Author: David Hanlon

On Wednesday 7 March 2018, another enlightening International Women’s Day Breakfast was held at the spectacular Mornington Racecourse with over 300 attending. Once again the weather was perfect, the breakfast delicious and the speakers inspirational. The project is a collaborative effort by Frankston North Rotary and the Frankston, Peninsula 2.0 and Mount Eliza Rotary clubs. The MC was Georgia Symmons.
One clear message delivered by both speakers was the importance of encouraging women to reach their full economic potential, now and in generations to come.
The first speaker, Kristen Hilton, grew up as one of five girls in country Victoria before moving to Melbourne to complete a Law/Arts degree at Melbourne University. She worked in corporate law as an industrial relations lawyer before pursuing a career in social justice and human rights. Kristen is a Churchill Fellow and in 2007 spent time in Geneva, South Africa and the USA investigating the right to adequate housing.
In 2016 Kristen was appointed as Victoria’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner. Her role is to promote and protect human rights and equality across the state and lead the Commission’s work in creating a rights respecting culture within organisations, governments and communities. Kristen is the Chair of the expert panel in both the Fire Services review and Victoria Police review.
The second speaker, Sally Hines, is the Chief Operating Officer of The Big Issue and Homes for Homes. The Big Issue is an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and creating work opportunities for homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people. It well-known for The Big Issue magazine: a fortnightly, independent publication sold on the streets by vendors, who buy copies for $3.50 and sell them for $7, keeping the difference. Homes for Homes is a new initiative of The Big Issue that will help raise an ongoing supply of new funding for social and affordable houses.
Sally started her career in employment services, community development, youth mental health and health. She has held various strategic, service delivery and operational management positions, including experience in establishing new not-for-profit businesses across Australia in diverse communities.

On Thursday 22 March and Friday 23 March 2018, students from Elisabeth Murdoch College attended their Debutante Ball at the New Peninsula Centre, Mount Martha. And what a wonderful success both nights were! The venue was great, the dancing superb, due to the expertise of dance teachers Terry and Michelle from Marshere in Cranbourne, and all this was made possible due to the efforts of the Frankston North Rotary Club, who managed the planning and organisation of this successful event, along with facing many challenges.
There were around 700 attended over the two nights, and 52 debutante couples were presented. It was an amazing event and provided many great memories! Proud mums and dads watched as their wonderfully dressed sons and daughters completed their fantastic dance routine on each night.
This group starred on the Friday night.

Donations in Kind is a major recycling operation run by volunteers who coordinate, assess and package materials to be sent free throughout the world to people in need. Thousands of voluntary hours are spent each year to run this operation. It is Rotary Australia’s largest ongoing project and the West Footscray Store is the largest in Victoria. Equipment that no longer meets Australian standards for a number of reasons is collected by Rotary and then shipped in containers overseas to where it is needed most.

For a number of years, Frankston North Rotary has been working in partnership with Peninsula Health to identify hospital equipment that is recyclable and in good working condition, to provide short-term storage and to coordinate the transport to the Donations in Kind store in Footscray. The equipment is then load into shipping containers and sent to the countries of need, such as Africa, Kenya, Nepal, Indonesia, Timor, Philippines and Sri Lanka, where it is received by a Rotary Club or other creditable agency for distribution.

Donations in Kind is really about the fact that in western countries we have a lot of equipment that becomes redundant, but such equipment doesn’t even exist in other countries because of their impoverished state. Frankston North Rotary will continue to support the Donations in Kind program, along with other cluster clubs. The club also sponsored racking in the store at a cost of $450.

Frankston North Rotary has had a long association with Ballam Park, Frankston. In 1981, the club put aside money to build a rotunda (picnic shelter) in the park. Ballam Park provides a great day out for people of all ages, with two regional playground areas, barbecues in the large picnic areas, a walking track, public toilets, a tennis wall and a basketball ring.

The Ballam Park Rotunda bears the Frankston North Rotary sign to acknowledge the erection of the shelter many years ago. The club takes pride in helping to keep it look clean and fresh. Ongoing maintenance has included Frankston North Rotary’s work on the restoration and painting of the rotunda.

The club, in conjunction with the Frankston City Council and the Department of Justice, has undertaken a program of Adopt a Park.  Frankston North Rotary holds regular community events at Ballam Park to remove graffiti on the art wall near the barbeque shelter and to maintain the bollards. Club members often their hands dirty as they undertake some physical work in the park.

On Wednesday 8 March 2017, an enlightening International Women’s Day Breakfast was held at the spectacular Mornington Racecourse with over 400 attending. The weather was perfect, the breakfast delicious and the speakers inspirational. The project is a collaborative effort by Frankston North Rotary and the Frankston, Peninsula 2.0 and Mount Eliza Rotary clubs. The money raised will be allocated to local community projects.
The first speaker, Kate Carnell AO, started with a quote from John Lennon: Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. This is how she explained her life, from her early years as a pharmacist to her current role as Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. Early in life she realised that to succeed in business you need to make people feel important: to listen to and be interested in both staff and customers.

Kate Carnell

After a successful 15-year career in pharmacy, including being the first female National Vice-President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, she went on to serve as Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 1995 to 2000, and has since held various CEO roles. To succeed in your life and career, Kate’s advice is to be ethically true to yourself, engage with the community and be willing to take risks.

The second speaker, Susan Berg, author of The Girl Who Lived, recounted the trauma when, as a 15 year old, she was the sole survivor of a boating accident that claimed the lives of her mother, father and brother. Suffering from survivor guilt, Susan charged down a path of self-destruction. In the following years she continued to face significant challenges and hardship, including domestic violence.

Susan Berg

Then, at age 30, when she escaped death again in a fatal motorbike accident, Susan turned her life around, refusing to remain a victim of her past. She fought through her demons – learning to love herself and life again. In January 2017, she faced her greatest fear, open water, and swam the Lorne Pier to Pub. Then, on 26 February 2017, she completed the Rip Swim across Port Phillip. This was all part of her ongoing journey of self-healing, and to encourage other women to confront and overcome their fears.