The 2010 John Cummins Memorial Dinner

2010 Memorial Dinner a Huge Success

A record crowd had a great time and raised a lot of money to help brain cancer sufferers and working class students.

Thanks to everyone involved.

Value of Scholarships
Speakers included Gabi Hollows of the Fred Hollows Foundation and Raffaela Galati-Brown, Principal of Northland Secondary College.

Northland is one school where promising students in need of help receive scholarships from the John Cummins Memorial Fund. In a heartfelt speech Raffaela spoke of the good work being done in John's name and gave real life examples of the difference that the assistance makes.

She also spoke proudly of her school's association with the union movement, reminding the crowd of the united campaign that defeated the attempt by the Kennett Government to shut NSC down in the early 1990s.

"I have never forgotten that in one of our darkest moments, when we had to go yet again before the Equal Opportunity Board in 1994, the CFMEU came to our rescue, breaking into the college and providing us with much needed publicity by offering to fix up the school," she said.

"It gave our community a morale boost when we most needed it and put us back in the forefront of the media.

"Like John Cummins, like the CFMEU, like Unions generally are forced to do, we dared to struggle against the might of the Kennett government and in the end we won, reopening in March 1995. Since then the college has gone from strength to strength."

Read Raffaela Galati Brown's speech

Raffle Winnners

1st prize - Painting of the Westgate Bridge - won by ticket # 03691 - Daniel Grove

2nd prize - GVA 81cm (32") HD LCD TV with 3 year warranty - won by ticket # 0388 - Danny Coen

3rd prize - Designer millinery to the value of $500 - won by ticket # 03141 - John Maciulis

4th prize - Marriner Theatres VIP Red Carpet Package - West Side Story for 2 people - won by ticket # 03731- Plumbers Union

5th prize - 2 Tickets to the AFL 2010 Grand Final - won by ticket # 0857 - Rick O

6th prize - Gourmet Hamper from Oranges & Lemons - won by ticket # 07991 - Nick Santullo

7th prize - Bart Cummings framed Melbourne Cup Winners - won by ticket # 03859 - James C Ioannou

8th prize - Russell Morris signed frame - won by ticket # 05284 - Theresa Grima

9th prize - Gold Class tickets/chocolates - won by ticket # 08826 - Rudy Raspudil