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A Note from the President
Gaby joined
us as our newest member and we all wish her a wonderful Rotary
experience in our club.
Introducing and inducting a new member into Rotary is not just
important to the health of a Rotary club, the health of Rotary
International. Indeed, that is not the reason why we want people
to join Rotary. We ask people to join Rotary because that act of
asking someone to join is, in itself, a community service. We are
asking prospective members to join so they can help us better
serve the community. We offer them, in return, an opportunity to
serve the community in the unique Rotary way - by offering our
fellowship, our ideals of service and, of course, our friendship.
It is arguably more important for us to find new members than to
do projects ourselves, because we only have one pair of hands but
there is no limit to how many others you can bring to help do
Rotary's good work.
Equally important is what we do within the club. There are many
tasks within the club that do not directly serve the community but
are nonetheless essential to the proper function of the club and
therefore an indirect service to the community, however tedious,
unglamorous and unpopular. Helping run the club is a service to
not only the community at large but also the smaller community of
Southbank Rotarians. One example of such a task is the role of
Sergeant. Coming up with ways to entertain us every week is no
easy task, and whilst we all love to "hate" the sergeant, we
should recognise the contribution he has made to our meetings and
not to forget that he is there for our benefit because he
VOLUNTEERED. Next time you see Nick, consider thanking him for his
efforts. It is our support of each other that make our club so
special, so why not make it extra special by showing our
appreciation of how each of us contribute to this amazing
organisation that is RC Southbank?
Finding new members and assisting the club in its smooth function
are just two indirect ways of serving the community. Can you think
of any other ways?
Have a great weekend and I will see you at RC Glenferrie on
Tuesday.
Yours in Rotary,
Gabe
Last Week's Meeting
Thanks to Steven for excellent scribes notes!
We welcomed guests including
• Kevin Love (RC of Central Melbourne)
• Matthew Stephens (KIDS Foundation)
• Mev Connell (RC of Melbourne and D9800 Bushfire Recovery Chairman)
• Judy
• Gaby (for her last time!) and her partner Chris.
• Charles
• Clinton
The theme of this meeting was the Victorian Bushfires.
 Induction
of Gabrielle Halpin (accompanied by her partner Chris), sponsored by
Bettina Harlos.
This week’s Member’s Moment was presented by Michael Glinski,
regarding his experience in helping a friend deal with manic
depression.
Mev Connell gave us an update of the multi district Rotary Bushfire
fundraising efforts. Generous donations have been received Australia
wide and internationally, including $560 K from District 9830
(Tasmania) $500 K from our own District 9800 as well as donations
from as far as UK, the US and Papua New Guinea. Mev
emphasised the devastation that the bushfires have left,
particularly for the community of Strathewen. Rotary has been
working closely with the Red Cross and the Bushfire Recovery
Authority to identify and plan projects for Rotary contribution and
involvement. Projects that have already been facilitated by Rotary’s
contributions include: psychological counselling for the Yarra Glen
Counseling Service and the prevision of tools including chainsaws to
community groups for rebuilding efforts. Mev encouraged us to
contribute more ideas and proposals for other bushfire recovery
projects.
 President
Gabe presented a cheque of $39,300 from DS9800 to Matthew Stephens,
CEO of the KIDS Foundation Burn Survivor network. This money
will be used by the KIDS Foundation in support of Camp Phoenix, a
special camp that will be attended by 30 families affected by burns
from the bush fires.
Philip also informed us of the generous financial support received
by the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation for the Rotary Bushfire
Recovery Fund from Pacific Brands further to their support of our
club’s Bushfire Luncheon held in April
Kevin Love, Deputy Secretary of Land Stewardship &
Biodiversity for the Department of
Sustainability and Environment (as well as an active Rotarian from
the RC of Central Melbourne) gave us an informative insight into the
Victorian Bushfires and “Black Saturday” covering the role of the
DSE and the other authorities involved in the whole fire-fighting
effort, the history of bushfires in Victoria as well as the fire
fighting strategies that were used in the latest fires. He reminded
us of the immense magnitude of the tragedy and the sophisticated and
complex coordination effort of resources and assets that was
executed in response to the fires. His presentation was accompanied
by breathtaking panoramic but often devastating scenes from the
bushfires. Kevin emphasised the ongoing need to maintain bushfire
awareness across the community.
Reminders and Announcements:
Next meeting on 19th May will be a joint meeting with the RC of
Glenferrie
District Assembly on 31st May (RSVPs to Narina)
Southbank Club Changeover on 20th June
Congratulations to Tracey for the recent birth of her grand
daughter.
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