The following emails were received by Ted Garland who organised this friendship visit:
"Thank you / 2020 Day at the Zoo?
Thank you both for your part in last Saturday's trip - it was great!
My only regret is that I didn't manage to gather families all together to be able to introduce and thank the Rotary crew properly. It would be great if you could pass on our enduring gratitude for the Welfare of the Young team's support of the asylum-seeker families in this way. I thought it was terrific that none of them had been to the zoo with us before.
And I think it's a great idea to plan ahead for next year, at least with a date. I don't have a strong preference, but I suspect that 18th. might mean a few more volunteers around, though even that is hard to say in advance.
And yes - it's a great collaboration going back to Kevin Simkiss' time - I've lost track of how many years - do you know, Ted?
Warm wishes,
Pam
Kirsty Sword-Gusmao wrote:
Dear Ted and Pam,
Thank you both for your help with organizing such a successful outing to Werribee Open Range Zoo on Saturday. It was a lovely day and the feedback was excellent.
As promised, I have just tallied up the final attendance figures, and we had 37 adults and 39 children there on the day. None of the families that were there had ever participated in an ASRC-organised Zoo outing before.
Can I suggest that we pencil into our diaries either Saturday 18 or 25 January for next year's outing? Perhaps we could go to Melbourne Zoo next year? Since it is so well served by public transport, we wouldn't need to worry about organizing buses, but it would be fabulous if Rotary would once again sponsor lunch vouches and snack bags for each family. I know that these were very much appreciated by the families on Saturday.
Thank you for this wonderful collaboration, Ted and Pam. Please convey ASRC's sincere gratitude to all those involved in your Club, Ted.
With warm wishes,
Kirsty Sword Gusmao
