President Richard opened our meeting with Rotary Grace and welcomed all to the 14th meeting of the year. There were no visitors and no guest speaker so it was a Hillis day without Mark. A shout out to you Mark from all the club and get well soon.
GEARS AND BEERS
Phil McIntosh addressed the meeting to tell us that Beers and Gears will be almost certainly on in March next year. Very few of the registered riders have asked for a refund and registrations will be rolled over to March. Regular committee meetings will recommence from Wed. 6th.
MEMBER'S CHOICE
David Hodge gave us an update on his business Navigate Accountancy. Last year the business won the naming rights for the Wagga Gold Cup, unfortunately it was held during the Covid lockdown which took the shine off it a little. David's firm are going from strength to strength with four partners and 30 employees. The development of a program called Momentum Doc. by the Navigate team has provided the business with a point of difference. It is a data analytics program for small business and can operate on a computer screen. It is designed to help businesses get to the next level of development.
ROTARY INFORMATION
John Smith gave a detailed presentation on the Rotary Foundation a not for profit organisation started by Rotarian Arch Crump. Its motto is to give for the joy of doing good for others. From humble beginnings the Foundation now has $2 billion dollars in the bank. Since 1985 it has devoted most of its funds to defeating polio through the polio plus program. In recent years it has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to raise hundreds of millions of dollars toward eradicating polio from the world. It has been hugely successful and only Afghanistan and Pakistan have the polio virus.
The Rotary Foundation also has a humanitarian grants program, providing funds through Global Grants and District Grants. Our Club has had a successful global grant of $US35.000 for pig raising and fish farming in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as a number of District Grants including for Help Cambodia, Nangus House and others.
The Foundation provides educational programs, sponsors Group Study Exchanges and Rotary Peace Fellowships. Our Club donates $50 per member per year to the foundation via your club fees. Some members donate and extra $50 per year to become Centurions. Donations to The Rotary Foundation are tax deductible. $1000 dollar donations to The Foundation entitle the donor to a Paul Harris Fellowship. It is our tradition that this high honour is earned not bought and so Paul Harris Fellowships are determined by a committee each year. Our Club has given this honour to a number of non-rotarians in recognition of their contributions to our community.
SATURDAY MARKETS
James Hamilton informed members of a change to Rotary's Public liability policy. It is now necessary for Stall Holders at any of our markets to hold Public Liability Insurance and to be able to prove currency of a policy at each market they attend. If they cannot produce a certificate of currency they will not be able to trade.
ROTARY PROPERTY
Stuart Herriot announced that he is tidying up the North Wagga Shed and wants members to know that there is a stock of Wollundry shirts and pullovers. If members require such items please get in touch with Stuart.
APOLOGIES
Frank Fuller, Pat Ingram, John Ireland, John Mason, Robert Pearson, David Post, David Pyke
Thirty even Member attended our meeting and two attended via Zoom
LUCKY DRAW PRIZE
Peter Green was this week's winner of the bottle of wine.