September is Basic Education and Literacy Month for Rotary.
This is one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus. We all know how critical reading and writing are for success in life – for gaining information, communicating, making agreements, and so forth.
Enhancing Basic Education skills and Literacy are essential in reducing poverty, improving health, encouraging community and economic development, and promoting peace. Improvements can reduce maternal death, improve childhood survivability, and reduce poverty. They can also enable success in business or a profession.
Projects undertaken by a Rotary Club can address low adult literacy, returning youth to school, enhancing student performance, or supplementing limited school resources.
Consider how your club is, or could showcase "THE MAGIC OF ROTARY by supporting basic education and literacy in your community or somewhere else in the world.
Our meetings are hybrid, with both online and in person attendance options.
6.30PM FOR 7PM START. Please contact our attendance chair on attendance@rotaryboronia.org.au to make a booking.
If you are unable to attend and/or wish to bring additional guests (including for special events or partners nights), please update your response by 5:00pm Monday.
Please note: we must provide Knox Club with final numbers and we are charged for meals even if you do not attend.
We had 2 guest members, Mark again and Aaron. Also, so many members all in RED! Thank you for supporting World Polio Day.
We had presentations from our RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) participants and our RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) participants as well. They were well supported by family and friends. How good were they? Awesome, I reckon, and talking to them all afterwards, they said that before the 2 courses they have done, they could never have stood up and given a talk to people they didn’t know let alone Rotarians! A true testament of the success of the 2 camps. They were very appreciative of the opportunity they have been given by our Rotary Club. We have “Made A Difference!”
This Monday I’ll be attending the Infolink AGM and 5th Birthday anniversary of the Breakfast Program. It’s hard to believe that the program has already been running for that long, from a small beginning (I remember Ken saying after the first few breakfasts, there were 6-8 people.) The breakfasts on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays now cater for up to 60-70 people! I take this opportunity to thank our Rotary Club members who consistently volunteer cooking, serving food, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cereal, fruit salad and fruit juice on the days breakfast is on. You are most welcome to just pop in on any of the days just to say g’day and have a chat. Following the AGM, there will be an opportunity for the local candidates in the upcoming state election to provide some insight into what they will do to assist, should they get elected.
I attended the announcement of the new Local Hero for Westfield Knox. The winner was Anthony Ying from Southern Cross Kids Camps Knox. He runs camps for kids affected by trauma and family violence. He makes a difference!
Great to hear the news about the Blue Tree project. Paul let us know that the first tree will be in Pickett Reserve and he will let us know when the tree will be ready to Paint. I mentioned it to Mayor Paige Kennett, and she said she is very good with a paintbrush and will be there to help!
We had the first session of the term at the Youth Skills Shed No 1. with 7 eager Junior Tradies (4 boys, 3 girls). We also had in attendance our regular volunteers 6 of them, one new Bernie, 4 Knox Woodworkers and then our guests from Ballarat East Rotary Club! Wow, total was 16 adults! They all had a ball and one of the girls raced off with her new toolbox and pencil case to show her friends at After School Care, but forgot her school bag!
Our RAK (Randon Act of Kindness) this week was presented by Peter D, our chairperson for the week. He told us about the kindness he gives to his neighbor when his neighbor goes away. He looks after things at his neighbor’s home. I’m sure his neighbor appreciates having Peter next door. A great Act of Kindness Peter D, thank you!
See ya Round!
A little reminder from the Bread Roll Department…
Each Monday afternoon, we give the Knox Club our final meal numbers, and that is exactly how many bread rolls they order.
So, if you have advised that you’re not having a meal, sadly there won’t be a bread roll with your name on it!
And if we don’t know you’re coming for a meal, we can’t guarantee there’ll be a roll waiting for you either.
Please make sure your meal arrangements are confirmed by Monday afternoon.
We are doing our best to make our meetings run smoothly. Thanks for your co-operation.
Moral of the story: if you want the roll, book the meal! 🍞😄
The Rotary girls were busy at work today getting everything ready for our trivia night on
7 November. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Get Ready for a Fun-Filled Trivia & Bingo Night!
gather your family, friends and fellow trivia enthusiasts for a fantastic night of fun, friendly competition and plenty of laughter!
The Rotary Club of Boronia’s Trivia & Bingo Night will be held on Saturday 7 November 2026 at St Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, 273 Dorset Road, Boronia. Doors open at 6.30pm, with the fun beginning at 7.00pm.
Test your knowledge in the trivia rounds, then try your luck at Bingo for the chance to win cash prizes, and earn valuable extra points for your table! There will also be raffles, games and loads of fabulous silent auction items up for grabs throughout the evening.
Tickets are $25 per person, with tables of up to 10. Bring along your own food and drinks, and settle in for a great night while helping raise funds for Rotary community projects.
Invite your friends and family, organise a table and book your tickets now at www.trybooking.com/DNZLI. Tickets can also be booked at Rotary meetings.
Don’t miss out, we look forward to seeing you there!
Last week’s meeting was a special event we had the pleasure of hearing from Thomas and Matthew who are both recent participants of the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) program along with Sebastian a Cooper who are recent participants of the RYPEN ( Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) program all who were sponsored by our club.
In a room that was packed with family, friends, teachers and Rotarians it really was great to hear what each participant got from the experience and how they use the experience moving forward
Great to hear the news about the Blue Tree project. Paul let us know that the first tree will be in Pickett Reserve and he will let us know when the tree will be ready to Paint.
Dear KCCS volunteers past, present and new,
It may only be October, but the mince pies are already appearing on supermarket shelves - which means preparations for the Knox Community Christmas Support (KCCS) Project 2026 are officially underway! 😊 Firstly, thank you to Knox Infolink for helping make KCCS 2025 such an incredible success. Together, we supported more than 900 local people experiencing social and economic hardship, distributing over 320 festive food hampers, 245 meat vouchers, 1,780 children’s toys, 256 gift vouchers, and more than one tonne of fresh and non-perishable food.
In 2026, we are once again bringing together businesses, schools, community groups and volunteers from across Knox to help local households share in the Christmas season - with festive food for the table and a gift for every child. This year, our goal is to secure enough support to reach 1,000 local people at Christmas.
Why aim to reach 1000 people this Christmas? Demand for support continues to grow across Knox. In FY26, Knox Infolink recorded its largest year-on-year increase in service delivery, reflecting the growing number of local individuals and families struggling to meet their basic needs. During FY26, Knox Infolink provided: • The equivalent of 92,690 meals - 10,000 more than in FY25. • 10,050 material aid interventions, more than double the amount provided in FY25. • Over 10,000 information and referrals, 2200 formal interviews, and 790 case management sessions, representing a combined 22% increase on FY25 across these supports. The need in our community is clear. Reaching 1,000 people through KCCS 2026 will depend on the collective support of local businesses and the broader Knox community. KCCS offers a practical and meaningful way for our community to respond. By taking part, Knox Infolink can help local households experiencing financial and social hardship enjoy festive food at the table and a gift for every child - bringing dignity, joy and a sense of normality at Christmas.
We would love to welcome youas a KCCS Volunteer in 2026.
How You Can Get Involved:
The project has several opportunities to be involved according to your strengths. We have a Hub open for 2 days where we pack the 350-400 food hampers. We also sort through donations of food and toys there.
Another opportunity is to sort through donations and help set up the Client Collection point (Saturday/Sunday). We will be receiving donations of food and toys every day through the week when clients come to collect their food hamper, again we will need these to be sorted.
Please click on the link below and select your availability. Feel free to choose more than one day if that suits you.
Boronia Rotary Club will be cooking a BBQ at Bunnings Bayswater
Have a great day, from Val and the Wellbeing team
Rotary Club of Ballarat East visited our opening session of the Boronia Youth Skills Shed yesterday. They are working on a plan to open their own Youth Shed in the near future.
Lots of information changed hands and by their comments they were very impressed with how Rotary Boronia are running our shed at Boronia Heights Primary School.
Rotary Youth Skills Shed session 1 for Term 4 - woodwork thanks to Knox and District Woodworkers
Coffee catch-upsare held on the 3rd Saturday of each month at Montano's Patisserie Café, 719 Mountain Hwy Bayswater (21st November, 2026)
Please register on ClubRunner or contact Geoff Griffin if you wish to attend.
Environment News
INVITATION FOR BANKING REVIEW
Bendigo Bank Boronia are very generous supporters of the Rotary Club of Boronia. Please consider supporting them in return.
Banking support, at Bendigo Bank Boronia branch, be it:
Day to day banking
Savings & Investments
Lending, including Home Loans, Personal Loans and Credit Cards
Our community (Group 4) leader is Guz Rozycki (Belgrave) and our fellow community clubs are
Belgrave - Ferntree Gully
Bunyip Garfield
Emerald & District
Healesville
Koo Wee Rup Lang Lang
Lilydale
Monbulk & District
Pakenham
Upper Yarra
Wandin
REMINDERS
If members are unable to attend Tuesday night's meeting, please decline on ClubRunner by 5pm the Monday before. This is important for Knox Club staff and catering purposes.
You can update or find information on this website or contact Monique Smith to register or update your details. *Please remember to list Rotary Club of Boronia as a place you volunteer.
Our social media platforms are a great way to see what our club is up to and share our progress with others. If you're not yet connected, just click the icons below and follow.
Knox Club - Wk 4: Fish of the day
