Ron Smith is the Chairman of Think Pink. He commenced his presentation by explaining how the organisation got started. It was the brainchild of Irene Hendel who is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed twice, once in 1995 and then again in 2003.

During her fight, she found that every area she went to was medically orientated. There was no place or organisation that catered for the patients overall well-being. So, with the support of her husband, Irene decided that she would establish such a place.

She was successful in receiving funding from a couple of large organisations - Mirvac and Freemasons Victoria - who are still generous contributors today.

Think Pink has gained a great reputation for providing a free service to all breast cancer patients with the aim of improving their quality of life. It's free because the out-of-pocket costs for medical treatment is exorbitant. It can be as large as $30,000 for treatment, operations, consultations and the like. This is a large burden especially for young women on low incomes and older women who are on the pension.

The Think Pink facility, known as The Living Centre, is based at 390 St Kilda Road. It consists of 3 rooms that don't look like medical rooms but more like a hotel suite. The services that are offered include massages, wig fittings, yoga, consultations and group discussions. There is no limitation on the time that a patient can spend there. The whole idea is to restore their dignity.

The facility has become so popular that it has outgrown the current space. The building is also adjacent to the construction of the new underground railway station which will generate a significant amount of noise. Therefore, they will be moving shortly to larger premises.

Two Certificate 3 students from The Gordon TAFE's Hoppers Crossing campus were in attendance at our meeting to receive certificates from the club as part of the scholarship program. The winners were Isiah Edwards and Ryley Hay who are both doing a course in carpentry. The boys were introduced by Michael Redding and were presented with their certificates by President Graham. Each recipient also receives an amount of $1000 which goes towards their course.

Geoff Smith is seeking some volunteers to man the Rotary van from 8:30am to 12 midday to cook sausages for the participants of a fun run at the Werribee Mansion on Sunday May 5.

If you can help for a couple of hours or more, please give Geoff a call.

In conjunction with Wyndham City Council, we will be conducting a Community Tree Planting day on Sunday 19th May. A total of 1454 trees will be planted. So it is a bigger exercise than our previous project where we planted 700 trees. That's why we are advertising it as a community event where we are asking for support from the people of Wyndham.

Click here to see the poster which will be displayed on various street notice boards.