Buderim Gardens puts on a Christmas fair each year selling some fabulous crafts & treats. The homemade cakes & slices are absolutely delicious.
Our club was invited again to fire up the BBQ for a sausage sizzle with all money raised going to support Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre’s ‘Sleep Bus’. This a great initiative of MNC & our club is always keen to do what we can to support it.
Despite being a very hot day, as usual, we enjoyed ourselves!
What a great Guest Speaker at Friday’s meeting! Cath Manuel is a Horticulturist specializing in Therapeutic Horticulture. Through her business ‘Soil to Supper’, Cath delivers onsite garden-based programs to enable people from all walks of life to access garden, engage in activities, grow fresh food, build connections & cultivate wellbeing.
Cath has a great passion for sharing her vast knowledge, & many years of experience, in the Horticulture & Therapeutic Horticulture fields to encourage people of all ages & abilities to experience the joy of gardening & growing healthy food in any setting.
Thanks, Cath, for a wonderful presentation. The photos in your presentation indicate what a difference your program can make.
If you’d like to hear interesting speakers such as Cath, feel free to contact us to book a place for lunch at our Friday meeting.
Most of our Buderim locals would have either seen or heard of Ross Eason’s recently released book ‘4556’. We enjoyed having Ross as our Guest Speaker at Friday’s meeting to tell us more about the book & how it came to be.
Ross explained that it took approx. 4 years to complete his book ‘4556’, so called because it covers the whole postcode area: Forest Glen, Sippy Downs, and Buderim. Some of the photos in the book were provided by the Historical Assoc., however, Ross took all the recent ones, some using a drone.
All proceeds from the book, which is available at the Old Post Office, will be returned to the Community.
What a great meeting we had today: induction of a new member & a very interesting guest speaker.
Our club readily welcomed Paul Marek as our newest Member. Paul has already been contributing to Club life by helping out at our Jazz in The Park BBQ, as well as putting in a stellar performance as OC Vegemite Toast at our Buderim Mountain SS Breaky Club assistance.
Paul is our 3rd new member in the past few months, &, along with the others, adds a welcome new dimension to Club life. New members create a dynamic atmosphere. Welcome Paul!
Our Guest Speaker, Adam Barrett, is the Director of Buderim Mountain SS OSHC, & his presentation on what an integral part of the school system OSHC is, & the vital support it offers families at the school was very interesting. A recent audit audit of the program confirmed how lucky we are to have Adam & his team providing this service.
Adam is also a foster carer, & the brief glimpse he gave us into some of the tragic circumstances surrounding children entering in to this system was heartbreaking. It is wonderful to know that people of Adam’s caliber are providing a stable, loving family life to some of these children, offering them the chance of a very fulfilling, happy & successful future.
Thankyou to Maureen & Christine from Sunshine Coast Dementia Alliance for coming along to our meeting on Friday to tell us more about this very important initiative. Christine is the Community Liaison Officer for the organization, & Maureen is the interim President.
We heard how the organization has been successful in gaining formal recognition from Dementia Australia as the first Qld Dementia Alliance as actively working towards becoming a Dementia Friendly organisation. Their vision is to promote this status to other local Sunshine Coast communities and support and assist them to create their own local Dementia Friendly recognised Community.
With the wider area becoming more Dementia Friendly, Dementia Alliance envisage being leaders in this space and further influence the Sunshine Coast Council, Chamber of Commerce members and Sunshine Coast transport & travel services in becoming Dementia Aware and Dementia Friendly. The ‘Big Picture’ is to have the Sunshine Coast destination known and respected for being inclusive for all disabilities and especially for those Living with Dementia.
Another fantastic Jazz in The Park event run by the BWMCA. They estimate around 3000+ people in attendance & the park was certainly alive. Wonderful music & delicious food.
Our club was out in full force with most of our members helping to sizzle up some yummy burgers. The feedback was along the lines of amazement that our cooks were not ‘hatted’!
There’s quite a lot of work involved with these BBQs, however, the camaraderie, the public exposure & the money raised all help our club to keep ticking along doing the great work we do for our community & those in need.
Alexia Hoffman, or Chappy as she is called by the students at the Buderim Mountain State School, graciously agreed to be our Guest Speaker on Friday, and we were delighted to find out more about her role at the school, and a bit about herself.
Alexia explained that a lot of what she does is about listening to both students and their parents. She is also sometimes approached by teachers to assist with a student for varying reasons. Alexia has 15 years experience as a school chaplain and this has provided the many skills that have helped in learning to relate to and be understanding of others.
The Rotary Club of Buderim is a proud supporter of the Maroochy Neighborhood Centre & the fantastic work they do with those in our community doing it tough. Today we were happy to sizzle up a few sausages for the long-awaited launch of the Pink Bus.
The bus will provide safe, nightly accommodation for women & children. The build of the bus was funded by MNC, & will compliment the men’s blue bus which has been in operation for some time.
Good on you MNC!
At last Friday’s meeting (18th Aug), we are thrilled to welcome Michele Lipner as our Guest Speaker.
Michele is the Coordinator of the food rescue program OzHarvest on the Sunshine Coast. This program has multiple aims – to help feed local people in need, divert quality food from landfill, and raise community awareness about food waste, food sustainability and local food security. The program partners with local food suppliers and charities, schools, community groups, community organisations and churches across the Sunshine Coast to help ensure those in need receive quality food. Overall responsibility for all aspects of program management including food rescue operations, education and awareness activities and corporate engagement.
Prior to establishing OzHarvest on the Sunshine Coast, Michele spent over twenty years in the aid and development sector, primarily working in conflict and post conflict environments in senior management positions with the UN and NGOs. Work largely focused on emergency response and humanitarian assistance to transitioning programming and peacekeeping missions. As a consultant, helped draft strategic guidance on civil-military coordination in UN peacekeeping operations; co-authored a study examining coordination efforts in disaster response (Working Better Together: An NGO Perspective on Improving Australia’s Coordination in Disaster Response); led the development of a multiagency document aimed at supported enhanced civil-military-police communication and understanding in international disaster response and conflict management, entitled Same Space—Different Mandates: A Civil-Military Guide to Australian Stakeholders in International Disaster and Conflict Response; and co-authored working papers on promoting good practice in evaluation and assessment of peace operations.
Friday’s presentation was titled ‘Food and Food Waste: Be Part of the Solution’. Michele talked about food insecurity and food waste in Australia, had a brief discussion about OzHarvest’s response to both and then talked about how we can reduce food waste at home.
Our Guest Speaker at Friday’s meeting was Wendy Ashley-Cooper, the President of Graduate Women Qld – Sunshine Coast, a dynamic organization for women graduates on the Sunshine Coast who meet for friendship & fellowship, & also provide financial support for women & girls furthering their education.
Having formed in 1991, GWQ-SC is the fastest growing & largest branch in Qld with around 80 members, & has awarded $130,000 in bursaries since its inception.
Although women’s education has improved dramatically over the years, the statistics presented by Wendy revealed that there is still a long way to go globally. Organizations such as GWQ-SC continue to work towards supporting women in their educational endeavors.
Our club is honored to have speakers of Wendy’s caliber at our meetings & we appreciate the opportunity to discover more about our locals, & local organizations, & how they are making a difference.
