This month’s evening conversation we had the honor of hearing from Richard Weiss, OLY, CEO and Founder of the Living the Dream Foundation, speaking on Past, Present and Future Healthy Community Partnerships.
For those unfamiliar with his post nominal, Richard competed as a member of the Australian Team as a freestyle wrestler in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The post nominal OLY is granted by the World Olympians Association (WOA) to registered athletes who have participated in the Olympic Games.
Introduced by Stephen Rando, Speaker Coordinator, Richard spoke about his humble beginnings before fleeing soviet Eastern Europe, escaping to Australia with his sister and single mother, and representing Australia in the 1996 Olympics as part of the wrestling team. Richard's eventual move to Mongolia where he worked with the Mongolian wrestling community and exposure to the hardships experienced due to limited resources due to political and economic reforms.
Upon returning to Australia, and settling down in Frankston, Richard was filled with a sense of purpose to provide opportunities to the youth in the area, by providing free access to a fitness training facility for the most disadvantaged at-risk children and young people where they get to ‘to live the dream’ by having a personal coach and a life coach as a mentor. His presentation and Q&A can be viewed by following this link to the Club’s YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/ZjsRhecKPQA
We also heard from rotary Melbourne Vice President, Catherine Baxter, who is a member of the Board of the Rotary inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network (RIMERN). RIMERN collects household goods to donate to people in need coming out of homelessness, domestic violence, refugee displacement, jail, loss of homes due to disaster or crisis.... . Rostered opportunities to volunteer in collecting, receiving, sorting donated goods and Rotary Melbourne Members and friends are welcome to get involved. Check out RIMERN’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/495145215239091/ If you would like to get involved, contact Catherine Baxter.
Jim Orchard told us about the Smith Family Around the bay Bicycle ride which resumes for the first time in 3 years on 9 October. This Bicycle Network Victoria event enables rotarians and friends to volunteer as riders, or part of the extensive route management team, marshalling and supporting riders. Contact Jim Orchard if you would like to get involved.
We hope that Richard's story inspired those who attended the session, as we continue to seek funding to continue the work that Richard has started.
Richard Weiss' presentation can be viewed by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/ZjsRhecKPQA.
