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Welcome to The Rotary Club of Northbridge
Northbridge
We meet Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Northbridge Golf Club
Sailors Bay Road,
Northbridge, NSW 2063
Australia
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Please send apologies to Helen Gulson before 10:30am each Monday at helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
Club Service Duty Roster
Club Service Duty Roster
Speakers
Jan 26, 2021
Feb 02, 2021
Freeways
Feb 09, 2021
Development of Polio Vaccine
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Upcoming Events
Bunnings Chatswood - BBQ
Jan 24, 2021
 
Quiz Night
Feb 25, 2021
 
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The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Michael Bartok
January 4
 
Brian Robson
January 8
 
Denise Woodward
January 13
 
Sally O'Neill
January 13
 
Chris Switzer
January 16
 
Anniversaries
John Turner
Penny
January 2
 
Peter Hodgson
Audrey Hodgson
January 11
 
Don Landers
Shush Landers
January 12
 
Join Date
Bob Edwards
January 22, 1985
36 years
 
John Turner
January 22, 2002
19 years
 
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President's Message
Kevin Tattrie
member photo
Club Meeting News
 
Welcome
 
President Peter welcomed members and guests, especially our special guest speaker.
Guest Speaker: Leonie Dillon - OzHarvest
 
Leonie Dillon was introduced as a School and Community Ambassador for OzHarvest. She is also an education guide.  She began her working life teaching in Kew Gardens, UK, before moving to Sydney where she continues to work in the teaching profession.  Apart from teaching, her “other passion” is “food” and specifically “food education” and “restoration” and this is why she is now an OzHarvest ambassador.
 
According to Leonie, some 1.3 billion Tonnes of food per year is wasted in Australia – about a third of what the Country produces.  This translates into a huge dollar, time, labour and fresh water wastage and robs our society of the opportunity to put food in the mouths of those who need it.  Currently one in nine people in Australia don’t have enough to eat and yet the Country provides enough food to feed 61 million people, over twice our population.
 
Food wastage occurs “from paddock to plate” and most of this comes from our homes.  Currently, in NSW, the amount of landfill food wastage per year would fill Sydney Harbour. In Australia it is now contributing to serious issues being experienced with general wastage landfill programs across the Country. 
 
OzHarvest was created to address these food wastage, shortfall, non-restoration and education shortfalls. It currently deals with partner organisations to ‘harvest’ their left-over edible produce and package it for distribution to the needy, via a range of local charities.  Since 2004 it has been working with some 3,500 food providers (e.g. Woolworths) to deliver some 20 million nourishing food parcels to people who would otherwise go without. The organisation is now a global leader in food wastage sustainability, with outlets in countries such as the UK, New Zealand, Thailand and South Africa. 
 
OzHarvest operates under “four pillars” – it rescues, engages, innovates and educates people about food sustainability. In Sydney it operates two “hamper hubs” where food is transported to then packaged into hampers before being onforwarded to charities such as those who feed street people.  This Covid year, it has been focussing on the needs of out of work youth and international students affected by the Pandemic. 
 
OzHarvest engages with government and receives some funding to enable its non-volunteer staff to be paid.  On the education front it runs a Food Education and Sustainability Training or FEAST program particularly aimed at primary school children whom it sees as being the “change agents” of our future food sustainability strategies. For instance it has been encouraging school children to pack their own lunches in order to get them to only eat what they need to or else keep fresh food that is not eaten for their next meal. 
 
On the innovation and education fronts, OzHarvest is devising programs for more effective food storage and freezing in homes and elsewhere, better ways of managing food supplies in the home and more widespread use of composting and the recycling of discarded food scraps. 
Leonie’s address prompted lively discussion following which she was warmly thanked for her interesting and informative account of Ozharvest and its food sustainability programs.
THE 4 - WAY TEST of the things we say or do

1). Is it the TRUTH?

2). Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3). Will it build GOODWILL & BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4). Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?