Meeting 9/3/22 - Report
Paul Ferguson was Chairperson for today’s meeting.
Two visitors were welcomed to the club - Barry Oliver introduced by Geoff Gartly, and Wayne Kobrin introduced by Neville Kruss.
Guest Speaker – Marcus Godinho
Our guest speaker today was Marcus Godinho, Executive Director from Fareshare. Club members may recall Marcus visited and addressed our club approximately 3 years ago, and at the time our club donated funds which were used to purchase an industrial blender. Marcus explains the blender has been well used, particularly during the Covid pandemic when it has been used daily for food preparation. Marcus provided a rundown of their current status. They have 1500 regular volunteers and an additional 10,000 helping hands to prepare meals for distribution to charities. Fareshare kitchens are in Brisbane and Melbourne and the goal is to prepare nutritional and well-presented meals. The past two years have provided different challenges with fires, Covid and floods – and on account of Covid and the associated isolation as a result, Fareshare has had challenges with having the resources required to prepare the meals. Fortunately help was at hand –with the State Government offering assistance from hospitality workers who were out of work, Brad Banducci – MD of Woolworths Food Group, offering $100,000 of vegetables weekly, and Bruce Mathieson from the ALH Group (Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group) offering assistance from his top chefs who were also out of work. These 3 avenues provided great assistance and the number of meals increased from 55,000 to 140,000 each week. Their model is to work with business, with surplus food and the need to work quickly. This year is Fareshare’s 21st anniversary, and they are reviewing their focus and considering their long term impact and where meals are needed most. The type of people needing meals is changing and remote locations and communities are being considered. Assistance with this review is being provided by a variety of sources - Queensland University are involved with a needs assessment, the Health Research Institute and Darwin University are assessing the needs and impact for meals in remote locations including delivery to Central Australia. Fareshare has received HACCP Accreditation in the past 2 years that provides industry recognition in food safety and preparation. Meals are frozen as soon as they are prepared - Linfox delivers meals to IGA for collection by local charities for distribution. Running Fareshare kitchens has huge overheads. Financial support such as that provided by Rotary and others, donations of surplus food, and volunteers enables Fareshare to operate, and supports and relies upon other charities to distribute the meals. In addition to donations of surplus food, Fareshare has 3 gardens in Victoria tended by volunteers – at Victoria Park, Southern Farm in Clayton and Moorabbin airport. Marcus acknowledged and thanked Paul Ferguson for land at Moorabbin airport that was offered for their purposes in 2013. Fareshare has a waiting list of charities looking for meals for distribution and Fareshare now screens applications for the most impact. Paul, and the club, thanked Marcus for his very informative talk.
Announcements:
Birthdays and Anniversaries were mentioned. The rosters for the upcoming market and next week’s meeting were announced.
Donations for Club Approval – Linda O’Brien informed the club, the board had approved at the board meeting on Tuesday 8 March, the following two club donations that will be put to the club for final approval:
Club donation of $5,000 to RAWCS for flood relief in QLD and NSW
Club donation of $6,850 to Sandringham Hospital for the purchase of an external pace maker.
Club donation of $6,850 to Sandringham Hospital for the purchase of an external pace maker.
Market Administrator proposal - President Helen informed the club the Market Committee and BMC Board are reviewing (and revisiting) the prospect of employing an external administrator to help run the Bentleigh Market. More information will be provided as the review progresses.
Gaurav Gaur – New club member - President Helen had the very pleasant duty of inducting our newest club member, Gaurav Gaur into our club. Gaurav’s classification is the Home Building Industry. Gaurav thanked the club for accepting his membership application and is looking forward to helping the community.
Art Auction – Faye Weeks advises the Art Auction that had been mentioned previously and subsequently cancelled due to Covid related concerns, has been rescheduled for Thursday 7/5 at the Bentleigh Function Room. Entry will be $40 p.p. - Invitations will be issued to club members with all the details.
Sargent session – Club Sargent, John Mason, appointed our new club member, Samantha Langridge, as his Sargent corporate to collect fines from those “unfairly targeted by the Sargent for unsubstantiated claims”. First “cab from the rank” was to fine our newest club member Gaurav for the collapse of the construction company Probuild. And all the women in the club were fined for International Womens’ Day on 8/3 (really!).
Guest Speaker for club meeting 16/3
Next week’s speaker will be Tracey Burt from South Caulfield Community Garden
