A total of almost $3,500 was raised for the Rotary Supporting My Home project at a recent Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering Golf Day fundraiser, increasing the total amount raised for this project to almost $30,000. The funds will be used to furnish 18 new small sustainable homes that will be built by My Home in North Fremantle to accommodate homeless people.
For the last three years, The Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering have offered our Club the opportunity to fundraise for a charity of our choice through a Hole in One competition run during their annual Golf Day. The Hole in One competition is sponsored by HFM Asset Management, who put up a $20,000 prize for anyone who succeeds in getting a hole in one on the 7th hole. This year’s event was held at the Vines Resort and a total of 181 people participated.
The event commences at midday with a briefing and sausage sizzle before the eighteen hole Ambrose game of golf. Following the game, a delicious buffet dinner is provided during which various awards are presented, humorous stories told and lots of networking takes place. The event as usual was a great success with lots of fun and entertainment.
Funds raised at previous Golf Days have gone towards the Club’s Cambodia Hospital Equipment project, and more recently the Make FASD History project. The FASD project has been a spectacular success is the community engagement part of the program which has been driven by Bruce Dufty, who has a great admiration and affinity for the aboriginal people and has been visiting Leonora every 6 to 8 weeks. Bruce is a Community Change Agent and has worked with the elders and locals, developed their trust and has had them set up the Lenora Aboriginal Resident Community Group. This group has empowered them, given them ownership of the issue and a voice in the community and they have gone on to set up a range of community programs to help the aboriginal people and develop their self-worth.
They have worked with some publicans to promote “responsible drinking measures” and a “voluntary curfew”, provided education to 30 school teachers on how to work with Children with FASD, and generally changing the attitude to drinking in Leonora. They are working with a Kalgoorlie film producer to make five short films to increase community awareness of FASD. They have set up a Youth Hip Hop dance and horse riding groups to get the kids off the street, which has reduced the juvenile offending rate. They have even succeeded in doubling the number of aboriginal people employed in the local community from 17 at the start of the program to 34 now. I was told by Bruce that the program is a holistic program, and now I understand what that means.
We are very grateful to Tony Fioraso, the President of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering and Ian Knox, the Managing Director of HFM Asset Management, for their continued support of us through these events.