Hello Daybreakers and welcome to Bulletin 6
This week we had our first meeting at our new venue The Lady Bay Resort. By all accounts our meeting ran quite smoothly and on time, the food was plentiful and delicious and the service was also pleasant and professional. Next week we will have a microphone which will improve the sound for members. Our Club welcomed back long time member Peter Cassady to our meetings and also Ann Barker from her trip to Nepal where she supported the Seven Women Project.
Guest speaker for the meeting this week was Prudence Raine who works on Environmental projects for the United Nations. Her talk was titled An Insight into International Programs. We had quite an environmental theme for the morning with Geoff imparting his knowledge on the demise of the planet; apparently we have used all of our resources allocated for a year, by our meeting date of July 31. This was a very sobering thought and prepared us for our guest speaker’s topic.
Chris also entertained us with some ‘endoscopic’ humour and also his weekend AFL rivalry with Glenn. Glenn escaped his barbs against Collingwood as he was absent from the meeting, choosing to enjoy the QLD sunshine with his wife Ree!
Next week our guest speaker will be Patricia Varley who will inform us on the Friends of the Warrnambool Botanical Gardens. This organization works hard to maintain and develop the gardens for the enjoyment of the community. They were recently successful in the State-wide Pick My Project grants to develop and build a children’s sensory garden within the Warrnambool Botanical Gardens.
Membership and New Club Development Month is the Rotary theme for the month of August. We have quickly settled into the new Rotary year and it is now time for each Director to work with their Committees in establishing and working towards our Rotary objectives. I envisage by the next Board meeting each Committee will have met and discussed their objectives for the year and I look forward to the submission of Directors reports for the next Board meeting, which is scheduled for Monday August 26. One of the key objectives for Rotary world-wide is retention and increased membership and although we do have a membership committee, it is up to all members to assist in growing our Club and to work with the Strategic Planning and Membership Committee that Mehul is leading.
Administration, led by Alison Dennis, has done a good job in organizing the calendar and rostering each member on to either present or to organize a guest speaker. Please remember that if you are organizing a speaker Daybreak will cover the cost of the speaker’s breakfast only, any accompanying guests will need to cover the cost of their own breakfast. If you are rostered on the calendar but need to swap a date with someone can you please inform both Alison and myself of the changes as we collate two calendars? A reminder that on August 28 we will not have our usual meeting at the Lady Bay but will instead join the Rotary Club of Warrnambool for their Father’s Day Breakfast which is a great community event. This means we do not require a speaker on this date. More details on this event will be circulated in the near future. It is a really enjoyable morning supporting community and the Rotary Club of Warrnambool and it is hoped that Daybreak will show good attendance, as it has done in previous years.
Rotary News – There are quite a lot of notices from various organizations and Clubs to report to members:
The Rotary Club of Portland Bay has changed it meeting venue and now meets at The Richmond Henty Blue Room on Bentick Street Portland with meetings commencing at 7am.
Following the District Assembly at Maryborough and due to a lack of eftpos facilities at the merchandise sales table, the Maryborough Club have been left with several Rotary jackets. These are reversible jackets and are now selling for $80. If you are interested in purchasing a jacket please contact thea@wastenot.com.au
RAWCS summary - A summary of The Southern District of RAWCS projects for the year has been circulated to Clubs. The Southern District of RAWCS covers all districts in Victoria and Tasmania and currently there are thirteen ongoing RABS projects in the Southern region. Figures for the year include:
Cost of travel $635,465
Estimated volunteer work value $1,900,520
Teams are active in eleven countries with a total of two hundred and eighteen volunteers
ShelterBox summary – ShelterBox Australia passed their fundraising target of $1.1 million for the 2018-19 financial year. Other news is the serious flooding to hit Paraguay with over 11,000 families displaced in the capital alone. In response ShelterBox is in Paraguay now working with local partners to assist 3,000 of the most vulnerable families. At next week’s meeting I will outline another crisis situation in Syria for which ShelterBox is seeking support.
News closer to home include seventeen ShelterBox supporters are about to accompany the CEO of ShelterBox Australia, Mike Greenslade, on the Larapinta Trek in the Northern Territory, having so far raised $46,000. Upcoming is a Kangaroo Island Trek organised by the Rotary Club of Glenelg which still has some vacancies and next year there is the epic Kokoda Trek which also has some vacancies. Dates are 22 April – 2 May 2020.
More information on the Kokoda Trek can be obtained by calling 1300 905 188
DonateLife Week falls from Sunday July 28 to Sunday August 4 – Held every year DonateLife Week highlights the benefits that organ and tissue donation has for transplant recipients and their families in Australia. Rotary clubs across Australia are supporting the DonateLife Week campaign by encouraging families to register and discuss their organ and tissue donation to help save more lives. For more information and to register your donation visit www.donatelife.gov.au
Zone 8 Rotary Conference is being held in Christchurch September 20-22. The theme is Regeneration – symbolising the Regeneration of Rotary and the regeneration of Christchurch after the recent events to impact the city. For details and to register visit www.rotaryoceania.zone/page/rotaryzone8conference
Correspondence from the Chair of Preserve Planet Earth Committee highlighting the date of Earth Day April 22, 2020. This is a world-wide project the PPE Committee has been running for three years. The Earth Day Network celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2020. Rotary International has adopted Earth Day as an ongoing project. Daybreak’s weekly meeting will fall on Earth Day in 2020 so I’m asking all members to put their thinking caps on as to how we can celebrate the event! For more information on Earth Day visit https://www.earthday.org/earthday/countdown-to-2020/
Members News
Visit to the Warriors NGV – Geoff is getting close to locking in a day, understandably it is hard to accommodate everyone. We plan on taking the early morning train, experiencing some culture, eating some fine food, drinking some fine wine and returning by 9am the same evening. See Geoff if you would like to attend.
Wine Tour – This event is starting to take shape with early October (after the AFL Grand Final) the likely date. The costing of a minibus is approximately $20 per head. More on this to follow as an itinerary evolves.
Geoff is also compiling a roster for the Volunteer expo and will be circulating at upcoming meetings, as will Andrew for Meals on Wheels and Glen for the Care Program.
Rostered Members
Monday August 5 - Soup Kitchen – Jenny Turner, Jan Read, Geoff Grec. Andrew Suggett, Leni Brockmuller
As I finish this newsletter I receive a message that Daybreaker Ian Watson has returned from PNG where he was working on a Water project throughout the month of July. Welcome home Ian and by the look of the photo that came through, you’ve had fun working with your new camera! We look forward to seeing how you documented the project and hearing of the wonderful work and progress that the team accomplished in PNG.
Remembering our Rotary them for 2019-20 Rotary Connects the World, I will finish with a quote that to me speaks of such connection:
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream, together it is reality”.
- John Lennon
Stay connected and have a great week.
Liza