On 29 February 1996 we received a large container full of equipment for Blessed Gérard's Care Centre.
Our member and good friend Daniel E. Meehan had been offered a donation of used hospital beds, bed tables and other medical equipment from West Allis Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin (USA) on 9 November 1995. Since then, the fax connection between Mr. Meehan's offices and ours has been running hot, and by the day the donation arrived, a whole folder was filled with correspondence. We received the container on 29 February 1996 and were able to take delivery of 18 beds, 19 bedside cabinets, 20 chairs, 19 bedside tables, 6 stretchers, 3 carrying chairs, 2 wheeled stretchers, 1 bench, 1 table, 1 typewriter and other medical equipment with a replacement value of almost half a million Rand. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr Daniel E. Meehan, West Allis Memorial Hospital, the Federated Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the South African Red Cross Society (Mr Ian Gould) and Henred Fruehauf Trailers (Pty) Ltd (Mr Ray Matthews) for their extremely valuable support.
Our Financial Trustee, Geoff Kalkwarf, unloading the equipment with our members Conrad Khumalo, William Yeo, Ferdi Rouillon, Riccardo de Stefano and other helpers.
The foundations of Blessed Gérard's Care Centre.
THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE
Our quarterly meeting of Associate Members was scheduled for Saturday 2 March 1996. These meetings are for the purpose of spiritual guidance, stimulation and encouragement to participate in the ministries of the Fraternity, education for the charitable functions of our organisation, cultural education and fraternal fellowship. We have achieved this and much more.
The foundation walls of Blessed Gérard's Care Centre were almost completed. So we decided to choose this meeting for the laying of the foundation stone. We had invited many guests of honour, including the bigger sponsors in our area. It was just wonderful how many of our members (despite the incredibly high temperatures) attended this celebration! We would like to acknowledge Mr. Allen Young, the General Manager of SAPPI Kraft, Mandeni, and Mr. Michael O'Donovan, the Director for the Natal Province of our Anglican sister organisation, St. John Ambulance, for taking the time to be at our celebration. Mr. Haglich, the contractor, produced the foundation stone, a cement container in which we placed certificates and various other items that we thought might be of interest to someone who will one day open this stone in the distant future:
The deed to the foundation stone,
G T Lagleder President | C A Kalkwarf Vice President | P Z T Thabethe Leitender Doctor | N M Thabethe Caritas- Director | G Kalkwarf | Y Renaud Project coordinator |