By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
HIS last wish was granted with a big cheer and a round of applause as the Emerson School welcomed their new four-wheeled friend.
President of the Lions Club of Greater Dandneong for 15 years and a passionate fundraiser, Ken Daff made sure an all-abilities bus would be bought with the money he and his fellow Lions had been raising since 1999.
Club member and friend Deidre Cameron had worked alongside Ken for more than 14 years and said the bus was a wonderful achievement for everyone involved.
“The bus is something the school really needed and it was Ken’s last wish,” Deidre said.
Together Ken and Deidre turned the Lonsdale Street Lions Opportunity Shop into a book shop and had been saving every penny for something really special.
“Ken had a vision for the op-shop to become a bookshop and we worked our butts off to transform it – Ken and my husband carted books every day before and after work to get it up and running and with a wonderful group of volunteers we had the bookshop for at least 10 years and together we brought up our grandchildren there,” she said.
With close to $30,000 saved up Deidre, Ken and Emerson School lower school principal Diane Wright agreed on a bus and on Friday 24 July that dream came true.
“I made a promise to Ken that we would do the bus and that’s why I went to Lions Clubs International Foundation for more funding otherwise we would probably still be fundraising,” Deidre said.
Lions International matched their amount and together more than $54,000 went towards the Toyota mini-bus.
School principal John Mooney said the bus was an extraordinary gift and had already been put to good use transporting students between the schools two campuses and off-campus excursions.
“The generosity of the Lions Club will have a direct impact of enabling students with additional needs to access learning opportunities that they otherwise would not have been able to participate in – we are eternally grateful for this,” Mr Mooney said.
The bus has been customised in memory of Ken and his dedication to the Greater Dandenong Lions Club.
“We wanted that detail because it was Ken’s last donation and there are so many people in the area that knew Ken and they’ll now know that his wish was fulfilled,” Deidre said.
