Echuca-Moama Kiwanis has been part of the community since 1988.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The Kiwanis are coming to town for the annual Australia District convention.
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Echuca-Moama Kiwanis president Tim Dawes said they were expecting around 100 delegates at the event, which starts on Thursday, August 28 with a meet and greet at Junction Moama.
He said while the Echuca-Moama committee, which includes John Afford and Julie Mansfield, had done the “behind-the-scenes” work, the Friday and Saturday workshops had been prepared by Kiwanis Australia District.
‘’The meet and greet will be a great way to kick off this major event on the Kiwanis calendar,’’ Mr Dawes said.
‘’The workshops will help better equip us all to do our community-based work going forward, and Sunday will be a poignant time, as it will include a memorial session to recognise the Kiwanians we have lost during the year.
“Friday will be an official night and after Saturday’s workshops there will be an ‘op shop chic’ dinner – also at Junction.’’
Echuca-Moama Kiwanis is part of Kiwanis Australia and Kiwanis International — a global organisation of volunteers founded in the United States in 1915.
The organisation arrived in Australia in 1967 and in Echuca-Moama in 1988.
“Our charter is very simple, and very relevant – one child, one community, at a time: small steps to improve the lives of children,” Mr Dawes said.
Mr Dawes said as well as injecting cash into the local economy through accommodation and meals, the 100 Kiwanis delegates would also be showcasing the work done in this region in the past year.
“Echuca-Moama Kiwanis has provided two coffee machines for the Echuca Cancer and Wellness Centre at Echuca Regional Health and our own barbecue trailer is a fixture at community events year-round,” he said.
Other donations and support includes donating a barbecue trailer to Echuca Football Club, partnering the Girl Guides, using the MV Kiwanis and supporting tinnies to collect from riverbank campers for the Good Friday Appeal and having members as mentors in the L2P drive education program.
MV Kiwanis is one of the many ways members get involved with the community.
“Like many other local volunteer organisations, we also had a strong presence in Rochester during its flooding crisis and made sure everything we bought for those occasions was bought from the town to help its economic recovery as well,” Mr Dawes said.
“One of our signature programs is Terrific Kids, which makes citizenship awards at local schools at the end of each academic year and our motor vessel MV Kiwanis provides free river cruises to our local disability services.
“We like to think Echuca-Moama Kiwanis regularly punches above its weight and we welcome anyone who might be interested in joining us to lend their community a hand.’’
For information on Echuca-Moama Kiwanis and how you can get involved, contact Terry James on 0417 431 283.
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