Past District Govenor Paul Newnham passed away on July 16, 2015. Paul was District 9820 Governor 1997-98 and an active member of the Bairnsdale Rotary Club and the local community. He served as a councillor on the Shire of Bairnsdale and a number of terms as Shire President. He received the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the community. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cynthia and family.
I would like to offer a massive thanks to all those Clubs and individuals who contributed to my project for Operation Cleft during Charlie’s year as District Governor. The incredible sum of $15,128.05 has been raised and that will make a huge difference to the lives of children – and their families – in Bangladesh. If anyone would still like to contribute please contact Janne Speirs on jannespeirs@gmail.com.
New Special Observance Months
The new special observance months highlighting the Areas of Focus.
August: Membership & Extension
September: Basic Education and Literacy
October: Economic and Community Development
November: The Rotary Foundation
December: Disease Prevention and Treatment
January: Vocational Service
February: Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution
March: Water and Sanitation
April: Maternal and Child Health
May: Youth Service
June: Rotary Fellowships
Club Newsletter Editors
Let us know what your club is doing. Email a copy of your club's newsletter to District Governor Merv Williams - mervcris@bigpond.com, District Governor Elect Lynne Westland - lynnewestland@gmail.com and District Governor Nominee Don Ripper - ripper@netspace.net.au
Friday, 24th July 2015 marked a significant day in Rotary's campaign to rid the world of polio. It is one year since the last case of polio was reported in Nigeria. Often the final steps are the hardest but Rotarians around the world are determined to see this through.
The answer is obviously yes. In looking at the somewhat static membership of RI over the past 10-15 years it is a question worth asking. Although over 1 million new members have joined Rotary over that period the total membership of RI has remained around the 1.2 million mark. On that basis 1 million have left, the vast majority through choice, so why is that?
The Rotary Club of Frankston in the mid-eighties had 85 active members. Since that time our membership numbers have declined and our members had aged so at the beginning of the 2014/2015 our membership had reduced down to 39 and effective club management was becoming difficult. Our President, John Wright, promoted the action of membership growth as our most significant project for the year. He formed a project group of 5 of our best members to undertake the task of adding 10 new members to the club by December 2015, an ambitious task!
Over 1100 Rotary Clubs across Australia are urging families to ‘have the chat’ about organ and tissue donation with their loved ones and register their donation decisions during DonateLife Week. Rotary’s participation in DonateLife Week 2015 was prompted by the story of Jack Wilson, the grandson of one of the 21 Rotary District Governors in Australia.
With Roger Thornton (District 9820 DIK Co-ordinator ) and members from Rotary Clubs of Pakenham, Koo Wee Rup / Lang Lang and Berwick they packed a van with student chairs & desks and some computer tables from Mary Mackillop Primary School, Narre Warren North. Once unloaded at the DIK warehouse in Footscray the equipment will now be placed into a container and shipped off to Papua New Guinea for a Rotary Club of Castlemaine project.
ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children) is proud to announce Mrs Margie Abbott has accepted the position of Patron for our Rotary Australia & New Zealand wide life-giving charity. Margie Abbott, wife of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, is well known for her caring approach to children.
ROMAC Patron MRs Margie Abbott with baby Fitzpatrick Unga and mum Freda at Canberra Hospital.
Younger Rotarians are encouraged to have their say about the future of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand at the upcoming ‘Youth Summit’ in Canberra in September. The Youth Summit will run as part of the National Membership Success Conference to be held in Canberra on 5 and 6 September 2015. Younger Rotarians are invited to contribute their ideas about the future shape of Rotary, and to provide advice and guidance about strategies to make Rotary more attractive to younger people.
When we hear of deaths from snakes, sharks and crocodiles – we are reminded that we need to be careful when travelling and swimming in Australia. However by far the deadliest animal in the world is the tiny mosquito. Malaria is a killer!
More than 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation facilities. At least 3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water. Our projects give communities the ability to develop and maintain sustainable water and sanitation systems and support studies related to water and sanitation.
To increase Rotary awareness throughout the District, I am throwing out to you “The Facebook challenge”.
The challenge is to get a photograph of you or your club doing something interesting, out of the ordinary, worthy of note or humorous so that we can show others what we do best – serving others, making a difference in our communities and having fun.
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