Success Stories

Business Voices

Future Connect is grateful for the generous support of BNI Melbourne North Executive Director Lisa Thomas and BNI Business Class member Mark Ainsworth Thanks to their dedication, we now have steel-capped boots for our industry tours and events in Brimbank/Melton schools. With 35 pairs of boots secured through the efforts of Mark and the donations of BNI Business Class members, students can actively participate in warehouse tours and gain firsthand exposure to various industries. These boots are essential in meeting safety requirements and enable young individuals to make informed career choices by bridging the gap between education and industry.

BV Project – Care bags

The creation of the Mooroopna Park PS Care Bags began with a call from Jo wanting to do a project for the BNI Foundation Australia.  Pauline Marcoux, BNI Foundation Director, called Lisa Hueston from MPPS to identify the school’s needs.  Lisa mentioned that there are sometimes children go into temporary care straight from school.  The team at MPPS use their own funds to create care bags to send with the children, so they have something of their own to take with them.  The idea of getting donations for care bags was presented to Jo and she ran with it!

BNI Momentum did a stellar effort in donating goods. The team also receive over 60 knitted beanies and a dozen knitted teddies from the Two Natural Ladies Knit and Natter group.  Thanks also to Vicki and one of her team members from BNI Mid-Morning for collaborating with BNI Momentum on this project.

Givers Gain Gift

BNI Brisbane One did an amazing job fundraising for Camira State School’s Science Incursion Program.  This highly interactive, curriculum focused, whole school program is highly engaging, increases student learning in science and leads into cross-curriculum teaching.  The cost was not part of the schools budget and families were struggling to fund the program.  Camira State School Principal, Kylie Bruce, asked for the BNI Foundation Australia’s help. BNI Brisbane One and BNI Foundation Australia teamed up and raised the $7,900 needed for the school to have this program.  We are grateful to the Executive Directors, BNi Chapters and  BNI members that donated their time and money to this very worthwhile grant.

Business Voices

We had the pleasure of participating in the first career conversations event at Kiara College. This low key career event saw Year 10 and 11 students converse with people from at least 18 different careers.  BNI Foundation Australia provided 8 volunteers.  Thank you to BNI Evergreen Chapter members Katerina Dimitriou, Rebecca Lehner, Stephanie Thiel, Anthony Cullen and Hannah White; BNI Altitude member Beau Whateley; Foundation volunteers Ellen Circosta and Pauline Marcoux.

Kiara College runs a regular career week for their students and added this event for direct learning of different career opportunities.  The Kiara College Career Practitioners were thankful for all volunteers participating and will be making it an annual event.

Givers Gain Gift

A $1,500 Givers Gain Gift has been provided to the Cowboy House Foundation to provide tutors to the students at the NRL Cowboys House.  NRL Cowboys House is removing distance as a barrier to quality secondary education for Indigenous students from some of North Queensland’s most remote and educationally disadvantaged communities.

The Cowboy House is a unique, culturally-safe boarding facility for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women attending partner schools in Townsville.

The students are supported by dedicated teams in education, wellbeing, culture and career transitions in a holistic wraparound model of care.

For more information visit https://www.cowboysfoundation.org.au/

Frederick Marcoux, BNI Australia, and Jenny Hock, BNI North Queensland, had the pleasure of visiting the House in April and were ‘blown away’ by how their endeavours are positively impacting the career paths of their students.

Givers Gain Gift

A $1,000 Givers Gain Gift has been provided to the SU Chaplaincy for Corrine Heather, Chaplain at Ormiston State School Queensland.  Corrine has been funding most of the resources she uses with the students at Ormiston out of her own pocket.  Corrine organises numerous well-being activities for the students and makes a special effort to form meaningful relationships with the children.  Her role and actions helps children to remain engaged in their learning.

Fundraising

A successful Charity Golf Day 3rd Year in a Row!

Thanks to the organisational skills of BNI High Noon in Perth, another successful Charity Golf Day raised funds for BNI Foundation. Friday 24th February saw the local golf course swamped with 76 players, many of whom were from BNI chapters. With a raft of sponsors, the day consisted of many different businesses getting together with one common goal – have fun while raising funds!

Over the last 3 years, these golf days have raised over $10,000 and seen the number of players increasing.