Busy Fingers...

A Sad Time For Busy Fingers

After nearly 12 years with Busy Fingers our hard-working and much-loved Manager Sonia Christensen has decided to leave us and Bribie Island to start a new life in NSW with her partner. She has elected to raise cattle, alpacas, llamas and probably other animals later knowing her, instead of running Busy Fingers. I very much doubt, she will miss the problems that went with the job and the sometimes customer complaints and issues, but I know she will miss the regular customers, staff, volunteers and committee members and hopefully me, because I will certainly miss her, as over the years she has been a great support during the good and bad times and assisted me many times in the office. She was in charge through our large extension which took over 10 months and has planned our new extension which will be started soon, hopefully, she will return to see it when finished. She will be sorely missed by everyone she has been involved with, as she enjoys a joke and has an infectious laugh, but we are all very happy for her as she starts her new adventure into a totally different world. We all hope that her future will be wonderful and successful and she will have a long, healthy and very happy life with her partner and many animals. Good Luck Sonia and remember to visit us when you can.

Public Holiday Closures Coming Up

Please be aware that the shop will be closed for the 4-day Easter Break from 7th to 10th April reopening on Tuesday 11th ANZAC Day is on Tuesday 25th April and Labour Day is Monday 1st May.

The shop will be closed on those public Holidays, and the gates will be closed too, so please do not leave donations on the footpath as this is council land and they classify this as dumping and fines can apply.

New Staff

With the departure of our Sonia, we have made some new changes in staffing, Stacey Woods who has been with us for 4 months as Cashier is stepping into Sonia’s position, Stacey has had Managerial experience before and is doing very well in her new position. The cashier’s position has become a permanent job-sharing one, with our casual staff member, Barbara attending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and a volunteer Meryl will be stepping into the position for the rest of the week. We will also have a new casual position of relief driver which has been accepted by Jim who has volunteered for us for many years now, we thank all these people for stepping up to ensure we have a smooth changeover and assisting us to keep the shop running on an even keel. We hope that all our customers, as well as our volunteers and staff, give their support to these new staff members.

Volunteers

We always welcome new volunteers, so if you have a few hours spare please give us a call on 3408 1014 or pop into the shop and speak to Stacey, we are registered with Centrelink for Job Seeker requirements. Newcomers to the island can easily make new friends as we have an excellent group of volunteers working with us, it is also a wonderful way of supporting our beautiful island and its residents.

Donations

Due to several unforeseen circumstances we were unable to have a committee meeting in March, but we still continued with the help of our supporters and the many customers that come through the shop to continue our permanent assistance to VMR for fuel, Hospice for the Palliative Care Suite, and the monthly assistance with Foodbank and Fuel for BI Global Care. I will be calling the associations that have applied for grants after sending this article through to the magazine.

Request For Presentations And Donations

If you are a member of an island club or association and require assistance, please let us know. We try to assist all not-for-profit associations and sporting clubs, we also assist the Police, SES, VMR and the BI Hospice. Our President Pauline is quite happy to come along to your club and present our aims and goals and how your club can apply for assistance. Please call 3410 1920 or email busyfingers1@ bigpond.com if you wish to have a presentation or if you wish to apply for a grant of assistance.

When applying for assistance please include a contact name and phone number and also a current equipment quote (from an island business if possible), tell us a bit about your association/ club and membership and why you need the equipment you are requesting, and email it to busyfingers1@bigpond.com

Please be aware we only support Bribie Island Associations and groups not individuals.

I would like to thank all our supporters and customers, and a very special thank you to the Bribie Islander and staff for their continuing support. I hope to see you in the shop soon. Sandra