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President Philip's Weekly Message
With the Festive Season now on
our doorstep, it is not only a time to think about our families
and friends, but also those in need who will not be as fortunate
to share in good food or gift-giving. We can help those in our
Club’s surrounds by donating a food product for inclusion in a
hamper for our Christmas Present Response Scheme. SP AusNet, a
business in our community will also be coordinating the collection
of food and other products to make up hampers for our Club to
distribute. The two organisations these hampers will go to are
Steps and St Josephs Mission. The type products can include:
mince pies, jams, puddings, biscuits, shelf-stable dips, olive
oil, crackers, roasted or salted nuts, cranberry sauce, teas,
coffee, honey, cereal, spices, herbs, chocolates, scented soaps,
mineral water, shopping vouchers, confectionary, health food
products, perfumes, aftershaves, shortbreads or current monthly
magazines, and anything else you feel appropriate. However,
please do not include alcohol.
We are also in the process of
finalising our commitment to the Bali Taman Trust with a water
project being project managed by Wendy Bennett. It is hoped that
this final water project will be completed by end of
February/early March with a field trip to Bali to finalise some
hands-on work and attend a gala opening in April. I encourage any
members wanting to take part in this trip to speak with Wendy.
It is apt that December is Family
of Rotary Month. December also offers us a great opportunity to
fully enjoy the wonderful camaraderie for which our Club is
well-known. I for one, am looking forward to sharing it!
Have a great week in Rotary.
Philip Archer
Club President 2009-2010
Last Week's Meeting
(Thank you to Steven for these
ripping notes)
Meeting 509 Scribe Notes
It was that time of the
year again for our AGM and the election of the 2010-2011 Board and
office bearers. Congratulations to the incoming board: Bettina
(President), Barbara (Vice President), Philip (Immediate Past
President), Narina, Ivory, Steven, Nick, Charles S (Secretary),
Charles D (Treasurer), with a special welcome to those members who
will be joining the board for the first time. Full details of
the elections are recorded separately in the AGM minutes.
After the completion of
formalities, we resumed our normal evening proceedings with an
entertaining fines session led by Sergeant Chris. As this
year's Rotary Foundation month comes to a close, we had the pleasure
of listening to Past RI Director and Treasurer Ian Riseley from the
Rotary Club of Sandringham provide us with some interesting insights
into the Foundation. (E.g. D9800 2009 contributions were
nearly as much as D9810; for $32, the Foundation can provide a bio
sand filter to provide water to a whole village; in May 2009, 22
countries in 10 days immunised 222,270,331 children - you may think
the 331 children are not important, but if you were one of them,
then it is very important!)
Ian covered not only the
achievements and importance of the Polio Plus programme but also
other aspects of the Foundation including some very compelling
statistics about the magnitude of the Foundation and what it
continues to achieve in the world. He took us through the
origin and history of the Foundation and spoke about some of the
lesser known projects which have changed the lives of people in
disadvantaged communities in the developing world. Ian
highlighted the importance of continually supporting the Rotary
Foundation financially thorough the various donor schemes including
the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) programme, and urged all
Rotarians to actively contribute as well as to raise the profile of
the Foundation across the broader community. Thank you Ian for such
an enlightening and informative talk.
Amongst club announcements
last week, President Philip announced our club's plans to assist the
St Joseph's Parish Mission Christmas hamper appeal with the generous
financial assistance from a large local corporate employer as well
as our continued support for STEPS. Also a reminder of the
dinner being held at the RYLA Camp at Wonga Park, this Wednesday 2nd
December. Contact Michael Fingereth to confirm your attendance.
In closing, President
Philip's thought of the week is for each of us to think how we can
make "Every Rotarian Every Year" a successful fundraiser for our
club.
Foundation Chair
Steven Aquilina's Message
Worldwide, Rotary Foundation Matching Grants are saving and
changing lives. Since the first
Matching Grant was awarded in 1965, more than US$335 million has
been distributed through more than 30,000 grants.
This is a tremendous achievement for Rotarians, who have made
these grants possible through their generous donations to the
Annual Programs Fund, and dedicated their time and talent to
help carry out projects that put Service Above Self.
By giving A$150 a year -- less than A$3 a week -- to the Annual
Programs Fund through the
Every Rotarian, Every Year (EREY) initiative, Rotarians become
part of the Foundation's mission to advance world understanding,
goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support
of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
Here are just a few of the projects made possible through
Matching Grants.
Repairing cleft palates
Australian, Dutch, and Indonesian Rotarians have helped repair
cleft lips and palates for more than 2,000 children. One of the most
common birth defects, clefts can interfere with eating, speaking,
and breathing.
Thalca Hamid, an orthodontist from the Rotary Club of Surabaya
Central, Surabaya, Indonesia, and two other club members began the
project in 2001, arranging patient transportation, educating parents
about postoperative care, and providing children with books and
toys. Rotarians also recruited local villagers to talk to rural
families about the benefits of the surgery.
"The children and their families have unbelievable pressure and
stress because many feel that such defects are a curse," Hamid says.
"Previously, few in our community realized how complicated this
defect is."
Read more.
New hope and self-esteem
The
Bitone Center for Disadvantaged Children , located in Kampala,
Uganda, is home to two dozen children ages 8-18. Many are orphans;
others have lost their homes or been estranged from their families
by disease, war, or economic hardship. The Rotary clubs of
Kampala-East and Traverse Bay Sunrise, Michigan, USA, are providing
support with help from a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant.
By connecting children to traditional Ugandan dance, music, and
theatre, as well as providing shelter, food, and education, the
centre strives to give them new hope and self-esteem.
Read more, and see some of the children perform a traditional
Ugandan dance.
Without water, there is no life
In many parts of the world, people lack access to clean water,
leading to disease and death. More than 3.5 million people die from
water-related diseases each year, and more than 40 percent of those
deaths are due to diarrhoea, which UNICEF lists as the
second-leading childhood killer.
Polio also spreads through contaminated water.
Rotary club members have helped install 19,000 bio-sand filters,
which make water safe to drink, through the Rotarian-led Children's
Safe Water Alliance in the Dominican Republic. They've reached an
estimated 100,000 people in 300 communities.
For seven years, more than 200 clubs in 18 districts in Canada,
the Dominican Republic, the United States, and other Caribbean
countries have supported the effort, as has the Foundation, with 30
Matching Grants.
We believe every Rotarian has a story about EREY. Why do you give
through Every Rotarian, Every Year? Send your story to
my.erey.story@rotary.org,
and it might be chosen to appear in the next EREY ad in
The Rotarian.
Your contributions to Every Rotarian, Every Year help make projects
such as these possible.
(Source: "Investing less than US$2 a week through the Foundation
changes lives" by Antoinette Tuscano, Rotary International News --
10 November 2009:
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/091110_news_mgroundup.aspx)
Rotary Foundation
Thought
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is
about why we support our Foundation.
Every minute of every day someone’s life is being improved by our
Rotary Foundation. Rotary clubs on every continent are working to
improve the living conditions and health of their fellow citizens.
Rotarians like you and me can make a difference by continually
supporting our Foundation and the Annual Programs Fund. As Rotarians
we determine where funds are allocated through District Designated
Funds, which we can use for local projects or matching grants in
another country. When we contribute to our Foundation we are
promoting worldwide Peace and Understanding. Only if
Every
Rotarian Every Year makes a gift to the Annual Programs
Fund will we will be able to continue to do the great work of The
Rotary Foundation.
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