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Nan recognised for recycling 1,000s of reading glasses Photo & story Aslan Shand Did you know your old glasses could have a new life somewhere else in the world? Since 1974, Nan Stearman has been collecting both sun and reading glasses for the Lions Club Recycle for Sight program so that they can be recycled and sent to people who need them around the world. Recognising the effort
that Nan has put in over the last 47 years helping others, she was recently awarded the Lions Medical Research Foundation Professor Ian Frazer Humanitarian Award. ‘When I received the award, I got a tear in my eye’, said Nan. Nan started contributing to the Lions Club charity work when her husband Ted was a member, and long before they even allowed
women to join. The Lions Club allowed women to join from the 1980s, and Nan has been a long-term member of the BrunswickMullumbimby Lions Club. Nan said she has collected over 1,000 pairs of glasses a year, and said it was a great way to get to know people in the community – all sorts of people have turned up on her doorstep to donate glasses.
‘Marge Storer, president of the Brunswick Heads Red Cross, once turned up with over 100 pairs of glasses’, said Nan with a smile. ‘You can donate glasses at the The Red Cross in Brunswick Heads and St Vincent’s de Paul in Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads’, said Nan. Even though Nan has now retired from collecting glasses, she says she can still pass them on.
Nan Stearman has been collecting glasses for the Lions Club since 1974.
Community groups meet over resilience
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As the impact of climate change continues to make communities vulnerable to heat, drought, flood and fire, communities are looking to come together and plan for the future. The second monthly Main Arm Resilient Communities group came together last Sunday and looked at the issue of Fire and Ecosystem Resilience. Free Resilience Workshops are also being held throughout the region, including Uki, Lismore, Byron Bay, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby, and the Byron Hinterland. Main Arm facilitator, Peta Best, said that attending the meeting helped people feel
supported in a safe environment, where they were able to envisage change and begin to move together towards collective actions to build community resilience for the future. Following the first module ‘at least one person who came feeling hopeless, left with a feeling of being supported and able to plan and take action,’ said Peta. The workshop series is based on Deep Listening, and strives towards Sociocracy, which is also called dynamic governance. The workshops can be booked via https://bit.ly/3iophCb. Check out the Resilient Byron Facebook page or website for other contact details.
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