Mates Helping Mates

Mates Helping Mates
Flood Relief Fundraising Lunch

Live and local @ Lizottes Sydney

Lizottes in partnership with Rotary Dee Why Warringah will host the Mates Helping Mates Flood Relief Fundraising Lunch on 13 March 2011 to raise funds for flood effected people and communities.

The Mates Helping Mates Flood Relief Fundraising Lunch will feature amazing local talent including: Marisa Saroca, Zoe Elliott, Nic Jeffries, Gail Page, Taylor and The Makers and Overpass, special guest speakers and raffle prizes including a Dinner Show for 4 to Diesel in April complete with flambe dessert!

Come along with a group of friends for a great day of entertainment, great food, fun and support an amazing cause!!

Mates Helping Mates Flood Relief Fundraising Lunch

When: March 13, 2011

Cost: $58.00 (Includes show and main meal)

Time: 12pm (music starts at 12.30)

Where: Lizottes Sydney, 4/5 629 Pittwater Rd. Dee Why

Book online or call Lizottes Sydney on 99849933

How is Rotary Flood Relief different? 

• Because 100% of your donation goes directly to flood victims and communities. 
• No administration costs. 
• No red tape. 
• Rotary have Flood Relief Teams in all flood effected area's and are on the ground NOW helping to rebuild communities. 

Rotary Flood Relief teams will continue to work in these communities until the job is done. 

Its a massive task ahead. Many of those effected are uninsured, under-insured or do not meet criteria for government assistance, many have lost entire homes and or businesses, in some cases entire communities need to be rebuilt.

A day at the Pub

Well, what a day!

I spent it at the Newport Arms where The Holidays & Ernest Ellis, amongst others, performed at the Queensland Flood Relief Concert.

The weather was kind and the crowd was great. I met so many fantastic young souls, all hugely generous when buying raffle tickets and donating to the flood appeal. I had a wonderful time chatting with them.

Cameron Bayfield and the staff looked after me really well and I thoroughly enjoyed helping out. Of course by the time it came to pack up Cameron and I were totally beat but happy we had raised over $7,000.00 I am told.

Well done everyone and thank you heaps.

Don't forget to check out our Flood benefit at Lizotte's on the Rotary Dee Why Warringah home page. See you there.

Bugger of a job!

From the 'R-Team' Don writes:

'After two final days of serious physical effort we finished at dinner last night with two of Pat Kellen's sons, Wayne and Noel.

Thursday and Friday were spent mainly in their homes stripping them of walls, floors, kitchens, bathrooms and floor coverings - ever tried lifting Masonite that has a million staples holding it down? Bugger of a job. But they saved the best till last when they showed us there workshop.

A room about 4 metres square with millions of tools and spare parts all coated with stinking mud. We did what we could until our backs complained so much we were drawn back to the pub for some refreshing ale or 3.

We've left Queensland and our many new friends with some memories and a new slant on life.

It's still going to take a massive effort to fix the mess and there will be many who will be living with some horrid experiences.

Yesterday I overheard Waynes wife Lindell say "what really gets me is that we lost all the kids books. They have 2 boys 6 & 4.'

Blown away

Jo askes ‘Do you love Lizotte’s as much as we do?’

Jo has been to Lizotte' a few times and raves about it.

As you know Brian Lizotte is putting on a Benefit to raise funds for the Rotary Flood Appeal on 13 March. So Jo and I visited Brian this afternoon to go over some of the detail. It’s going to be an awesome event with some top entertainers.

Anyway I decided to check out a show. The Flood were performing, so we organised to have dinner and take in the show.

I have got to tell you I was blown away. I have not enjoyed a live show so much in ages.

The acoustics at this venue are great and the sound man, Sid, has to be congratulated, as the mix and the sound were spot on. You could actually hear every word they sang and the guitars rocked. The drummer was pretty cool too.

I tell you this is 'entertainment centre' quality performances right here on our doorstep. Who needs to go to town with this venue and value for money right under our nose. No parking hassles, no long drive home. Just enjoy.

I loved the way the band interacted with the audience on an intimate level.

You have got to check this place out and make sure you tell all your friends.

This place rocks!

The loss of a four year old child

Don writes:

‘Sitting in the Lowood club hotel where we managed to get a room tonight and tomorrow. Lucky, because most rooms are taken by local families who lost their homes and everything. Pretty depressing. This is the heart of Lockyer Valley.

We drove up to Toowoomba this morning, 2 hours, to find that we weren't need, so after phoning all sorts of places, we were directed too, we went back to the farm we were at Sunday and carried on our work there.

But our drive through this area really has brought home the scale and violence of this event.

It's so big, describing it does not come close to the overwhelming size of what has occurred.

Mark was just at the bar and a woman asked him how he did in the flood. He explained what we were doing and asked her how she did. They lost everything but were luckier than their friends who lost a 4 year old son as well.

It wets the eyes and fills you with grief for these fellow humans. Imagine a whole community dealing with this tragedy.

Well we are back to it tomorrow even though it's Aussie day.’

After reading this email I could not help but cry. If the email affected me in this way can you imagine what affect it had on our ‘R-Team’ listening to this distraught family relay theirs and their neighbor’s story? Dear God!

'R-Team' heads to Toowoomba

7.45am (Qld time) Our 'R-Team' have woken to another perfect Queensland morning. They are about to fire up the BBQ and cook bacon and eggs.

Then they pack up, load and head for Toowoomba, where the devastation started, with no idea what they will find there.

A huge effort at EmbroidMe, Milton

‘Another day at the coal face.’ Don informs me. Our ‘R-Team’ arrived back at EmbroidMe, Milton today.

Geoff and Mark worked on the electrics and by 3pm all was up and running. For the record, that involved every power point and light replaced, complete new power boards built and installed and every wire inspected and replaced and traced to its correct spot on the board. The air conditioner was inspected, some parts were replaced and it is now operating.

Peter and Don scrapped the ceiling and walls of pealing paint. Then cleaned and painted them with two coats. All looks great, they inform me.

The insurance assessors arrived whilst our ‘R-Team’ were working. Hopefully Mike will receive some good news.

for the "Cost of a Case"

Read the full article in The Manly Daily

The Rotary clubs of Brookvale and Dee Why-Warringah have joined forces for the “Cost of a Case” campaign to raise money for those who have been affected by the floods.

As part of the fundraiser, revellers are encouraged to cut down on alcohol over the Australia Day holiday and donate what they 

would usually spend on a case of beer.

Dee Why-Warringah president Christine McCormack said all donations made to Rotary would go directly to the flood victims and would not be tied up in administration.

“A member of the community came to us about it,” she said of the campaign. “I think we will get quite a few people to take part because Australia Day isn’t on a weekend this year.”

* To make a donation visit www.rotarydeewhywarringah.com.au

The real horror of the flood

The boys arrived in Bellbowrie this morning and were sent out to some jobs, however, things seemed to be in hand, tradesmen had arrived and the horses are now fine so our ‘R-Team’ ended up on a farm at Fernvale, owned by David Strong and three generations of his extended family. Fernvale is inland approx 50km up the Brisbane Valley Highway from Bellbowrie.

When the flood came to their area the Brisbane River rose some 21 meters. Increasing it from a normal 50 meters wide to over 3 kms wide.

The family were lucky to get out with their lives as predictions had them safe. They came close to loosing a sister-in-law when she tried to save the family horse. Sadly the horse was swept away and died.

Forty of their cattle were washed away. They found twenty-one as far as 50km away.

Three of our team have spent the afternoon stripping the farm tools, drying and getting them working. Don has been knocking an inside wall out that was soaked.

Reading this email turned my stomach and sent shivers through me. I can’t begin to imagine the horror of those moments for this family. I’m so glad Don and the boys are there to give them a hand.

They can build, repair and render first aid

The 'R -Team' have been hard at work at EmbroidMe Milton over the last couple of days. Yesterday they demolished the remaining timber and gyprock walls, did some cleaning, started work on the power problems and rebuilt some shelving. 

EmbroidMe Milton, Queensland.  22.01.11

EmbroidMe Milton, Queensland. 22.01.11

Michael said that this work will greatly expedite the process of returning the shop/warehouse to a usable state.  Repairs are moving along - but supplies are still difficult to get and some repairs are not able to be complete until the legalities of insurance etc is sorted out; hopefully this will be clearer over the next few days.  Michael says "it feels like a bad dream" ... "It's frustrating but at least there has been some progress these last few days".  There is still a massive job ahead! 

Milton, Queensland. 22.01.11

Like all good 'tradies', Don managed cut himself on the finger.  Luckily our Rotary Flood Relief Team are a talented bunch; yes, they can build, repair and render first aid - well done troops!

A cut finger wont slow Don down.  Mark to the rescue.

After a hard days work the team played a few games of pool and today had a sleep-in 'til 7am!  Today they've headed to Moggill to help rescue horses.

Day one at EmbroidMe Milton

The sun is shining and it is a glorious day.

Don and the boys were up at 5am, their host, Michael rose somewhat later, possibly as a result of the boys assisting him in commiserating over several bottles of red.

I scoffed saying ‘that wasn’t very nice.’

In saying so, a thought occurred to me. Maybe that is just what he needed. Jo was feeling he needed a big hug and I suppose this is the male equivalent of that.  At least it would have relieved the stress for a while.

They shared a platter of fresh fruit, brought up from Sydney, then headed off to Milton.

A huge amount had already been cleared in the days after the flood. All cleaning had basically been done. There were a lot of destroyed walks and fittings pulled out. Don and the boys finished the dismantling and cleaned up as far as they could.

Geoff made a start on wiring but can't achieve a lot, as the electrical wholesaler is not open and he needs extra supplies. Frustrating.

Mark, Peter and Don will move to Bellbowrie shortly. They have been asked to help outat an equestrian centre that is a real mess. I have reports Bellbowrie are now seeing some tradesmen to work on the housing.

‘There is not much evidence of the flood, as such, in Milton. A huge clean up has been underway.There's no smell and it's a fine day.’ Don says.'I have to stop and consider the enormity of the job ahead. We’re in a block of 20 or so business that have been virtually wiped out and have to start afresh. Multiply that by thousands and thousands. It's mind-boggling.'

Our Flood Relief Team arrive in Queensland

Well our volunteers have arrived in Queensland. Met with Michael from EmbroidMe and as Aussie's do organized a BBQ with the food they took.

"Very lucky we arrived with all food and we supplied, prepared and cooked a tasty BBQ. All good," Don Says.

They will start work on the shop tomorrow.

Don said "around Grafton was the most obvious flood effected area. The smells were awful. Made the mistake of opening the windows. Yuk!

Tradies ready to rebuild

They've packed their tool belts, sunscreen and eskies and are ready for a week of hard yakka.

Four blokes from the northern beaches will today begin their first day of work helping to rebuild the Brisbane CBD after weeks of heavy rain and floods. As volunteers with Rotary, the men have been matched with an embroidery business in Milton and will spend the next week helping to refurbish it.

Team leader Don Rosenfeldt, a full time tour operator, said his group consisted of an engineer, an electrician and a retired elevator installer.

“Geoff Butler, our electrician, is going to be very popular,” he said.  “His services are going to be invaluable. We are going to have to keep his presence fairly quiet.”

The group, that also includes Peter Hussey and Mark Schmidt, left for Queensland yesterday in two utility trucks packed with supplies and donations.

The team will stay at the home of their new mate Michael Crowley, who owns EmbroidMe Milton; the business they will help rebuild.

EmbroidMe in Milton, Queensland under water in the worst floods in Australia's History

“The guy we are helping has a home with a few spare beds.  So we are going to bunk in with him.” said Mr Rosenfeldt

Read more on this story in the Manly Daily here

Rotary Flood Relief Tradesman's Challenge

Ross Bell Electrical Services Pty Ltd has kicked off a tradesman challenge by donating $500.00 to the Rotary Flood Appeal and challenges all tradesmen to take his lead.

Don Rosenfeldt of Australian Eco Adventures is offering a healthy percentage of their profit to the Rotary Flood Appeal for anyone booking an Australian outback tour within the next 2 months and mentioning Rotary. website here

Donations of tools, a vac, buckets, hoses, brooms and much more are flooding in, excuse the pun, for our Flood Relief Team to take with them to Bellbowrie. A huge thank you to the members of BNI for your generous donations.  BNI is the largest business networking organization in the world. Who offer members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts and most importantly, business referrals. They meet at the Builders Club on Wednesday mornings.

Want to challenge a Tradie?  

Email us and we'll post your challenge here.

Donate online

For the cost of a case

Lyndal says "My local bottle shop sells a case of XXXX for $48.00. How about instead of buying a case for ourselves this Australia Day, we give that money to the Flood Appeal?

Lets try for 1000 pledges. Invite everyone you know

Donate securely online.  

Or make your donation on Australia Day.  Look for the Rotary Dee Why Warringah Flood Relief Team at the Strand at Dee Why Beach on Australia Day.  

Bellbowrie we hear you!

The Rotary Flood Relief will provide Humanitarian Aid for the worst natural disaster in Australian history! Our community has answered the call.

The people of Bellbowrie and Moggill are calling themselves the forgotten ones. Neville Marsh, who is coordinating the recovery in Bellbowrie said that there are about 90 houses totalled by the flood. "There are only house frames left". Bellbowrie needs Builders, carpenters, any trades to do with building houses. 

A team of volunteers headed by Rotarian Don Rosenfeld are on their way north to Bellbowrie where the community is in great need. Through the generosity of the community including BNI the relief team will be well stocked with donations of buckets, brooms, vacs, tools and loads of electrical materials to begin repairs.

Further teams will be needed in the future, especially in Rural Areas. You do not need to be a Rotarian to join a team. The advantage of traveling with a Rotary Team is that you will be fully covered by Rotary Insurance and you will be working with locals and local Rotary Clubs. It’s a hands on down to earth experience.

If you're interested in joining a Rotary Flood Relief team contact us at brookvalebd@bigpond.com.au

Help us deliver Humanitarian Aid to those in desperate need. Donate now!

Donate securely online

A huge thank you to the members of BNI for your generous donations.  BNI is the largest business networking organisation in the world. BNI offer members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts and most importantly, business referrals.  They meet at the Builders Club at Dee Why on Wednesday mornings.

Update from Bellbowie

Speaking to Neville Marsh, who is coordinating the recovery in Bellbowrie, we have been told there are 90 houses totalled by the flood. "There are only house frames left. Some still have a roof," Neville said. "We are in need of Builders, carpenters, any trades to do with building houses. We have one property on acreage we will have to clean out and rebuild. It will be a big job."

If you are one of these trades and can help or have a company that can spare some of your tradesman please let us know. We will coordinate the teams and ensure all avenues are covered.

Rotary Volunteers head to Queensland

A team of volunteers headed by Rotarian Don Rosenfeld will leave shortly with the intention to assist with these two cases. More tradesmen are welcome to join this team.

Further teams will be needed in the future, especially in Rural Areas. You do not need to be a Rotarian to join a team. 

The advantage of traveling with a Rotary Team is you are fully covered by Rotary Insurance and you will be working with locals and local Rotary Clubs.  It’s a hands on down to earth experience.

The Rotary Club of Dee Why Warringah are donating a generator to Michael at EmbroidMe Milton which will be taken up by our team. The generator will be passed on to others in need when he has finished with it.  Our Electrician will be taking up a quantity of electrical equipment.

Business in Milton, Queensland devastated

Michael is still pretty frantic trying to work out exactly how to move forward. He would welcome support to get things cleaned up and repaired – and hopefully back to some level of business trading. He said that getting supplies for repair is really difficult. His electricity cannot be restored until the power switch board is replaced. It was completely submerged in flood water. This will be the case for many I suspect.

He can’t start his clean up until the insurance assessor arrives, hopefully today.

"Getting items in the local area is difficult. As you can imagine everything is in short supply due to damage or demand. So if tradesmen can pre-empt as much as possible in terms of supplies, that might help them get more done when they arrive,” Michael said. 'While electricity is being restored to some area’s it is very slow. Power generators would be helpful to many people.”

Michael is a family friend of Rotarian Jo Ragen. He is a small business owner of EmbroidMe Milton. Visit his web site at: EmbroidMe Milton 

Photo: EmbroidMe Milton, Queensland

Under water in the worst floods in Australia's History

Bellbowrie – the forgotten ones

The people of Bellbowrie and Moggill are calling themselves the forgotten ones.

Sadly this town is known for the bride lifted by helicopter to attend her wedding, covered by national television.

“We thought the helicopter was bringing food and water, we were stunned” a local said.

A couple in their 80’s who suffered in the 1974 floods lost their home under the water in this flood. They have found a caravan to live in at the moment.

“There are many people worse off than we are” they said when we inquired about assisting them. “Nobody is helping the town. People don’t understand how bad things are here.”

This couple in their 80's are relatives of Northern Beaches residence Ross & Maggie Bell, Cromer

Inaugural Northern Beaches Zone combined dinner meeting

We're excited about our upcoming Rotary Zone get together where our guest speaker will be The Hon Tony Abbott MHR Leader of the Opposition, Federal Member for Warringah.

It will be great to learn more about Mr Abbott; his life, growing up, his hobbies and more.

The challenge is on!

If you've been following our blog we know you'll be really bored right now.  We've been neglecting our blogging tasks terribly.  Never fear - we're back!   We've got our boots on, shirts rolled up and we're ready for another year of community spirit.

We have so many updates to bring to you.

Of course the devastating news of the worst floods in Australian history.  We'll blog about how we're responding to these challenges over the coming days.  We also have some exciting updates and events for the calendar year ahead.   Watch for us in the next few days.

Welcome to 2011!

The Team at Rotary Dee Why Warringah