We serve at 60!

Members of Club 60 in Melbourne's Tarneit are actively retired! It's founder Mr Sunil Abbott and other members have done the community proud by enthusiastically participating in the Tree Plantation Project of the Wyndham City Council. Despite inclement weather just around 20 members successfully planted 1,000 trees. Their motive is to give back to this beautiful country and help the environment.

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The Club 60 of Tarneit in Melbourne was founded three years ago by Mr Sunil Abbott. He felt that many Indian Australians and even visiting parents over the age of 60 felt isolated in society. Mr Abbott came up with the idea of Club 60 to mitigate the loneliness of South East Asian parents over 60. He adds, “Not only does Club 60 help them add a spark to their personal life but it encourages seniors to contribute to this country in a positive way.”

On this weekend about twenty members of Club 60 participated wholeheartedly in a tree plantation project of the Wyndham City Council. They were the largest group present and despite inclement weather, together they planted 1,000 trees.

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SBS Hindi spoke with Mr Sunil Abbott and Mr Vinod Sharma who is an active member of this club. The Wyndham City Council was most supportive of this club says Mr Abbott, and they were provided with a venue to gather twice a week. “Having received these benefits from the Wyndham City Council, we thought it is time for us to return something to this society. We are active in the Heart Foundation, Sons of the West and other local cultural activities”, adds Mr Abbott.

 Mr Vinod Sharma says, “We wish to spend our time fruitfully in Australia and do some social work here. It’s not just permanent migrants but also visiting parents, who are here on a three month or six-month visa, who join us in this good work.” The Club 60 is not restricted to seniors of Indian origin, they have members from Pakistan and Sri Lanka and other places as well. “This way, we get to meet people from the different States of India as well as different countries of the Sub-Continent,” Mr Sharma adds.

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According to Mr Abbott, members of Club 60 return to their villages and hometowns and taking a leaf from the club’s book, they form their own little senior's organizations and give back to society in ample measure.

The tree plantation by these seniors has been widely appreciated by the community, which is proud of these seniors, whose logo says, “We serve at 60.”

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