‘Many hands make light work’; ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. I am sure you have heard these messages before. A simple conversation between a local Rotarian and her club grew to asking the other Geelong Rotary clubs for their support and in a very short while they had organised a charity dinner.
Anam Cara needs a lot of money to build a brand new 20 bed end of life facility on land out near the Epworth hospital to replace their current facility in a very old building in need of much repair. Anam Cara are a local organization with no government funding that provides a safe, serene place for day and short term respite accommodation for people and their families approaching the end of life.
The planned new facility will offer a massive increase in their ability to offer support and care or the Geelong and wider region and will be massively helped by collaborating with the Epworth nursing staff which will alleviate the current staffing issues with the now setup.
A combination of a generous local restaurant, a wine producer, fish supplier and other generous contributions a night was set, people invited, tickets purchased. To start the ball rolling Truffleduck said they would donate the full cost of the tickets.
Two hundred and sixteen people turned up on May 16th at Truffleduck. We had the most amazing food, listened to some speakers about the plan for the build, held an auction and a wonderful night. An incredible couple said they would double whatever money was raised and hey presto the night amassed $171,000 doubled to $342,000. What a great and invaluable start to what will need to be ongoing funding.
What a night, what a result. Thank you Anne for grabbing the passion and bringing eleven Rotary Clubs along for the ride. Rotary and Geelong you have done it again. Anam Cara, thank you for being here when we need you.
