Cultural Diversity Week 2019 Mini Grants (拨款) Guideline

To celebrate Cultural Diversity Week (CDW) 2019 in March, Banyule City Council (Australia) is offering mini grants of up to $300 for people to learn more about Victoria's cultural and religious diversity.

Who can apply?

Clubs, community groups and schools that are located within Banyule can apply for the mini grant.

What can the grant be used for?

1) Supporting your group, club or school to attend a cultural museum.

2) Hosting your own event and inviting a guest speaker or cultural performer.

Museum visits

Melbourne has a number of fantastic museums that display different cultures. A list of suggested cultural museums is included in this document. But you can also visit other museums.

Hosting your own event

The grant can be used to invite a musician, dancer or guest speaker from the Victorian multicultural community to perform at your event. For a list of speakers and performers, visit www.multicultural.vic.gov.au.

To apply for the grant

To apply for the grant visit banyule.smartygrants.com.au. Applications must be sent by 27 January 2019. You will need to provide the following information:

1) Tell us in 100 words or less how your group would benefit from the cultural education experience.

2) Tell us the museum you plan to attend or which cultural performer or guest speaker you will invite.

3) Provide a budget of your activity and the number of people who will take part.

4) If possible, tell us when the event or museum visit will be held.

We encourage applications from groups that intend to hold their event or museum visit during Cultural Diversity Week March 2019. If this is not possible, at the latest, the event or museum visit must occur before the end of April 2019.

If you have any questions please contact the Community and Social Planning team on 9490 4222. You will be informed (通知) of the result of your application by 17 February 2019.

Many years ago, when we were a young couple with two small children, aged 2 and 4, we were practically impecunious. My in-laws lived from hand to mouth, so we didn't expect any help from them. My parents lived a great distance away, and I was too ashamed to let them know about our situation.

My husband was trying to earn a living with an old pick-up truck, carrying groceries for local shopkeepers, but it was constantly breaking down. It took almost all the money we had to have it fixed. The truck was also the only means of transportation for us.

We lived in the countryside, and we always used the back door because the driveway led to it. One winter evening, I stepped outside to take a bag of trash to the barrel and almost tripped over something. It was nearly dark, and I had to bend down to see what it was. I could hardly believe my eyes. There sat a large basket loaded with food.

It was heavy, so I called my husband to carry it into the house. Once inside, we discovered two loaves of bread, some butter, several cans of vegetables, a can of orange sauce, and a large turkey. There was so much that I can't remember it all, but it was everything we needed to fix a wonderful dinner—everything except potatoes.

A little while later I remembered that I hadn't taken the trash to the barrel. By now it was dark, so I had to turn on the yard light —and that's when I spotted a small bag of potatoes sitting on the porch.

That dinner was the best I can remember.

We weren't able to thank our donators, though, because we never found out who had been so generous in helping a struggling young family. Whoever it was, we are forever grateful.

Vinegar is great. It makes salad, fries and dumplings taste better, and you can even clean your windows with it. And now, according to scientists, it may even help the planet’s population survive climate change.

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have found that growing plants in vinegar makes them more resistant to droughts. This could mean that in the future, worries about climate change affecting the world’s supply of food will be much lower.

The discovery was made after the researchers studied the Arabidopsis, a plant known for its ability to survive in dry weather. It was found that when the plant was placed in drought-like conditions, it produced a chemical called acetate(醋酸盐)—the main component of vinegar.

After discovering this, the scientists experimented further by adding acetate to the soil of other plants, and they stopped giving them water completely. After leaving the plants for 14 days, they found that the ones treated with acetate had survived, while the untreated plants had dried up and died. It’s hoped that this simple method of survival could soon be used to help farmers in dry countries keep their crops alive.

Jong Myong Kim, co-author of the study, tells Popular Science magazine that he’s already been in touch with people all over the world who are interested in trying this simple and cost-effective method out for themselves from flower growing companies to amateur gardeners. Although at this point keeping thirsty plants alive isn’t as easy as just pouring vinegar over them, Kim says he and his team are working on making the process as simple as possible. “Now we are trying to cooperate with some farmers, and also some companies, to make a method to apply this system,” he says.

And for those of us who always forget to ask our neighbors to water our plants when we go away, hopefully this means the end of returning home from a trip to find our favorite flowers have died.

Developing healthy eating habits starts from childhood, therefore it is important for parents to teach and provide children with a healthy diet. DPHSS administrator of the Bureau of Nutrition Services, Charlie Morris told KUAM News, “A healthy diet for a child consists of a lot of fruits and vegetables in the diet limiting the amount of simple sugars in the diet and high fat food and highly processed(加工的) food.”

This means staying away as much as possible from food such as chips, cookies, candies and sugary drinks, as all children need to have meals which involve a well-balanced diet. Community nutritionist(营养学家) Thelma Romoso said, “The fruit, the vegetable, the grain, the protein, and also the milk, the diary product, so for the fruits it's easy for a mother to go into the two plus three concept of fruits and vegetables or five a day.”

This concept means that there are at least two servings of fruits a day, three servings of vegetables a day which can be served for lunch and dinner. As for protein parents can make a variety of dishes from chicken, beef, fish or even dried beans to make sure the child gets three servings a day.

Morris said that the child's hunger level controls how much is eaten and the parent controls what and when the meal is offered, saying, “Mom needs to ensure that the food offered is good food for the child to eat and throughout the day depending on how active they are, snacks(零食) are not a bad thing, so the mom should offer good kinds of snacks.”

When it comes to preparing your child's lunch and snacks for school, make sure to keep in mind that the food you provide should not only be a source of energy but also be nutritionally beneficial such as fresh fruits, and whole grain bread. But parents must be sure to remember that a good nutritional diet must be balanced with physical activity, namely it is important that children get outside and run around and play and get activity in addition to eating a good diet.