I SPENT three years on the Otis Board raising funds to build two rammed earth units which would offer rest and respite for women recovering from treatment following a diagnosis of breast cancer.
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We were heavily dependent on the goodwill, generosity and professionalism of a number of philanthropic charities. They were generous donors.
While no longer part of the Otis Board, I am very conscious of how important philanthropy was in achieving that goal of one million dollars.
We would have found it an almost impossible task to reach without those large donations made by philanthropic organisations.
It is therefore wonderful to read that in Bendigo we have such a philanthropist in the former Victorian Supreme Court judge Howard Nathan.
Mr Nathan is an unabashed supporter of the arts, and Bendigo Art Gallery has been on the receiving end of his generosity. Now it is the turn of the Ulumbarra Theatre, with an extraordinarily generous donation of $300,000.
This donation has allowed the new theatre to reach its target goal of $500,000, with local families and businesses purchasing seats for $500 each.
As a former judge Howard Nathan, sent many a villain to this gaol in which the new theatre is now set.
It is ironic and a strange if somewhat symbiotic situation between gaoling criminals from the "theatre of the courthouse" to Mr Nathan now helping that very gaol to be reborn as a real theatre with ordinary theatre-goers as customers.
Mr Nathan is clearly delighted with the theatre design, which he describes as spectacular and imaginative. He also approves of the connection it has with the education sector, particularly BSSC.
Mr Nathan summed up his donation in the following words, ‘It’s better to give with a live hand than a dead one".
The Jewish community, of which Howard Nathan is a proud member, has always been a strong supporter of the arts community.
At the Melbourne Arts Centre the prominent names of generous benefactors are almost entirely Jewish, including some who have links to Bendigo, such as Sidney Myer and Baillieu Myer.
Names such as Pratt, Besen, Smorgan and Gandel are part of Melbourne’s rich arts history.
I have met Mr Nathan, although he will not remember me. H.N. compered a concert I was in, two years in a row, as I am a member of the Forever Young choir.
His commentary was witty, urbane and incredibly knowledgeable.
He knew more about the background of the rock songs we were singing than I ever knew.
A final quote from Howard Nathan: ‘I can’t think of a better way to spend my judicial pension than to donate it back to the Victorian people."
Bravo and thank you, Howard Nathan!