SEPTEMBER MESSAGE from DISTRICT GOVERNOR Dr Daryl Moran
RIGHT NOW, OUR COMMUNITIES NEED ROTARY! THAT’S US!!
MY message this month is much briefer than previously and as some-one once called me a ‘A Man of Few Words’ (?) I intend to stick to that statement.
ALL of us are hurting at the moment, as our Snap Lockdown continues on much longer than any of us thought it would and we can’t do the usual things we want to do. As Jenny and I travel around our District completing our DG Club Visits, (#27 so far) we can see how much we are all missing our usual face to face meetings, activities, contacts and normal day to day lives.
BUT we must remember that one of the main reasons we exist as an organisation and that we have our clubs, is that we are Community Service people. Right now, we can feel sorry for ourselves and lament our situation. But right now, there are people in our own communities who are doing it very hard indeed.
OUR job right now is to ensure that we don’t retreat into our Rotary Club Castles and hide to try and ride this pandemic out. Our clubs, our members and our communities need us! If we are to continue to serve our communities and ‘Do Good in The World,’ we MUST ensure that our clubs are meeting, operating and doing what they can to help others given the circumstances of ongoing lockdown.
TO HELP with this club situation, last Friday I recorded a FIVE-MINUTES with the DG video message to you and forwarded it to all Club Presidents, AG’s and the District Support Team members. I have tried to encourage us all in our Rotary work and have provided Four Hints for Rotary Clubs in Lockdown and have also included them in printed form below. Feedback and other ideas always welcome.
TO VIEW the FIVE-MINUTES with the DG please use one of the following links.
ABOVE all as leaders in our communities, we need to demonstrate Optimism and Hope for a future that although changed forever, still holds the promise of all the joys that life can hold.
LET’S continue to work together to support each other, our families and our communities in these difficult times. Thank you for all you are doing and will do in the coming months. We can come through this and at the same time ensure that our motto of being able to ‘Serve To Change Lives’ rings true.
An exciting development this month has been meeting with the COO of Days for Girls Australia, Mary Connelly-Gale and two Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Lautoka. Milika and Melissa are the organisers of a Days for Girls Chapter that has commenced operation in Lautoka. Our discussions were very fruitful and generated lots of ideas as to how my DG Partner Project will be able to assist the growth of this Chapter, and further Chapters, in Fiji.
Thank you to all the Clubs who have contributed. The donations are very much appreciated and will be very useful in furthering the empowerment of girls in the Pacific region.
For the first time since 2018, D9810 will be holding its own District Conference on 25th and 26th of March 2022. Friday 25th will be held online whilst Saturday 26th will be staged at in-person at the Caulfield Racecourse. Club Presidents will have a sneak preview of the program and arrangements at the monthly meeting with the DG on Friday 24th September and Registrations will open on 1st October. Find out more details in the short clip below, especially the theme for the Gala Dinner!
This D9810 Fundraising Appeal has ended and has accumulated $101,722.50
What a tremendous response we received for our Dandenong Ranges Storm Recovery Fund! My thanks re directed towards all of our Clubs, Donors, Supporters and District Support Team members who worked to achieve this splendid result. The pie chart below shows sources of donations from across Victoria, Tasmania and NSW. But it should also be noted that some of our District clubs also contributed in various other ways. Clubs such as Manningham, Box Hill Burwood and Wandin contributed directly to needy communities and to their fellow Rotary Clubs in the Hills. Special mention should go to Emerald and District who contributed a mighty effort in their local area. Hands on assistance was provided by club members to the CFA, Kalorama Relief Centre, and donations were directed towards providing clothing, firewood, donations of vouchers for grocery and fuel, Bunning’s vouchers and equipment to locals in need. Monbulk Rotary Club has also been on the job providing much needed ‘hands on assistance’ in the badly affected local area and also found time and cash to donate to our Storm Recovery Fund. Thank you to all our Rotary clubs and their members, families and supporters for a mighty, mighty effort of community support. Elsewhere in this ‘Change Maker’ are details about the next stages to be taken in our Storm Recovery Project. In time, we shall be calling for ‘all hands on deck’ from the rest of the clubs in the District to help in many other practical ways.
What fantastic energy, excitement and passion was shown by all the members of our District 9810 Rotaract Clubs at their Changeover in mid-August! Sadly, we farewelled the Yarra Ranges club after ten years of great service to our communities. ‘Small But Mighty’ is how they will be remembered along with numerous tears. It was wonderful to note how many former members of Interact are current Rotaractors and they are to be congratulated on their ongoing involvement and commitment. Many thanks are directed to DRR Clare Caulfield and Rotary District Rotaract Chair Michael Ellinger for their outstanding efforts in steering Rotaract through these ‘interesting times.’ With the launch of Knox Rotaract during lockdown last year, it has been terrific to note the great ranges of activity and community service that has been carried out by our Rotaractors during the past 12 months. With 50/50 gender equity across the world and nearly 11,000 clubs worldwide with a membership of over 200,000, Rotaract is a vital part of the Rotary organisation.
Rotary Club ofMaroondah undertook their annual Rice Meal online on 15th August. Highlights were the rice cooking demonstration and the on-line auction of donated goods.
More information about how to use this great on-line facility can be obtained from PE Wendy Scott at RC Maroondah.
Connecting Manningham is a new community initiative by local residents of Manningham, focused on the needs of our fellow residents and community. This initiative is being sponsored by the Rotary Club of Templestowe and Rotaract Manningham.
Our mission is to bring our community together by:
spreading kindness and social inclusion in our community
connecting residents with local businesses and other services
enriching our community life through purposeful activities
On this website, you will soon find various online resources to find out how to seek support, connect with others in the community, and ways that you can make a difference.
Young people are struggling with lockdowns, as we all are but Rotary Clubs have an opportunity to support and upskill our future leaders….
How?
A RYLA event is being organized and run as a joint program between District 9810 and 9820 at Rawson Village, 17th – 22nd January 2022. RYLA or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive 6 day leadership experience organized by Rotary districts and sponsored by Rotary clubs to build skills and develop young leaders of tomorrow while having fun and making meaningful connections.
What are the benefits?
Participants aged 18 – 30 can connect with leaders in our community and learn valuable skills through this program by
Building communication and problem-solving strategies
Discover strategies for becoming dynamic leaders in the community
Learn from community leaders, inspirational speakers, and peer mentors
Unlock their potential to turn motivation into action
Have fun and form lasting friendships as well as connections
Emphasize professional development and connect participants with opportunities to serve the community through Rotary and Rotaract
What’s involved?
Your club can become involved by sponsoring a participant and or program leader. Sponsoring a participant will give your club a simple way to focus on developing young leaders, create sustainable change, and aid in the creation of service-minded global citizens.
What does is cost?
Applications made for the program prior to 31st October will be invoiced an early bird sponsorship fee of $949 for participants and $650 for leaders after that date fees will be $1049 and $750 respectively. Applications are currently open online and can be accessed through the District website, a QR code or via the link https://bit.ly/3si6ddC
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself.
When you are a leader, success is all about growing others.
It would be an understatement to say the 2020-21 year was a challenge. We were confronted with circumstances which had brought the world to its knees, caused untold physical and economic hardships and much suffering, pain and even death to many of our members.
And, yet we refused to be overwhelmed. Even if we could not meet physically, we strove to be imaginative and resourceful, never losing sight of our obligation to serve our communities and support the causes most dear to us.
Our inventiveness and hard work paid off and I am delighted to tell you that we set a new fundraising record for The Rotary Foundation, raising over $440.7 million (unaudited) in 2020-21 – surpassing our $410 million comprehensive goal, beyond expectations!
We can now participate in more grants and provide the resources to achieve a polio-free world and increase our impact like never before. You are among the first to receive this news. Detailed reports by specific region and fund will be available soon and audited results will be available in a few months, including a special thank you video to be emailed to all 2020-21 donors later this month.
I am so impressed and thankful that during a time of great personal tragedy and uncertainty, Rotarians gave so generously to our Foundation encouraged by the strong support of leaders like you. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all you for your incredible support of our Foundation.
Yours in Rotary,
K.R. Ravindran
Chair, The Rotary Foundation 2020-21
THE NEW ROTARY FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING SITE on MyRotary
Check out the new Raise for Rotary page on the MyRotary website at this address.
It provides a modern and efficient way of raising funds for The Rotary Foundation and supporting our Seven Areas of Focus. Just released to Australia a week ago, it has already been put to use by some innovative Rotarians in our District, notably current Club President Murray Wilson of Rowville-Lysterfield. Check out his Fundraiser for Maternal and Child Health on Facebook at https://raise.rotary.org/Murray-Wilson/fundraiser?fbclid=IwAR0OMGq_ra9zwaARiYyT3vg50ZamqZTGlzhsa5d7wpR57nmAN-PNepL7zSQ
Dear AGs, Club Presidents, Foundation Chairs. Membership Chairs, Youth Chairs and those involved in District Youth and Foundation Programs/Opportunities. You and interested members are invited to a District Zoom Seminar on 6 September 2021 at 7pm on the topic:
‘How to Connect and Engage with Rotary Alumni’
This presentation will also cover the benefits of engaging with Rotary Alumni – aka the District’s goldmine. You may join the Zoom Meeting at 7pm on 6 September 2021 via:
The Healesville Rotary Bulletin Meeting held 26/08/2021
This meeting was held only a few hours after we had viewed online, the funeral of our beloved friend, Stu McDonald. President Michael Hardinge opened the meeting, relating that despite it being an online funeral, it was a truly amazing funeral service. Fittingly, Rotarian Ian Riseley OAM, President of Rotary International 2017- 2018 was the celebrant. Michael thanked Terry Hill for attending and participating at the funeral on behalf of Healesville Rotary. He welcomed David Brown who had been a Healesville Rotarian, and was one of the 10 participating mourners, in compliance with Covid restrictions. Michael had received over 200 emails from Rotary connections, expressing condolences to the Club, many from overseas, some of whom had been Rotary Exchange Students whose experiences had been facilitated and enabled by Stu. Comments informally expressed by zoom attendees at the weekly meeting reflected the life of the man we all knew as Stu. Stu’s life story reflected his generosity and energy which benefitted not only Rotary activities, but the Healesville Community itself, whether caring about individuals at their time of need, or fighting for facilities to meet the needs of our town. There was a sense amongst us that although the funeral in its own sorrow was our final goodbye to Stu, the service was uplifting of the spirit, and in the spirit that did Stu proud. Terry Hill noted that this was the first online ‘Covid’ funeral he had attended. Before the service, he had a sense of daunting foreboding with only 10 mourners able to attend. The reality however did not seem sombre, was casual, and friendly and most of all very respectful, and underlined the total inspiration and achievement of the man, the man who was Stu, our friend. We thank Terry or the thoughtful and fitting words that he spoke as a tribute to Stu at the service on behalf of all of us. Terry reflected at the meeting of the realisation that we should keep contact with ‘old Rotarian,” and suggested that we need to re-engage with those ‘retired Rotarians,’ ‘ -Rotary after Rotary.” David Brown had also received many emails of condolence from overseas including from past exchange students. We were all very impressed with Karen Brown’s suggestion and creativeness that led to the ‘horse race’ commentary presented by David. Stu loved horse racing. In the form of a radio broadcast, we heard the call of Stu’s last race. This imaginary horse race was held at “The Lilydale Memorial Park Racetrack”, scheduled as the “Stuart McDonald Weight for Age.” The broadcast commentator, David Brown gave an exciting account of the race describing Stu’s life. Stu’s achievements were the names of the horses running. In a very close field, the excitement grew at the finishing line as “Youth Exchange,” “Rotary International” and “Stu Mac” raced towards the finishing post in a very close photo finish, resulting in “Youth Exchange” and “Rotary International” finishing in a dead heat, and “Stu Mac” finishing in 3rd place, beaten by half a nose. A brilliant tribute David. At the meeting, David expressed the sentiment that Stu was “such a little man with such a big heart,” and hoped that when Covid restrictions allowed, we would be able to get together and celebrate Stu’s life in person. When a person close to us passes, we often reflect on our social interactions values and what we need to do, because life is very short and a person’s passing is final. Insights of the importance of social interactions flow. Ideas were put forward which in summary reflect our need as a club to keep the camaraderie strong and increase opportunities of socialising. The suggestion was proposed that 1⁄4 of our meetings should social, and include partners, once Covid restrictions are lifted. We will all miss Stu. His legacy of dependability and humanity should inspire us to strengthen our bonds both with each other as Rotarians and the community that we serve. Stu was an inspiration and a friend. He now rests in peace, following a life well lived, an inspiration for us to follow, and with the memory of his many achievements, now a silent mentor. May our dear friend rest in peace, Stu’s earthly tasks done, and done well, with so many people’s lives enhanced and inspired.
Help Whitehorse Rotaract reach our STEPtember fundraising goal
This year, Whitehorse Rotaract is stepping up as a team to support people living with cerebral palsy. Alice, Daniel, Sean, and Jasmine will each be taking 10,000 steps a day for 30 days and we look forward to the challenge!
We'd really appreciate your support, which is why we're reaching out to see if you’d like to donate and help us reach our STEPtember fundraising goal. You can find the link here:
The Rotary Club of Forest Hill found a ‘fruitful’ project when they took over the operation of a peach orchard at the home of Roger Davis, the son of club member and PDG Ford Davis (D280 – 1973-4). The orchard consisted of some 400 trees which required pruning, fertilizing, spraying, weeding and then picking before marketing. The Orchard Committee of the RC Forest Hill also planted tomatoes and pumpkins between the rows of fruit trees to supplement the peach sales. Total returns from the orchard during the period 1987 – 94 exceeded $130,000 and proceeds were directed to The Rotary Foundation, as well as many local causes. The club received the D9810 Community Service Award in 1898-90.
On three occasions in 1993 a steam locomotive complete with carriages ran the return journey from Flinders Street Station. Organised by the Rotary Club of Sandringham the days created a tremendous atmosphere with the station being decked out with posters, streamers, balloons, people wearing period costumes and stall holders opening their doors to cater for the crowds. Old time horse and buggy rides were very popular and added to the atmosphere taking families to the beach, then up the hill, around the block and back to the station. The Rotary Market turned on some great bargains with both sides of the Sandringham Station being filled with market stalls. The publicity generated was beyond expectations with photographs and articles appearing in both the Herald Sun and The Age. All profits raised were donated to the Hampton Rehabilitation Hospital.
Just a reminder that in 2021/22 the District Governors Newsletter will now again be a monthly edition.So please send me your photos and articles to highlights9810@gmail.com prior to the next edition which will be sent out on the 4th October.
If you would like to see any Newsletters from the current or previous years click here.
Also Please remember that "Highlights" will be sent out on the third Monday of every month with the next edition being on the 20th September. Please send me any events & functions that you have planned in 2021/2022.
In the meantime you can view all the current events here
members who worked to achieve this splendid result. The pie chart below shows sources of donations from across Victoria, Tasmania and NSW. But it should also be noted that some of our District clubs also contributed in various other ways. Clubs such as Manningham, Box Hill Burwood and Wandin contributed directly to needy communities and to their fellow Rotary Clubs in the Hills. Special mention should go to Emerald and District who contributed a mighty effort in their local area. Hands on assistance was provided by club members to the CFA, Kalorama Relief Centre, and donations were directed towards providing clothing, firewood, donations of vouchers for grocery and fuel, Bunning’s vouchers and equipment to locals in need. Monbulk Rotary Club has also been on the job providing much needed ‘hands on assistance’ in the badly affected local area and also found time and cash to donate to our Storm Recovery Fund. Thank you to all our Rotary clubs and their members, families and supporters for a mighty, mighty effort of community support. Elsewhere in this ‘Change Maker’ are details about the next stages to be taken in our Storm Recovery Project. In time, we shall be calling for ‘all hands on deck’ from the rest of the clubs in the District to help in many other practical ways.
