A few months ago, an unsuspecting driver named Frank was heading south west on the M5 just after the tunnel underneath the runway at Mascot when a truck alongside him moved into his lane and struck his vehicle. Frank’s vehicle spun around, struck the guard rail and ended sideways in front of the truck which then ‘T boned’ the driver’s side.

 A community transport vehicle, full of clients on a social trip, witnessed the accident and immediately stopped to render assistance to Frank. The bus driver and bus assistant  helped Frank out of his vehicle and moved the car to a safer place, then helped Frank back into the community bus for comfort and stayed with him until emergency services arrived.

 Frank was finally taken away in an ambulance with a broken sternum and the very shaken community transport crew and passengers continued on their way. They all thought that was the last they’d heard from Frank until last week when Frank walked in to the office of Randwick Waverly Community Transport (RWCTG) looking for the people who had helped him.

He had already been to five different Community Transport offices so he was relieved and delighted when he finally found his heroes, bus driver Steve and bus assistant Angie at RWCTG! Frank was very grateful that Steve and Angie had taken the time to stop and assist him at the scene of the accident.

Thankfully, Frank has made a full recovery and we thank him for making the effort to personally thank his rescuers. We also want to thank Steve and Angie for the care and support they showed Frank and for the constant care and support they show our customers every day.

Anyone who was at our 2019 conference will likely never forget the inspirational talk from famous American philanthropist and activist Dan Pallotta.

His thoughts on how the non-profit community has the potential to “change the world” left us with a renewed sense of empowerment, purpose and hope. 

A lot has changed in the world over the past three years since then and not necessarily in ways many of us would hope for, but Dan has continued his undying dedication to changing the way the world thinks about giving, one talk at a time.

A man of many talents, Dan has also written a new book called ‘ The Everyday Philanthropist – A Better Way to Make a Better World ’ and in his spare time, has released two thought provoking singles and music videos – ‘Charity Town’, released just last month, is inspired by the countless US towns that have fallen on hard times in recent years. “This song is about the picture and the people left behind when the future has moved on,” said Dan.

Dan’s other powerful song is simply titled ‘John F Kennedy’ and is best described by Dan himself: “The song is about a dream I had several years ago in which I came down a flight of stairs and saw John Kennedy lying on a table about to die. Carl Jung always said that the characters in your dreams are actually a part of yourself. So it’s not so much a song literally about John F. Kennedy as it is about a part of myself that had been obsessed with the need to achieve something big in order to feel self-actualised, and about the liberation that came from the death of that obsession.”

Sit back and take a listen when you have a moment: ‘Charity Town’ | ‘John F Kennedy’

And you can learn more about Dan Pallotta and his inspirational work at danpallotta.com

Dan’s books: ‘Charity Case – How the Non-Profit Community can stand up for itself and really change the world’ and
‘Uncharitable – How Restraints on Non-Profits undermines their potential’
are available on Dan’s website or via most book retailers.