Bill would have been pleased with our early finish this week, but we managed to pack a fair bit in beforehand.
Kerri Bolch from Berwick College was invited to our meeting for Ricardo to present her with a donation from our Club being part of the 2017-2018 end of year disbursements.
Unfortunately, Ricardo was unable to attend the meeting, so I did the presentation. I know Ricardo would have been much more eloquent, but the result was the same.
Our speaker this week was Amodha Ratnayeke from Infoxchange. Amodha came to our meeting to explain what the Askizzy website was and how it is used by people in need, to get the services to help them.
The Askizzy website is an anonymous information sharing app that disadvantaged people can use to find services in their immediate vicinity. The whole idea is to use technology to help the community. What a great idea!
Rosemary thanked all those who contributed children’s and teenage books for donation to CNCISS and Edrington Park Child Care and preschool Start up Library. She advised that she would be placing Rotary Club of Berwick stickers on all the books prior to delivery to the two organisations. There will be a photo op at the time of delivery.
We are trialling a new rostering system for meeting duties. If a member is listed for a meeting duty but does not attend the meeting, their name will appear in the roster the following week. With so many members away grey-nomading, we are left with about 15 - 20 members to share the 5 meeting jobs amongst.
Kerri Bolch, the Principal at Berwick College, was presented with a cheque for $8,000 by President Lea Paton, at the Club meeting on Wednesday.
In response, Kerri expressed her thanks and stated how much she valued the long-standing relationship between the Rotary Club and the College.
The donations received from the Club over the last few years have been saved and the College now has enough to enable a shelter to be built at an outside assembly area, near the wide stairway.
She was also excited to report that the proposed Health & Wellbeing Centre at the College was finally going ahead, after 8-years of negotiations.
One in four children in Victoria experience domestic violence or trauma and as a result, they have different learning needs. The Centre will provide counselling and much needed support for these children.
PDG Tim Moore delivered the following message from Jen Marshall.
"On the 22nd August at 2.41 am, we welcomed Georgie Elizabeth Marshall into the world.
Georgie was born at 29 weeks and 1 day, a few weeks earlier than we expected. Weighing 1.266 kg, she is a tiny little girl, but a very strong little girl and is doing really well.
She will be in the Monash Hospital for a few weeks until she has put on more weight. In this time I will balance finishing off work, visiting Georgie at the hospital and preparing for her to come home.
It has been a roller coaster of emotions over the past 8 weeks, but Steve and I are doing really well and are looking forward to bringing our Georgie home and introducing her to everyone."
Congratulations to Jen and Steve from all our Club members.
Our guest speaker, Amodha Ratnayeke, Online Applications Manager at Infoxchange, explained that it is a not-for-profit social enterprise that has delivered technology for social justice for over 25 years.
The organisation works with community, government and corporate partners to solve family violence, homelessness, mental health and issues facing people with disabilities, the elderly, Aboriginal, Maori and Pasifika communities.
Infoxchange believes that no-one should be left behind in today’s digital world, so it teaches disadvantaged communities how to function with technology and connects to over 360,000 services listed across Australia.
Three years ago, Infoxchange gained a grant from Google to develop a data tool that would provide insights into the supply and demand of services across Australia, such as housing, food, health and more. The idea was based on the fact that 85% of homeless people have access to mobile phones and most of these are smart phones.
The resulting 'Ask Izzy Open Data Platform' was introduced in October 2016, and is designed as a mobile-friendly, one-stop data shop for the community and social services sector. It connects people with housing, a meal, health and wellbeing services, support and counselling, and so much more.
Our guest, Kerri Bolch, Principal of Berwick College, drew the winning ticket, which belonged to Graeme Johnstone.
With the Jackpot sitting at $356.50, Graeme carefully drew a card from the deck only to find it was the 2 of Spades.
Make sure that you buy your ticket before the meeting next week, when there will be 48 cards and the Joker in the deck.
News Snippets
Berwick's 150th Anniversary Celebration
On Saturday 1st September, a team of enthusiastic Rotary Club volunteers led by PP Gus Dominguez, braved the cold and showery weather conditions to help celebrate Berwick's 150th anniversary at Pioneers Park.
Organised by the City of Casey, the celebrations included historical displays, displays by St Margaret and Berwick Grammar Schools, a bouncy castle, wood chopping, musical entertainment and of course, our own barbeque offering drinks and free sausages.
We also provided four large Art Screens for the historical photograph display.
Congratulations to all those Rotarians who assisted in making it a successful celebration for the Casey community.
Caulfield's Outback Travels
PP Mark and Isobel Caulfield continue their outback travels and are currently in Mullewa in Western Australia, where they admired the vast array of beautiful wild flowers. Here are some examples.
'Fighting for Our Farmers' Drought Relief Appeal
Channel Nine’s 'FIGHTING FOR OUR FARMERS Drought Relief Appeal ' has now raised a staggering $10,031,467 to support drought-stricken farmers, since the Appeal launched on August 2.
This impressive amount was raised in partnership with Rotary and the National Farmers Federation (NFF). The donations are being administered by RAWCS and are being distributed to farmers in need with the help of the NFF.
Donors should know that 100-percent of their donations are going to the farmers.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed.
District 9820 Membership Forum
DG Janne Speirs requests that you come to hear inspirational speakers and participate in workshops on how to make Rotary interesting, so as to attract new members and inspire existing members.
When: Saturday 13 October
Where: Nossal High School, Berwick
Time: 10:00am until 4:00pm
2019 Multi-District Conference
The conference will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 15-17 February 2019.
Early bird registration before 30 November will cost:
$175 per person, or
$125 per person for Rotarians < 2 years membership to encourage new members.
$110 per person for the conference dinner, which is optional.
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The organisation works with community, government and corporate partners to solve family violence, homelessness, mental health and issues facing people with disabilities, the elderly, Aboriginal, Maori and Pasifika communities. 
With the Jackpot sitting at $356.50, Graeme carefully drew a card from the deck only to find it was the 2 of Spades.
Channel Nine’s 'FIGHTING FOR OUR FARMERS Drought Relief Appeal ' has now raised a staggering $10,031,467 to support drought-stricken farmers, since the Appeal launched on August 2.
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