Community Awards Night
We had a great turnout for our annual Community Awards Night last week with Lois welcoming us by noting that serving our community and acknowledging those who do this is a significant part of what Rotary is about.
This year we acknowledged four women from a diverse variety of areas as our award recipients as follows:
Dorothy Andrew
Dorothy was recognised for her support and organisational efforts for Aged Concern.
She initially responded to an advert to assist taking the elderly by bus on morning tea trips and it grew from there.
“We currently can take two busloads each morning”, smiled Dorothy, “which includes organising entertainment which attendees thoroughly enjoy.”
The Harewood Road church is often the location of choice where Dorothy is also the verger.
Linda Cowan
Linda was also recognised for her involvement with Aged Concern which also includes supporting the hosting of morning teas. She also is actively involved in helping facilitate conversations at these events.
In addition, Linda acts as an accredited ”dog sitter” and visits clients with her own dog Lewis where he is well received.
Coming from a background in education, she also helps with reading activities at a local primary school plus organises morning tea for teachers at the local High School. M
“I like to go that extra mile across a range of areas” shared Linda.
Stephanie Cowan
Stephanie works tirelessly in the sudden death syndrome area and is a director with “Change our Children”.
She often presents to public gatherings and both local and international levels and has also designed an intervention programme on promoting smoke free pregnancy with a particular focus on Maori and Pacifica audiences.
An additional programme she supports is sharing a “safe sleeping” guide for parents who choose to often have their children in their beds,
“Since 1987 we have seen a reduction in infant deaths in this area from 4.3 to 0.7 per thousand” shared Stephanie which as a great result.
Jodi Wareing
Jodi joined Lois’ law firm in 2016 as she impressed the team despite having no legal experience.
At the same time her husband was diagnosed with cancer and. despite the challenges this came with and her eventual loss, learnt the role quickly and became a highly efficient and valued member of the team.
When Lois took over managing the local schools Speech Contest, Jodi quickly came on board and became highly efficient in managing the complex organisational aspects of this large event over many years.
In concluding, Jodi advised us to “never regret a day in your life”.
We gave a round of applause to our four recipients on this year’s Community Awards and wished them well for the future.