Last Thursday was President Hugh's last day in office, and come next week, he will be remembered as IPP Hugh! It's been a fun ride Hugh and we all know that deep down you really enjoyed it!
Great to see you receiving running instructions from current IPP Robyn for your last meeting! At this meeting, attended by 26 members and three guests, Hugh had a cast of many speakers to slot in and introduce. Firstly there were Club Notices from Directors with the key messages revolving around Change-over. Please be sure to check timings in the story below.
Next up was Claire who gave us all an update on ONJA. Great news that two students have now graduated and in the market seeking work. Its not easy for Sam and his team to secure work, with most companies who are needing software writers and developers looking to see examples of previous work. The three new staff members who Sam has recently taken on as teachers and mentors will help see the number of graduates increase, as well as more work opportunities in the near future.
In his role as DG Nominee, Allan is exposed to stories from around the District and most recently, the deteriorating conditions in Fiji as a result of Covid19 and the rate at which this is spreading across the country is heartbreaking, and Allan just wanted to take the opportunity to ensure that no matter how good it looks in New Zealand, just on our doorstep is Fiji who are facing huge challenges. Our thoughts go out to our Rotary friends and their families in Fiji.
Peter B then took the mic to update us all that, to his delight, and he hopes for most Rotarians, the "Environment" has now become the 6th area of focus by Rotary International. Peter, as Director Environment, reminded us to expect that a monthly Environmental project of some sort will be coming our way soon.
Prior to having an update from the GI CAB, Aubrey took the opportunity in his last Sergeants session for the year, to present a "Report Card" on every member. Needless to say these were all glowing reports and each and everyone of us should be very proud of the work we do, doing good in our community.
...and to our last speakers of the year, we were given an update from Patsy Sims from the GI CAB and Alyson DeMarco from the Tamaki Budgeting Office.
Both organisations work side by side in the CAB in GI and unfortunately their update was not a happy story. They are both very, very appreciative of the partnership with our club and the support we give them throughout the year, but these are tough times and many members of the community are struggling due to the likes of some terrible housing issues, unemployment, crime, drug use etc etc and the list goes on. Our President Elects' indicated that plans are progressing towards running a mid-winter food bank collection which is one of the most important activities of the year for the CAB and Tamaki Budgeting Services.