It was a lovely night for members of Hastings Rotaract at a special dinner on December 13, when Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams presented charter members with letters of achievement and a transcript of her speech about them in parliament.
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Mrs Williams, a rotarian herself, and member of the Laurieton Rotary Club, said she was proud of the club’s achievements thus far.
“I was very excited to attend the Rotaract dinner tonight, I was invited to their charter dinner earlier in the year and following that I decided it was worthy enough to do a speech in parliament to commend the club to other members and communities, to acknowledge the fund raising work for Orange Sky Laundry and wish them all the very best in the future.
“I think the club is going to be such a great asset for our local community but also for young people to get involved in positive community activities.
“We have a changing demographic in Port Macquarie and the fastest growing age bracket is people from 14-25 in recent years, and I think the formation of clubs like this actually reflects what the changing demographic is about.
“I hope I can support them in getting their message out, and as a rotarian myself, I know Rotary in the Port Macquarie community is very well known for some of its key projects and it is great to now include Rotaract in that,” Mrs Williams said.
In her speech, Mrs Williams recognised the work of the founding members of the club.
“A relatively new organisation in the Port Macquarie- Hastings has been created it will benefit others in the local community and, in fact, further afield.
“In just a few months this group of young people has shown through its actions that it is serious in its endeavours,” she said.
Harley Lindley, who was elected president of the club at the annual general meeting on December 5, said having Mrs Williams come to another meeting was special for all members of the club.
“We had a really great night updating Leslie on what the club has been doing since we chartered back in August, and as newly elected president I hope we can continue gathering members and raising the club’s profile as we move into 2018.
“It was fantastic that she could mention us in parliament and I think it gives the club some credibility that although we are newly formed, we are just a bunch of young people who want to help and give back to the community,” Mr Lindley said.
Outgoing president, and former vice president, Natalie Schmitzer said the newly elected board will keep the club in safe hands going into 2018.
“I am really happy with the board that was elected last week, I think we have a healthy mix of founding and new members who all have some great ideas about how we can get out and help more in the community,” Miss Schmitzer.
