Contents:

Qld Community Foundation Philanthropy Awards.

The People I meet.

The people I meet.

The other day I was invited to the Djinnang AGM/Reunion which I readily accepted. The Djinnang Association holds very well attended AGMs every year and it’s nice to meet with and reminisce over our time in the Royal Aussie AF with these lovely people.

The Djinnang Association represents the men and women who were in the communications musterings and most, if not all, would be aware of the allure associated with Radtechitis. I had to be careful.

That day I rose at 3.30am, as I usually do, rubbed some Vaseline where needed to stop chafing, donned the purple lycra suit, the Dunlop volleys and Richmond FC beanie and hit the roads for my usual 25km run. Back home again at about 5.30am, I stripped off, hit the super hot shower for a cleansing tub with a fresh cake of Palmolive Gold, then it was off with the hot water and up with the cold for 5 mins in order to close the pores.

Then it was time for breakfast. Last night I had chopped up some carrot fingers, washed some kale leaves and broccoli and had them in the fridge covered in Glad Wrap. I removed a small assortment, placing them in a bowl, then sat in the lotus position on the mat facing north and ate my breakfast in silence. After breakfast, I sat that way for 30 mins contemplating world events, then it was time to ready the body in order to mix with other mortals.

As I had been the best Radtech the Royal Aussie AF had ever had, I was burdened with copious amounts of Radtechitis, which if left unchecked, can ooze from one’s person. Radtechitis, as everyone knows, has one fatal fault, it is intensely attractive to the fairer sex, the ladies are not able to resist it, on many occasions while shopping in Coles and before I became older and wiser and never ventured from home without first masking it, I was often mobbed by more than 100 panting females all wishing to soak up some Radtechitis. Many years ago I would have thought I’d died and gone to Heaven, but, today, contrary to popular belief, age does weary them and today as the old gray mare discovered, “she ain’t what she used to be.“ There is a lot of truth in the old adage, “the spirit is willing but the body is weak” and these days I try and curb those occurrences.

On the day of the Djinnang Association AGM, after breakfasting and contemplating world events, it was time to prepare for a mixed company outing. First thing was to cover the body in the old faithful Johnsons baby oil. I’ve found, over the years, that this old faithful does a wonderful job of masking Radtechitis and if applied sufficiently, leaves the body somewhat slippery and makes it difficult for the ladies to hold on. Standing in the bath-tub, I liberally applied the oil to my body, using the long handled brush to smear my normally unreachable back area. 

Once suitably protected, I shaved, Old Spiced, dressed, Californian Poppied the locks and donned the corduroyed duds and Hush Puppies. Out in the shed I fired up the trusy old 61 V-dub, backed out and headed for the Paddo.

At the AGM, as I am a very shy and timid person, I found a seat at the back of the room, purchased a glass of no-sugar coke and sat and watched the people in the room enjoying each other’s company. A young lady was moving around the room offering finger food to those interested and as she moved past me, she lightly brushed my elbow revealing my bare skin. Before the Johnny’s baby oil was able to flow and re-cover the bare spot, a miniscule amount of Radtechitis escaped and drifted across the room, drawn by the natural draft.

It so happened that two lovely ladies, Ros Curran and Candy Hardy, were each enjoying a Pimms at a table near the entrance and that draft of air which carried the miniscule amount of Radtechitis wafted past their table. Both registered its presence and being only human, were instantly captivated. They leapt off their stools, spilling their Pimms, shouting wildly, and lifting their knees high, they spun around 3 times, fiercely looking here and there until finally settling on my person as being the source. They hurtled across the room, like front-row forwards heading for the line, crashing people, drinks and tables in their wake and draped themselves upon my person in an attempt to soak up some Radtechitis.

I allowed this to continue for 47 minutes before extricating my person from those two lovely ladies, such is the burden a Radtech must endure.

Ros and Candy, two lovely people who enjoy life, each with a great sense of humour. The world needs more like them.

Queensland Community Foundation.

On Friday the 10^th September, the Queensland Community Foundation (QCF), which was launched in 1997, held their annual Philanthropy Awards at the magnificent Brisbane Town Hall - and we were invited.

The QCF was established under the trusteeship of The Public Trustee in 1997 by former Queensland Premier, The Honourable Mike Ahern AO.

QCF is a leading State and National trust fund providing an enduring income stream to charities. Comprising of a General Fund and a collection of sub-funds with monies contributed by charities, corporations, government agencies and individuals, QCF supports charities to deliver sustainable services by promoting philanthropy, investing donated monies, distributing income earned and facilitating grants.

As Trustee of QCF, the Public Trustee is responsible for the administration, investment and granting of funds. In investing the donations and bequests made to QCF, the Public Trustee takes advice from the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) – one of Australia’s leading investment managers.

Donations are pooled and invested with the income distributed to eligible charities on an annual basis. QCF’s General Fund provides a dedicated granting program. These grants are currently targeted towards organisational capacity-building within eligible charitable organisations throughout the State to support the development of quality business practices.

The QCF annual SME Philanthropist of the year award recognises a small business with less than 200 employees whose grass roots level of charitable support has impacted the local community. Successful nominees will have had an established record of philanthropic support in reginal Queensland and/or a business with a holistic approach to philanthropy.

Nominees in the Emerging Philanthropist category this year were good friends of ours, Thai and Diamond Dang, shown here with the Governor of Qld,  Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young PSM. Thai and Diamond very generously support the Royal Brisbane and Womens’ Hospital (RBWH) Foundation, the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) Research Foundation and the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia.

The QCF Emerging Philanthropist of the Year Award honours an innovative, emerging philanthropist, whose significant early achievements embody the qualities that define philanthropic excellence, including outstanding generosity and creativity. This Award is not about the biggest cheque, or the largest public profile. The successful nominee will have demonstrated creativity in philanthropic efforts through leadership, voluntary commitment of time, advocacy, financial donations and fundraising. They will be an inspirational role model, whose charitable impact is measurable.

Thai and Diamond are passionate about giving back to healthcare after Thai received exceptional patient care while undergoing leukaemia treatment at the PA hospital in 2018, and later received a life-saving bone marrow transplant at the RBWH. They generously fundraise tens of thousands of dollars and personally give annual donations in the thousands to each hospital. “Staff in the medical profession understand their role in people’s lives, and within Cancer Care there are often terminal outcomes. Cancer Care staff receiving yearly visits from patients such as Thai, provides uplifting hope to all - staff and current patients alike. PA Research Foundation and RBWH Foundation staff have learned of a Vietnamese proverb that has since become a core part of our ethos: ‘When eating fruit, remember who planted the tree.’”

Some photos from the afternoon:

The magnificent Brisbane City Hall Organ.

The Brisbane City Hall Organ is one of best preserved examples of a five-manual Father Henry Willis Organ anywhere in the world. The organ was built in 1892 by Henry Willis and Sons of London for the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association (QNA) at Bowen Hills  In 1897, the QNA was declared bankrupt and several Brisbane musicians joined together to rescue the organ from the auctioneer's hammer by helping the Brisbane Municipal Council to raise funds to purchase the organ. In 1928, work began to enlarge and modernise the organ for its new home in Brisbane City Hall.

The organ's first public recital was on 8 April 1930, the day City Hall officially opened. The installation was completed nine months earlier and its very first performance was a private preview concert in July 1929 for the aldermen of the amalgamated Greater Brisbane City Council. Both figuratively and literally, the organ belongs to the people of Brisbane by virtue of the fact that an earlier generation of Brisbane citizens saved it, investing 3000 pounds in the future of local classical music.

The organ was removed from City Hall for restoration in early 2010. All 4,391 pipes were restored in an off-site workshop. The organ was brought back to City Hall in early 2013. Many smaller pipes have progressively been reinstated since then and subsequently tuned by the organ builders.

There are regular tours of the Town Hall, click HERE for details.

Interior of the Great Hall before the guests arrived.

The afternoon was EMCEED by the very professional Kim Skubris, who has been a news journalist with Channel 7 for 25 years.

Diamond with Kim Skrubis.

Guest speaker for the afternoon was the indomitable Ronni Kahn (left), the founder of OzHarvest.

From her early years growing up under the brutal system of apartheid in South Africa, to a socialist commune in Israel, Ronni finally settled in Australia to discover a profound new way of living. As the owner of a successful events company, throwing away huge volumes of leftover food at the end of the day came with the territory, but when she hit midlife, she found herself no longer able to turn a blind eye to her food waste problem. Hand delivering the untouched food to homeless shelters around Sydney became her renegade solution. Little did she know that fixing her small problem at work would lead her to unlock a hidden purpose at the very core of her inner life.

Now founder and CEO of the food rescue organisation OzHarvest, Ronni leads hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers with the goal to nourish Australia. She serves in an advisory capacity to government and is an instrumental leader in changing federal laws to improve social justice and environmental policies.

Others at the afternoon were:

Lisa Smith,  Thai and Diamond Dang.

Lisa is Director of International, Multicultural and Community Affairs with Retail First P/L, a division of YFG Shopping Centres.

Thai and Diamond with Sheriff Jalloh, the eventual winner of the Emerging Philanthropist’s division. Sheriff has co-founded 2 charities since arriving in Qld as a refugee from war torn Sierra Leone in Africa in 2001. 

Trev Benneworth with Cathy Yang.

Cathy is the fundraising manager with the RBWH Foundation.

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