Newsletter Date Issue 1

August 2014 First

Edition

The Leos of

July 2014 issue 1

Important Dates

Date Event

07/07/14 General meeting

28/07/14 General meeting

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

July 2014

Meet the Executive Council

Page 1 The Leos of Brimbank

President

Stephanie Frydas

Stephanie is 24

years old and has

completed a Bache-

lor of Archaeology.

At the moment she

is currently studying

her post grad. She's

backpacked in Isra-

el, Scotland, Eng-

land and France on

her own.

When asked why

she joined Leos,

Stephanie said it

was to help give

back to the commu-

nity, meet new peo-

ple, learn to organ-

ise herself and have

fun.

And finally, what

made you smile

today? "Today I

woke up and saw it

was raining. It made

me smile because I

got to wear my fa-

vourite beanie."

Vice - President

Renee Nguyen

Chairwoman

Donna Nguyen

Secretary

Jessica Wescott

Treasurer

Linda Vu

Linda is a 24 year old

midwifery student but

currently working full

time at a dental clinic.

She loves reading, a

Jodi Picoult fan as

well as anything

crime related. That

means she loves

shows like Law &

Order: SVU, CSI,

Bones.

She was first intro-

duced to Leos back in

high school. It made

her realize there are

so many less fortu-

nate than herself, not

only financially but

also emotionally,

physically and men-

tally. She used to

think that donating

money meant that she

was doing charity

work but now, her

definition of charity

work is giving up

time. No amount of

money can ever buy

time, and if that

means that she has to

take a couple of hours

out of her day to help

(whether it's to fund-

raise or raise aware-

ness), she will be

more than happy to

just as long as she's

making a difference

in someone's life.

Jessica is 22 and a

Law/Arts Honours

student. She is ma-

joring in Human

Rights, International

Law and Politics,

and is also interest-

ed in public policy,

aid and international

relations. She cur-

rently interns at the

State Parliament,

where she is work-

ing on a research

project for a local

MP.

Jessica joined Leos

because she thinks

that there is a lot to

be done in the com-

munity to assist in

improving people’s

standards of living.

She knows that as a

young think tank,

this organisation

will actively change

the lives of people,

whether through

donations or advo-

cacy work.

Jessica, Truth or

Dare? "I’m a law

student. We don’t

know what the truth

is. So dare."

Donna is 24 years

old and has graduat-

ed as a graphic de-

signer. She is very

creative and loves

paper DIY, crafting,

the whole works!

When we asked

Donna why she

joined Leos, she

replied because she

really enjoyed doing

it back in Marian

College and thought

that it was about

time she got back

into helping those in

need by organising

amazing events and

having fun whilst

doing it with awe-

some people!

Donna, if you could

have an endless

supply of any food,

what would you

get? “I would love

an endless supply

of ... Brie cheese

and crackers. They

are my weakness

and amazing espe-

cially after a long

day!!”

Renee Nguyen is 22

and not only does

she work part time

at Monkey Mania

but she’s also study-

ing to become a

teacher!

She joined the

Brimbank Leos to

raise awareness

about injustice in

society and do what

she can to make a

difference.

Renee enjoys donat-

ing her time to help

others and organiz-

ing events such as

the Great Easter

Day event in April

this year and the

upcoming Charity

Ball.

- Leo Donna Nguyen & Thao Ngo

If you want to experience the true

benefits of helping people, then all

it takes is a few selfless hours vol-

unteering at the St Vincent de Paul

soup van.

For those who haven’t volunteered

before, generally you

meet at Our Lady’s Hall

in Maidstone, and then

help prepare the food for

the runs that usually con-

sists of ham and cheese

sandwiches, soup, cordi-

al, and any other items

that have been donated

from local businesses

such as non-perishable

items.

There are usually three runs that

go around the Footscray and Wil-

liamstown areas – a true eye-

opener to the realities of people

who are practically neighbours and

struggle with daily food essentials.

The people that you visit and help

all appreciate the support, as well

as the social interaction of having

someone to talk to.

At the end of the run, everyone

meets at the Whitten Oval where

other people seeking food for the

night literally come out from the

darkness.

On one particular occasion, it

was a heart-warming experience

to see one lady share her beanie

with a teenage girl, and then

continue to share her food with a

young child when we ran out of

soup.

Volunteering at the soup

van is a big eye-opener to

appreciate all the things we

have in life – no matter how

big or small – and I’d en-

courage everyone to get

involved at least once to

serve the local community

and experience first-hand

the benefits of volunteering.

- Leo Monika Pilekic

Soup for the Struggling

The Great Easter Day

sentially give back.

The idea of a "Family Fun

Day" was inspired by one

of our member's family

tradition of an Easter Egg

Hunt. So with two months

to plan this event, we ex-

panded on the idea.

Not only did we include

Easter Egg Hunts and Egg

and Spoon Races at the 3

hour day, but there was also

The Sunshine Lions Club

BBQ, an ice cream truck, a

henna and face painting

stall, a jumping castle,

show bags on sale, kids

craft table, a magician and

Dr Who present, a photo

opportunity with Bob the

Bunny, a raffle, various

market stalls and an amaz-

ing performance from the K

star dance group....

It was thrilling to see it all

come together and loved

seeing the children have a

ball.

At the end of the day, we

raised $1,500 which will go

towards re decorating the

Waiting Room before chil-

dren go into surgery and

also purchasing new items

for the Family Play room

where parents and the chil-

dren who are currently

staying at the hospital can

go to spend time with each

other. This will all be hap-

pening towards the end of

the year.

- Leo Donna Nguyen

On the 21st of April (Easter

Monday), the Leo's Club of

Brimbank kicked off the

year with their very first

event, The Great Easter

Day held at The Sunshine

Softball Club.

It was an event to encour-

age the local community,

especially families and

young children to come

together to raise money for

the Kids Ward at The Sun-

shine Hospital.

Some Leo members have

expressed their concern of

the outdated nature of the

rooms in the ward when

they volunteered there last

year and because many of

us have relied on the help

of The Sunshine Hospital,

whether it be years ago or

recently, we wanted to es-

Page 2 Issue 1

Extreme poverty.

We think we know what it is. We

recognize that it exists. But do we

really know what it is like? Eating

three meals a day and sleeping on

warm beds every night, how can

we have anything more than a

superficial understanding? More

importantly, how could we fight

passionately for a cause if its true

notion is as distant as the ocean

that separates us and the countries

starved by it?

As a social justice club, at least

now we could say that we tried.

Tried to better understand the

lives of those living in extreme

poverty. Tried to lend a helping

hand.

In May this year, six commenda-

ble members from the Leos of

Brimbank embraced the ’Live

Below the Line’ Challenge, sur-

viving on $2 a day for five days to

support the lack of education in

some countries. The funds rose by

the Leo members and by the wider

community will help renovate

schools, train teachers and provide

thousands of young people oppor-

tunities for an education. So far

LBTL campaign has risen close to

8million dollars community wide.

“Day 1 was such an eye-opening

experience…I was so scared to

throw out any scraps in case it

would add that little bit of nutri-

tion.”

- Jessica Wescott

“To be honest this challenge is

indeed a challenge. I can't eat or

drink the things I normally con-

sume and I feel horrible com-

plaining. Because I have the com-

fort of knowing that I will be only

living like this for 3 more days

but there are human beings who

face this constant struggle every-

day- for the rest of their life.”

- Helen Duong

Surviving on $2 a Day

Page 3 The Leos of Brimbank

Breakfast (Oatmeal and banana) - 64c Lunch (Omelette with peas and 2 slices

of bread) - 42c

Dinner (Pea soup with bread) - 34c Plus 2 more slices of bread cause I was

still hungry- 14c

Total amount = $1.54

“I've managed to save $0.99 so

I can afford a treat on the last

day - a whole can of tuna

($0.75)!”

- Carolyn

Duong

“Today was hard. I'm not going

to lie. With studying full time,

and essays coming out of my

ears, it's hard to just sit and

concentrate with the lack of

energy I have. My mind kept

wondering off every 5 minutes. I

would have loved to have a cof-

fee.”

- Stephanie Frydas

Collectively, Jessica Wescott,

Samra Baljevic, Stephanie

Frydas, Helen Duong, Carolyn

Duong and Sarah Margaret

raised a whopping $863. The

money raised will help provide

scholarships, renovate schools

and train teachers to ensure

quality education for over thou-

sands of young people in East

Timor, Cambodia and Papua

New Guinea.

We are so proud of you girls,

well done!

- Leo Thao Ngo

Charter Night was the first time

where we got to indulge in the

event being all about the mem-

bers of Brimbank Leo’s club. The

spotlight was on us for a change

where we were able to proudly

talk about our club forming and

what events we had accom-

plished.

Helping us celebrate our night

were some of our family mem-

bers, friends and Lion members

from across the state.

Making sure that the Charter Night

was a success were some hard

working Leo club Members. These

members had joined the Charter

Night committee with the goal to

make the night entertaining and

welcoming for everyone. Charter

Night would not have been such a

success if it wasn’t for the family

and friends who attended.

A big thank-you to the Charter

Night Committee; Steve Aicher,

Sarah Trang, Rosie Tang, Thao

Ngo, Xiuwei Zhang, Caroline

Tang, Linda Vu and Samra

Baljevic.

- Leo Samra Baljevic

We Are Official!

Page 4 Issue 1

Special thanks for your kind donations

E-mail: brimbankleos

@gmail.com

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LeosclubBrimbank

THE LEOS OF

BRIMBANK

Do some good, have some fun.