It was a busy evening at the Walter J Tuck Rec rooms last Monday night with the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Community Foundation taking place alongside the award of various grants and first aid kits. Guests included the members, Cr. Clare Williams, recently appointed Mayor of SGSC and the grant recipients.
The meeting kicked off with an outline of the Community Foundation’s activities in the Chair’s Report from Rob Kiddell and a report on the audited financial statements for 2022/23 by Vice-Chair, Walter Aich. Walter highlighted that the Community Foundation had received almost $600,000 in donations, $400,000 in investment earnings and given out more than $160,000 in grants in the past year. He also explained how the value of the original corpus of the Community Foundation (the $5M proceeds from the sale of the Aged Care facility) is maintained in real terms through the allocation of profits each year to increase its value using a CPI mechanism. If you would like to see a copy of the annual report, it is on the website – www.mirboodistrictfoundation.org.au.
Introducing New Faces
Rob also welcomed the two recently appointed Directors, Luke McGrath and Heather Farley, to their first AGM. He went on to thank Joe Piper, retiring as member of the Audit and Risk Committee. Rob noted that while many people would recall Joe’s valuable contribution to the build of the new Medical Centre, Joe had also given 6 years to strengthening the governance structure of the Community Foundation.
With the formalities out of the way, it was time to hear about the projects that had received community grants. These included Mirboo North Secondary College for Centsible Teen Talk; Boolarra CFA for Outdoor Welfare and Training Area; Friends of the Morwell National Park for their Feeling Chirpy – Bird Book; Mirboo North Early Learning Centre for Natural Outdoor Space; Thorpdale CFA for Community Santa Suit; Boolarra Community Development Group for Conference of the Birds Arts Project; and Mirboo North Community Energy Hub for Community Energy Audits for local residents and businesses.
It was lovely to hear about each project and the passion and enthusiasm of each group involved.
There was also a grant of $5,000 awarded to the Hope N Help food hamper program from the new Mirboo North Times. Les Harmer thanked the Mirboo North Times speaking about the increasing need for food and essentials in the community. Ruth Rogan spoke about the circularity of the volunteers working not only to bring news and connection to the community, but also earning money from sales and sponsorship which goes straight back into community projects.
First Aid Kits Distribution
The final element of the evening was the distribution of 11 more first aid kids from the Mirboo North Pharmacy Fund. The organisations kitted out to manage first aid for their members and the community include: Baromi Tennis Club, the Boolarra Community Development Group, Mirboo North Community Shed, arc Yinnar, the Mirboo North Grainstore, Mardan Tennis Club, Boolarra Folk Festival, Mirboo North United Football Club, Mardan Hall, Mirboo North Community Bus and the Baromi Centre.
The Mirboo North Pharmacy Fund has now given out the $10,000 which it won this time last year in six grants and 23 First Aid Kits. What an impact in a short space of time thanks to our local community pharmacy.