January 2019
We are proud to report on our club’s activities over the last 12 months and thank the community, traders and businesses for their continued support and engagement with our programs.
In 2019 Flinders Lions celebrates 50 years of community service and it is heartening to reflect on this wonderfully strong support network that has endured over the years.
Lions International celebrated its 100th Anniversary Year since foundation in 2017 and we continued to serve with a balanced program during 2018. Here are the highlights:
- Eleven members joined the club in the past 18 months. Seven more members will become involved in the first quarter of 2019 because of the energy and excitement generated by our projects and community service initiatives in recent years.
- We continued our traditional fund raising activities and held our 30th Annual Charity Golf Day in March with just over 100 players registered. We raised over $20,000.
- The Red Hill Market car parking in conjunction with Red Hill Lions Club is an important fundraiser for the Club and also a great teamwork between the two clubs. This program runs from September to May on the 1st Saturday of each month. We also conducted car parking for ‘Science Week’ at Coolart.
- The Flinders Community Picnic on the Ocean Beach will be held again in March. This is not a fundraising event but gold coin donations were made to the CFA. The event shall be held again in March 2019 due to popular demand.
- On May 11 we hosted a fundraising dinner for the local community and businesses for Alzheimer’s research at the Flinders Golf Club. Associate Professor Stephen Macfarlane was the Guest Speaker. 140 plus guests attended and we raised in excess of $9,000.
- In October we helped co-ordinate the Rhythms for Rain musical event in the village to raise funds for Australian Lions Foundation Drought Relief Appeal. The event raised $2,500 and the club contributed a further $2,500 for this Need for Feed program.
- The Pink Ribbon Breakfast was conducted for the 7th year in October too. The guest speaker was Dr. Normand Pouliot, Head, Matrix Microenvironment & Metastasis Laboratory, Translational Breast Cancer Program, at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. $10,500 was raised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
- In the financial year of 2017-18 we donated $60,000 to a variety of Lions Foundation endorsed and other local charities, community based organizations and worthy causes. This included funds from the very successful Flinders Motoring Heritage display at Easter which from sponsorships, in kind donations, ticket sales, a sausage sizzle and a raffle and resulted in a net profit of just over $28,000; $10,000 of which went to Peninsula Health for equipment to help with treatment of stroke, diabetes and children’s welfare at Rosebud Hospital.
- Donations were made to a total of 36 charities and causes including Dromana Secondary College for Scholastic Achievement Awards and for a special purpose fund to assist students in financial difficulty or family crisis. Donations were also made to Hastings Secondary College and Red Hill School.
- We continued to support Hastings Primary School with the Junior Public Speaking competition and sponsorships for students to Licola Camp.
- One of our members hosted a Lions Japanese Exchange student and members arranged various cultural outings.
- We supported the Flinders Hotel by assisting with hosting of young chefs from Vietnam to places of interest on the Mornington Peninsula as part of the KOTO Project.
Mark Holland
President
