintain our yearly ANZAC service.
28th April - Community Building in Townsville – Helene James
5th May - Recycling - Sandra Riches
12th May - Update from former Brazilian Rotarian - Miriam Hebling
17th May - Vocational Visit - Pickerings
6th May - Membership Plan
2nd June - Possible Tropical Museum Visit
Last week our guest speaker, Fiona Richards, a person who had experienced the impact of LYME, gave a presentation that highlighted the challenges facing the many people in our population that suffer from what is very likely LYME, however medical professionals appear to be faced with deregistration if they indicate the person may have LYME.
Australia believes that it can only be acquired overseas, yet blood tests sent to international countries that do LYME testing, have confirmed many instances that the person has the LYME disease, whereas Australian testings claims when they do it, they also get a positive result but state it’s a false positive.
Its clearly a controversial issue, and one that listening to the presenter, gives the impression that acknowledging this as a problem in Australia would create some other issues.
One of our members partners has also faced the same issue, and had to go overseas to be treated for the disease, which was extremely costly, but necessary to allow her to enjoy a good quality of life.
Overall, a very interesting and challenging presentation. Her presentation was supported by the information on Lyme Disease Association of Australia, which make good reading.
It should be noted however, some Australian medical papers indicate it’s a possibility that a person has got LYME in Australia, but more likely symptoms of a problem closely resembling LYME.
A very interesting and thought provoking talk
The Rotary Club of Mundingburra is proud to advise that they have partnered with the Rotary Clubs of Townsville Daybreak, Thuringowa Central, and Magnetic Island, in providing assistance with celebrations for Australia Day via a grant from the National Australia day Council
Full details are contained in the attached document on the next page.
Mundingburra Rotary Club acknowledges the assistance by the Australian Government through theNational Australia Day Council.
Members at our Club meeting on the 25th November were greeted with a wonderful and knowledgeable presentation on Soft Coral and the impact of bleaching on them, by Stefano Borghi.
He explained what is a soft coral, and spoke of the 4 main types that make up soft coral and are a large part of our magnificent Barrier Reef.
He explained what is a soft coral, and spoke of the 4 main types that make up soft coral and are a large part of our magnificent Barrier Reef.
Stefano explained that whilst we might think of all coral as being only one type, the reality is that many types exist, some liking shallow water, other found in varying water depths, therefore they may be impacted differently by climate change. Stefano outlined that the impact was naturally a lot higher on the shallow water types of which we are most likely to see.
The corals which are impacted turn white and, for most soft corals, breakup and disappear, so sometimes when you look you don’t see the white areas as they have disintegrated completely, leading people to think nothing has occurred.
Stefano shared a number of various graphs and charts to highlight the issues, all of which are still undergoing lots of scientific work as the protection of the reef is very important.
He also spoke of the high level of expertise at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, and its high standing in the work they do. Most of us don’t understand the importance of the work they do.
Stefano was a very interesting and challenging presenter, and left the members with a better understanding of coral types and bleaching impacts, plus the knowledge that Townsville is a major centre for coral research.
At a recent meeting of the Mundingburra Rotary Club, members were presented with a very important health message on Stroke Management, by Ian Meade from the Townsville University Hospital.
Ian explained the difference types of strokes, and outlined the F.A.S.T concept to help identify a person who may be having a stroke
and the importance of getting prompt medical assistance for the person.
F.A.S.T is, Face, Arms, Speech, Time,
Three important factors which maybe indicators of a stroke and the need to get medical action quickly.
FACE - Has their mouth drooped?
ARMS – Can they lift both arms?
SPEECH- Is their speech slurred? Can they understand you?
TIME – Getting prompt medical assistance is crucial for someone having a stroke.
A stroke is always a medical emergency. The longer a stroke remains untreated, the greater the chance of stroke-related brain damage.
A good link to other stroke related information can be found on https://strokefoundation.org.au/About-Stroke/Learn/signs-of-stroke
The Mundingburra Rotary Club are pleased to announce the formation of an EarlyAct club at Townsville Grammar School. This is for children under 12.
A formal presentation was held on Thursday 14th Oct to present the documentation to the School and two students representing the EarlyAct members.
Even prior to formally starting the club, these young members of the club took about raising funds for various worthwhile community needs and confirmed they are committed to helping to make life better for those in need.
Club President Ryan Lacaze, and our Club school Rep, Robert Tardiani, had the pleasure of presenting the clubs certificate to the EarlyAct reps, Kalea and Kris under the watchful eye of Louise and Chris (Townsville Grammar staff).
Listening to the speeches by both Kalea and Kris, highlighted the great work they are doing in the school to promote community goodwill and led to great applause from the members present.
Townsville Grammar also hosts an Interact club and this new EarlyAct club will build on the good work the Interact Club has done and provide them a feeder group of keen students.
More photos of the night are below
Service Above Self
Hyde Park, QLD 4812
Australia