Rotary Melbourne Weekly Club Meeting - 20 November 2024

Vocational Service Award Presentation Day

Guest Speaker Simone Carson AM, SecondBite, Founder, Deputy Board Chair

Details 12.30 for 12.50 - 2.00pm at No35 Sofitel Melbourne & by ZOOM

The Rotary Melbourne Vocational Service Award has been presented annually by the Club since 1964 to acknowledge the importance and value of vocation in Rotary. It is given to a resident of Victoria who has not only achieved excellence in their vocation but used those skills to go above and beyond to make a significant contribution to the community.

The 2023-24 Vocational Service Award will be presented to Simone Carson, SecondBite, Founder, Deputy Board Chair.

Simone is a passionate advocate for food rescue and food waste. Championing cultural awareness, respect and commitment to the most disadvantaged in our community remains Simone’s purpose.
An experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit sector. Skilled in Non-profit Organisation Management, Strategic Planning, Volunteer Management, Business Development, Culture Change and Strategy.
As a Co-founder of SecondBite, Australia’s national food rescue organisation whose purpose is to rescue food that would ordinarily end up in landfill and redistribute it to local charities around Australia. From an initial collection of 100kg of surplus food in 2005, Secondbite in FY19 rescued over 19.4 million kg of food nationally. That is enough food for more than 38 million meals.
Simone together with her husband Ian canvassed Governments and forged partnerships between individuals, organisations and communities to make change and allow the rescuing of tonnes of food for the community.
It is now understood that food rescue is one of the solutions to the larger environmental waste problem. Simone’s commitment to stopping food waste and delivering fresh healthy food to those in need qualifies her for recognition.

Join us for lunch and connection and learn about Simone Carson's efforts for the community and environment.