In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand Issue 2 | Page 33

THE SPOTLIGHT
for me, our NRG teams are an obvious and vital cog in the wheel of ensuring we are relevant
and contemporary.
This edition, I’m putting the spotlight on Dunedin Next Rotary Generation, led by the supercharged and dedicated Susanah Walker, who happens to also be a member of Dunedin
Central.
They, too, have members committed to Project Starfish. Then there are the novel pop-up
shops they use to fundraise – very successfully, I might add. And, if you read on, you’ll see later
in In Gear that Dunedin NRG members were an integral part of the recent highly-successful
Dunedin Brick Show, raising thousands. And, that’s just the start.
As older Rotarians, make no mistake, we have just as much to learn from them as they have
from us – if not more, actually. They own social media, leveraging off it to promote their
activities and their causes, and the way they can get things done without getting bogged
down in bureaucracy has to make us look twice at some of our more cumbersome and
traditionalist ways.
Most of all, I’m always struck by Dunedin NRG’s spirit that’s simply just implicit in every
action, every communication and every good deed.
It’s a culture that’s quite difficult to articulate, unless you’ve seen it in action. So, I’ll let
Emmerson Morgan take over from here.
Emmerson’s story shines the light poignantly on Dunedin NRG’s unique heart and a very
special project that is a touching example of how one young Rotarian, with the support of her
Rotary family, has made such a difference for others, even amidst her own great heartbreak.
Janice Hughes,
DISTRICT GOVERNOR

In loving memory

E

ach Christmas, since 2014, Next Rotary Generation member Emmerson Morgan and her
fiancé, Ben Davidson, choose a very heartfelt present for a child in hospital.
The gift is, specifically, for a girl. That first year, they chose for a baby around six months old;
the next, the couple bought for a little one on the brink of toddlerhood.

This year, Emmerson and Ben are shopping for a two and a-half year old. And, just like the years
before, the present will be lovingly gifted in the name of their daughter, Adisyn-Hope Davidson.
There is another, extra-special donation, though, this festive season.
Together with the usual Christmas present, Emmerson and Ben are planning to
present to Dunedin’s Queen Mary Maternity Hospital three “CuddleCots” – a new
innovation that gives families precious extra time with their babies who, like Adisyn,
are born sleeping.
Here, Emmerson shares her journey through loss, her daughter’s incredible legacy,
and how her Rotary family has helped not only financially support Adisyn’s Hope for
Others, but has been a rock of emotional support, too.

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