Stop Press: The meeting this Thursday will be a casual dinner of Lasagne and salad with BYO drinks at the Wade's 26 Cypress St.
In the Chair: President Jennifer
Members: 12
Guest: Ellana Kalounisiga
My Plan Connect
Ellana is now the Manager at My Plan Connect. This is a Disability and aged care service provider with an Office located in Leeton but providing services to the surrounding area.
She came to this role in February after spending some time in Cootamundra caring for her mother. Her husband was working for a labour management firm and was offered a job at JBS so they moved to Leeton.
In her role, she manages 55 support staff and provides risk assessment so support workers know about the risks involved.
Ellana regaled us with some stories of her work, including with a 104-year-old from Narrandera.
She exhorted us to become acquainted with the care packages available and to get paperwork in motion before the need arises as an application can take up to 9 months and a patient needs to be assessed by a Community Nurse.
She urged us to contact Clare at 15 Kurrajong Ave. Shew is available every working day but Thursday.
Fiji
Ellana lived in Fiji for 26 years. She first went there with the Federal Police and established a relationship with a remote Village on the main Island. She was impressed by the differences in life between the villagers and in Australia. She adopted a son, and became concerned about the welfare of the villagers.
When she first visited the Village there was a 5km trek to get water for the creek, so a water project was important.
The projects have a value of over $500k. A journalist from Norway did a story on these projects and she was contacted by the Prince of Norway who offered a matching grant. At first Ellana thought it was a joke, but it was real. The money was offered provided that the projects were sustainable and generated income.
She established a Community Hall and a women’s craft registered not for profit Company (although she did discover that she could not pay by the hour but by the amount of work produced).
Ellana was thanked on behalf of the Club by President Jennifer.
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Brain Teaser
Which 3 pins need to be knocked over to total exactly 100
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Director’s Reports
President Jennifer
Attended the District Changeover with Aaron. The District received three Rotary awards. It will have a new Facebook page and a 3-monthly newsletter.
Attended the Leeton Central Changeover (with George and Carol, Carmel and Graeme).
Brian
Ball made about $4.5k. Sold about 195 paid tickets
Len
All but 2 subs paid
The golf day made $5668 for Jumpstart
Aaron
One lot of flowers from the ball were delivered to the Villa and were located in the Main Dining Room. The other bunch was provided to Carramar where it was split into three too go on display.
Rotarians invited to lunch at the Villa on 28 August (12.00) inn the Activities Room.
Potential for us to help with a barbecue at the Villa in the future.
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Sergeant – Carmel
Carmel quizzed us on her year as President. There were a number of questions with a total of 100 for the answers.The winner was Graeme – this was odd since he was the member with lowest attendance for the year.
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Market Day
The Market Day started with a few showers but the weather turned quite balmy by the 10am start. Once again, there was a great turnout of helpers. The patronage was steady but could have been better.
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Apologies in Advance for the Stereotype.
An old Italian gentleman lived alone somewhere in the Riverina. He wanted to plant the annual tomato patch, but it was difficult work as the ground was hard. His son Vinnie who used to help him, was in prison.The old man wrote to his son and described his predicament.
“Dear Vinnie, I am feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I am just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know, if you were here, my troubles would be over.I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, just like the old days. Love, Papa.”
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
“Dear Papa. Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie.”
At 4 a.m. the next morning, the local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologised to the old man and left. The same day the old man received a letter from his son.
“Dear Papa. Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now.That’s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you. Vinnie.”
