A small number of our members met tonight’s guest speaker on the road, half way between Balibo and Dili, as they travelled back from Balibo after completing a Friendship Visit, in June 2018. This group has previously spoken about their visit to our members and about the need for our continued support for these beautiful people. It was therefore fitting for Roger Thornton, one of these travellers, and Donations in Kind (DIK) District 9820 Chair, to be the chair for this evening, as Roger was instrumental in making our Club aware of what was happening in Timor Leste, enabling us to support the work done by the Balibo House Trust for the people of Timor Leste..png)
To honour the work of the Balibo Trust House it is important to go back in time…back to the events of 1975, which saw the collapse of Portuguese colonial rule and a brief declaration of independence in East Timor. Then, the Indonesian army backed a pro-integrationist militia to conduct hit & run attacks against the new government, with their sole goal being to destabilise the country as a pretext for invasion.
Due to falling congregation numbers, on Sunday 22 September, the last service was held at the historic Cardinia Presbyterian Church. David Collyer and Sam McCurdy were invited to attend the service as representatives of the Rotary Berwick District Benevolent Society. The Church has been one of the major benefactors for many years and dedicated this last collection from the congregation to the Society. As a result of the collection at the service and together with other donations, the Church presented a cheque of $1,720 to the Society.
On Wednesday 4 September, Adrian shared his vison with us… ’to empower Clubs to be extraordinary.” So how can we do this? By sharing the message from Rotary International, encouraging a ‘future focus’ in clubs, by modernising District and our services, reconnecting District with Clubs and Club members, and revitalising cluster engagement and collaboration. Not too difficult a task for Rotarians to embrace!
Adrian spoke about the vision of Rotary: ‘TOGETHER, we see a world where PEOPLE unite and take action to CREATE lasting CHANGE across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves’.
Rotary, like all successful organisations, has a Strategic Plan:
1. Increase Rotary’s Impact
2. Expand Rotary’s Reach
3. Enhance participant engagement
4. Increase our ability to adapt.
RI President Mark Maloney pinpointed four areas which he would like us all to focus on to ensure the future of Rotary:
1. Grow Rotary
2. Family involvement
3. Create a viable path to leadership
4. Build on the historic United Nations relationship.
DG Adrian, in his year, is passionate about ensuring Clubs in our District continue to grow Rotary…not only in the number of Rotarians we have in our District but also to grow our community awareness in the presence of Rotary in their area, as well as making sure people in our community know the amazing things which Rotary does, both locally, nationally and internationally.
Adrian also wants to see Rotarian’s involve their families in everything Rotary…and there is no better way of doing that than bringing them (and as many friends as you can) to the upcoming Gumbuya World Family Fun Day on Sunday 20th October, with entry fees being substantially reduces for everyone who books in via the Rotary District 9820 link.
Adrian also spoke about Wendy’s Partner project…’the end game’. We are almost there...so let’s not give up the fight until Polio is eradicated in the world in which we live. Mark Rees, from the Rotary Club of Frankston Sunrise, took part in the Moomba Birdman Rally earlier this year and raised a substantial amount of money for Rotary, which was used to buy sky hydrants. Mark is going to compete again next March, with any money he raises going to Wendy’s project. We can all get behind him by pledging money to sponsor Mark. Let’s hope he soars like an eagle over the Yarra at Moomba next year!
The official vision of Rotary International resonates with President Isobel. ‘Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves’. President Isobel noted that the change may be in ourselves. That could mean by taking on a new role that you didn’t think you could do...like being President...or just the satisfaction of a job well done serving the community.
In Isobel shared with us that she felt overwhelming and honoured to be inducted as President. She congratulated and thanked Geoff for the past few months.
Isobel said the club needed leadership and Geoff stepped up to the job. She also thanked the board and all the club members for supporting Geoff. Isobel spoke of how ironic it was that changeovers have become a thing between the Double’s and Caulfield’s. In 2010 Di passed the IWC Berwick Presidential Collar to Isobel. In 2016
Geoff handed over the Rotary Collar to Mark...and in keeping with the tradition, Geoff was now handing the collar to her. Isobel thanked her father Graeme and her late mother, for being such active members of the community in which they have lived. Doing things for the community is something which Isobel has done
all her life. She especially thanked Mark and their daughters, Rachel and Anna, who also give so much to the community, both through Rotary and through Rotaract.
Isobel said the club needed leadership and Geoff stepped up to the job. She also thanked the board and all the club members for supporting Geoff. Isobel spoke of how ironic it was that changeovers have become a thing between the Double’s and Caulfield’s. In 2010 Di passed the IWC Berwick Presidential Collar to Isobel. In 2016
Geoff handed over the Rotary Collar to Mark...and in keeping with the tradition, Geoff was now handing the collar to her. Isobel thanked her father Graeme and her late mother, for being such active members of the community in which they have lived. Doing things for the community is something which Isobel has done
all her life. She especially thanked Mark and their daughters, Rachel and Anna, who also give so much to the community, both through Rotary and through Rotaract.
Donations in Kind (DIK) does not only send containers overseas, they also send items out into our local community. A local school’s dream of opening a health training hub is well on its way, thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Berwick & DIK.A donation from DIK of almost $50,000 in medical equipment (including five hospital beds) will go towards Hallam Senior College’s allied health training centre, due to open in 2020.
Kids Under Cover was established 30 years ago, in 1989 by well-known Melbourne identity, Ken Morgan OAM.The disturbing findings of the Senate National Inquiry into youth homelessness, known as the ‘Burdekin Report’, moved Ken to initially raise funds to build a house for homeless young mothers.
Ken’s passion to increase the support offered to young people facing homelessness led to the birth of Kids Under Cover. Due to events in his own life, when he was younger, Ken was determined to fill what he saw was a huge gap in the sup
port offered to young people in the community.
port offered to young people in the community. Kids Under Cover is a not-for-profit organisation which is dedicated to preventing and supporting vulnerable young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years who are either already homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Thank you to Amy-Lou Cowdroy-Ling for a great presentation on the work of Kids Under Cover and the positive impact their programs have on the lives of young people at risk of homelessness!
It was the club's great pleasure to donate $3,000 to support the great work of the Kids Under Cover organisation.
www.kuc.org.au
On Saturday, we had a mission! Deliver a bit of dental equipment for our project in the Solomon Islands to Rotary Donations in Kind in West Footscray (https://www.facebook.com/RotaryDIK/) and then backload an even bigger load of medical equipment for Hallam Valley Trade Training Centre for their medical training classroom.
This was a significant project as the equipment was for a local program instead of an overseas one. It was also an opportunity to get out and do something positive with our spare time, share a few stories and see another side of the world we live in. (and maybe have some fun!)
The Team! A mix of professionals including a nurseryman, boilermaker, kennel owner x 2, builder, environmental consultant, weatherman, educator, storage expert, building maintenance and finance expert. An unlikely mix that use their free time to help others
Rotarian Action Groups are international groups of Rotarians, family members, program participants, and alumni who are experts in a particular field or passionate about topics such as microcredit, peace, the environment, or water. Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs) give members opportunities to engage in service activities and network with like minded members around the world. Read more:
