HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-28 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

SERVICE CLUBS

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:20): On Monday night, I attended the combined dinner meeting of the service clubs of Gawler, which is an annual event. It is designed to showcase the activities of the service clubs within the electorate. The dinner this week was particularly important for two reasons. One is that this year is the International Year of Volunteers Plus 10, a year where we celebrate the work of volunteers generally. Secondly, Monday 10 October to 17 October is Service Clubs Week, where we have an opportunity to focus on the good work of service clubs throughout the community. Today is about acknowledging the contribution that service clubs make throughout our local communities.

The dinner was hosted by the Rotary Club of Gawler on this occasion, and it was attended by the Lions Club of Gawler, the Rotary Club of Gawler Light, the Apex Club of Gawler, the Kiwanis Club of Gawler and the Country Women's Association. Missing on the evening were the Zonta Club of Gawler, the Gawler VIEW Club and also the local lodge of the freemasons.

Service clubs in my community certainly—and I am sure right across the state and country—make a major contribution not only to the local area but also internationally, and they do quite a bit of fundraising to support international programs. Some of the programs in which service clubs get involved are: the Polio Eradication program, the Save Our Sight program, and the ShelterBox program. They support a number of international student exchanges. Another program that one of the clubs support is the maternal neonatal tetanus program. Obviously these programs are designed to assist developing countries with funds to help eradicate illnesses and diseases and improve the quality of life for those people.

While their work at the international level is well-known and very valuable, service clubs also do valuable work locally, and a lot of that is achieved through fundraising. It was estimated that, of those few clubs present at the dinner on Monday night, during the 2010-11 financial year, they raised probably about $234,000 from their various fundraising activities. In addition to that, the members of the clubs and their families contributed about 10,000 hours to community fundraising or direct community projects.

If we were to add up both the fundraising and the project work they do and cost it out at just a nominal $25 per hour, which is probably not very much—the clubs' presidents probably contributed about $500,000 to the well being of the community in that year—and combine that with all the other clubs that were not present, you get pretty close to $1 million worth of effort from the service clubs and their members in my electorate, which is a huge achievement. I want to obviously congratulate and honour the contribution that those good volunteers make.

Like I said, service clubs do a lot of their work in two ways: one is fundraising, where people make donations to various other organisations, and, secondly, they actually donate their time and make donations in kind. Despite an ageing and smaller membership, this small band of volunteers makes an enormous contribution to the community generally and their families.

Some of the activities they get involved in are, for example, in my local area, the Gawler Swap Meet, the Gawler Show, the Christmas Tree Festival, the Sunday markets, the Quality of Life Foundation. The Rotary clubs and the Freemasons, for example, are active in the men's health projects. Zonta supports women's projects, particularly those for women with cancer. There are youth projects, the river bank project, the Village Fair, Relay for Life, etc.

To give an indication of the contribution some people make through these clubs, I would like to acknowledge the passing of Norm Knipsel, a long-term service club member. Norm had been a member of a service club—that is, the local Apex and Lions club—for over 55 years prior to his death. He was a tireless community worker. He is an indication of the sort of support that some people give our communities. I express my condolences to his wife, Betty, and the family. Norm's passing will be greatly felt by the community. We support the community by supporting our service clubs.

Time expired.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT