We are still working through the challenges this virus is giving us and we are almost there. Clubs are beginning to plan for the next phase, whatever that may look like. When looking forward and planning please be mindful of the following:
It is imperative that you observe the government’s rules that apply.
Members may still feel uncomfortable meeting face to face. Respect these feelings and find ways to ensure they are included. Continuing to use technology is one option.
Ensure you follow conditions of entry to venues.
Remember to use good hygiene practices at all times.
We will adapt to the “new normal” as we continue to be People of Action.
Club Visits
These are happening, I am really pleased to see and hear the great things you are doing for your communities. I have noticed that clubs all have their own ways of engaging on Zoom. This is fantastic and whilst we all appear as a square on the screen, each club has developed its own online personality which is awesome. We have really enjoyed joining each club as we engage during our visits. On our District website there is a link to a list of 45 Australian clubs who are meeting online. Why not have a look and visit another club? It’s interesting and you can learn and enjoy fellowship across the World. You can add your meeting to this list and you might have a visitor.
I still have many clubs to formally visit. If you wish to invite Linda and I to your online meeting, please let me know and we can arrange a date. For those clubs looking forward to a face to face visit, consider arranging a tentative date. We all know time will be precious once clubs can engage with their community again.
Once we are free to meet and clubs are out there doing things, please allow us to roll up our sleeves and join you and be a part of a project or activity. Put us to work.
Lakes Entrance
Linda and I were thrilled to be part of a wonderful celebration and our first club face-to face night the other week. It was great to see people socially distancing and mingling, the buzz of people talking, the clattering of knives and forks on crockery and the chink of glasses. The evening was mild and we kicked off with drinks outside in the winery gardens followed by dinner with guests seated. The staff ensured that the members were accommodated within the COVID 19 guidelines.
It was a pleasure to present Rotarian Mike Anketell with a 50 years of service certificate and a personal letter from International President Holger. Many Rotarians spoke about Mike’s fifty-year commitment to Rotary including PDG Noel Wheeldon. Mike was supported by his wife and many of his grandchildren. Adding to the celebrations I had the pleasure of inducting Carolyn and Ken Aston as new members into the Rotary family.
It was a fantastic night, lots of laughing, good chatter, great food. I look forward to more events when we can meet like this again.
Foundation Month
November is Rotary Foundation Month
Did you know that Rotary Foundation recently added the Environment as the 7th area of focus?
Environment joins peace building and conflict prevention, disease prevention and treatment, water, sanitation and hygiene, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy and community economic development. All of these service activities are supported by global grants.
District 9820 has an Environment chair, Robin Stewart, Rotary Club of Frankston. He can be contacted at enviroment@rotary9820.org.au.
Have you read what Charity Navigator says about our Foundation? < Click here >
Charity Navigator is an organisation that evaluates charities around the globe. They evaluate how organisations are managed, how transparent they are, how donations are managed how much impact the charity generates.
The Rotary Foundation consistently rates 4 out of 4 stars.
Here is a statement from the navigator site:
LEADER STATUS
This organization has earned Global Giving Leader Status by demonstrating active engagement and/or effectiveness over the past year.
Mark Anderson, International Fund Development, Rotary Parramatta, recently wrote "Nothing ever comes cheap and everything The Foundation does costs money. When the money runs out so does our ability to make a difference. Clubs can take the bull by the horns and agreed to pay their TRF commitment now rather than wait until the traditional ‘rush’ period of June. We will get our money working sooner rather than later and that will help enormously. If all clubs in Australia could do this then The Foundation would be in a much stronger position".
Why should you donate to the Rotary Foundation?
When you give to The Rotary Foundation, you are directly supporting Rotary's work. Your gift makes our service projects — projects that eradicate polio, promote peace, and develop communities — happen.
The Rotary Foundation is your own charity and I’m asking you to be part of it.
Polio
World Polio day events in Victoria have taken on a different perspective this year as many of us are finding it difficult to raise funds for our core projects. How are you raising funds? Some activities include auction nights, progressive dinners, talent shows plus more. Since times are tough and we (Rotary) did make a promise to eradicate Polio, have you considered making a personal donation this year to the End Polio Now campaign? Just because we are closed that does not mean that the Polio fight is on hold.
Unfortunately, due to the corona virus pandemic, there have been an increase in Polio cases. To date there are 79 in Pakistan and 53 in Afghanistan.
Have you read the story about Dr Farima in Afghanistan and her struggles fighting gender barriers and her work for WHO? Read her story here:
I ask everyone to make a personal donation the Polio fund. As we are unable to attend the movie night like we normally do, why not donate that money directly to the fund?
World Polio Day 2020 Global update. Every year on 24 October, World Polio Day presents a global opportunity to rally around the fight to eradicate the disease forever. This year's theme is “A win against polio is a win for global health.”
Celebrating 100 years of Rotary in Australia. Many of the plans of the R100 committee are still in place but not able to move forward but things are still slowly moving along and clubs around Australia are planning and doing many activities. What’s your R100 project? I have been excited by several projects that are happening around our District. Don’t forget, ask to borrow the District baton for a project or activity, this is a great way of involving the community in your projects.
Rotary’s got Talent
Your chance to shine, A fun night with a mystery judge. What hidden talent do you have? Can you spin plates on your nose? Does your left leg play jingle bells? Well here is your chance to show the District what you can do. An individual show or a group show (with appropriate corona virus conditions), what can you do?
All acts will be time limited to 3 minutes with 10 acts for the night. Get in early and show us your hidden talent. I know we will be swamped with acts, so we may just have to have a second show. Sunday 8th November. See District website and Facebook for entry forms and details.
Newsletter articles
What is your club doing? Why is your club the best club in District 9820? Send an article and some pictures in to newsletter@rotary9820.org.au and tell us why your club is so awesome! We are doing great things, our District newsletter is distributed to about 2500 people, across Australia, in fact across the world! Why not tell everyone how good you are?
It only needs to be a few words and some great action photos, I want to show off our District, what better way than showing off what our clubs are doing.
Right at the beginning I said I did not want to make the newsletter about what the Governor is doing or has done, rather it is about you, it is about showing our communities that Rotary is there, Rotary cares and Rotary changes People Lives.
Rotarians are People of Action
Everyone - let’s start planning for the next phase, things are looking brighter, we will start to get back to doing what we do best, helping people. Remember obeying the rules that apply and ensure everyone is safe and comfortable. Let us move forward being positive and careful.
Remember, we have been here doing good in Australia for 100 years, we will be here for the next 100 years.
Bush fire relief
Knock Knock November issue 2020
November is Rotary Foundation Month
Clubs and Districts call attention to the programs of The Rotary Foundation and frequently cultivate additional financial support for the Foundation by promoting contributions for Paul Harris Fellows and Sustaining Members.
Rotary started with the vision of one man — Paul P. Harris.
Paul Harris at age 3, around the time he moved to his grandparents’ home.
Harris was born on 19 April 1868 in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. At age 3, he moved to Wallingford, Vermont, where he grew up in the care of his paternal grandparents. He attended the University of Vermont and Princeton University and received his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1891.
In 1896, Harris settled in Chicago and opened a law practice. Four years later, he met fellow attorney Bob Frank for dinner on Chicago’s North Side. They walked around the area, stopping at shops along the way. Harris was impressed that Frank was friendly with many of the shopkeepers. He had not seen this kind of camaraderie among businessmen since moving to Chicago and wondered if there was a way to channel it, because it reminded him of growing up in Wallingford.
“The thought persisted that I was experiencing only what had happened to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others in the great city. ... I was sure that there must be many other young men who had come from farms and small villages to establish themselves in Chicago. ... Why not bring them together? If others were longing for fellowship as I was, something would come of it.”
Jean and Paul Harris board a ship after visiting Rotary members in Bermuda, 1925.
Harris eventually persuaded several business associates to discuss the idea of forming an organization for local professionals. On 23 February 1905, Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in downtown Chicago for what would become known as the first Rotary club meeting.
In February 1907, Harris was elected the third president of the Rotary Club of Chicago. Toward the end of his presidency, he worked to expand Rotary beyond the city. Some club members resisted, not wanting to take on the additional financial burden. But Harris persisted, and by 1910, Rotary had expanded to several other major U.S. cities.
Harris recognized the need to form a national association with an executive board of directors. In August 1910, Rotarians held their first national convention in Chicago, where the 16 existing clubs unified as the National Association of Rotary Clubs (now Rotary International). The new association unanimously elected Harris as its president.
At the end of his second term as Rotary president, Harris resigned, citing ill health and the demands of his professional practice and personal life. He was elected president emeritus by convention action, a title he held until his death.
In the mid-1920s, Harris became actively involved in Rotary again, serving as the public face of the organization. To promote membership and service, he attended conventions and visited clubs throughout the world, often accompanied by his wife, Jean.
Harris died on 27 January 1947 in Chicago at age 78, after a prolonged illness. Before his death, he made it known that he preferred contributions to The Rotary Foundation in lieu of flowers. By coincidence, days before he died, Rotary leaders had committed to a major fundraising effort for the Foundation.
Upon news of his death, Rotary created the Paul Harris Memorial Fund as a way to solicit these donations. Rotarians were encouraged to commemorate the late founder of Rotary by contributing to the fund, which would be used for purposes dear to Harris’ heart. In the 18 months following his death, The Rotary Foundation received $1.3 million, which helped support the Foundation’s first program — scholarships for graduate study abroad.
On Monday October 12th I headed to East Gippsland for delivery of the first load of silage (wrapped hay) coming with compliments of the Global Grants we’ve obtained for the East Gippsland fire zone!
Heading out of Buchan into an area I’d never (ever!!!) visited previously I found myself in a gorgeous series of European like saucer shaped valleys surrounded by treed hills. An increasingly windy road took me along the edge of the hills and over ridges until I reached the meeting point and was greeted by probably the biggest load of bales I’ve ever seen!
68 x 4ft round bales of lucerne silage were soon being unloaded so that farmers from more remote areas could come down and pick up their quota, returning then to their farms with this short term but still valuable fodder assistance.
This was only the first of the 25 or so truckloads the Global Grants will disperse throughout East Gippsland but what really made me think as I returned to Buchan and then home was the impact on the stock and also the current state of the area.
Lets’ do some maths on the seemingly huge number of bales that were delivered – 1 bale at approximately 600kg will feed about 4-6 cows for one day presuming the cow is getting no other supplementary feed! (obviously there would be more sheep fed per bale!) That means the enormous truckload would feed about 240 cows for one day!! Why am I saying this? Does this devalue what we are doing? NO – if anything it makes our contribution even more valuable because it 1) shows the local farmers that we still care about their situation and the state of their stock - whether through drought / fire / both and 2) it means that for every bale of hay we are able to provide, there is one less that farmers have to source from elsewhere, with funds they might still be fighting to gather together!
The other thing that hit me as I drove and also spoke with one farmer by phone was the general condition of the area I was in! You’ll see in the photos that it looks green, lush and inviting (but consider the front row seats experienced by those who stayed to fight during the fires as they watched the conflagration around them – the severity of which you can still see now in the blackened skeletons of trees on the hills eleven months on!) but as I drove through it was as though someone had painted most of the paddocks green but there was little or no substance. I have seriously seen manicured lawns in cities with a greater height than in many of the paddocks I saw on Monday.
Please don’t think for a minute that we are not still needed in East Gippsland – yes there has been rain, and in some cases it’s been good and soaking but it will still take time before paddocks will be ready for full stock numbers again and we must also remember that not everywhere has been similarly fortunate – areas like Ensay and Swifts Creek are still very dry.
D9820 through its ongoing drought and fire recovery efforts is continuing to assist those in East Gippsland who continue to do it tough as a result of these events – to say nothing of the complications that Covid has created!!!
Our wonderful East Gippsland Rotarians have picked up the cudgel on our behalf and in my role as Emergency Management Chair I can never thank them sufficiently as they continue to support their Community as Rotarians do – with compassion, care and quiet dignity for as long as it takes!!
Have you missed some of our recent webinars? Or are you looking for a new guest speaker? Have a look at our YouTube channel for some recent videos, including:
Source: Wayne Jenkins Coordinator Rotary Overseas Recycled Playgrounds (RORP).
Well there are now two RORP Harvesting Teams in D9820.
RORP Dandenong & EH
RORP Peninsula
following the successful Harvesting of Memorial Drive, Noble Park this morning....
Despite a few stubborn bolts on the floor panels, and the Contractor not having a machine....all went well. (Actually the Contractors Team was Missing in Action).
However the contractor will lift out the verticals this week, clear the concrete blobs, and deliver the components to RORP Peninsula later this week....talk about easy.
This morning, the vital liaison between Melinda (Mel) Bell and Gavin Roberts was accomplished, with Mel representing the Dandenong & EH RC and Gavin the Greater Dandenong Council.....I'm happy, now Mel and the RORP Team at Dandenong can move ahead with the approximately three Playgrounds each year from Gavin's Council.....👍
That's not to mention the great camaraderie that "Old friends that had never met" enjoyed.
A thank you from Megan Studman Events and Programs Manager (Australia) Global Citizen www.globalcitizen.org
On behalf of Global Citizen, thank you very much for sharing and supporting our virtual event last week. We had an army of Rotarians attend -- the comments alongside the live virtual event were full of Rotarians supporting one another and it was incredible. The full event replay is available to watch on Facebook (which now has over 35,000 views) and Vimeo. You will recognise some familiar Rotary faces from 00:29:54 onwards.
I also wanted to share a short video and content article that we published on Global Citizen's website last week to honour the legacy of Sir Clem Renouf.
It is genuinely an honour to support the work that Rotary spearheaded all those years ago and continues to, to see a polio free world in our lifetimes.
The District 9820 ARH Committee ran a successful fundraiser webinar on the 10 October with Professor Felice Jacks. Felice discussed her research and innovative programs relating to Mental Health and Diet and provided her audience with great information.
We would also like to thank the Rotary Club of Drouin who have made an outstanding donation of $5000 to ARH, earning the club a Companion framed certificate. It was with great pleasure that Mardi Shepherd (ARH District Chair) attended the RC of Drouin zoom meeting on Tuesday 13th October to acknowledge this donation.
ARH has a range of interesting programs which clubs may consider supporting. This general information on Australian Rotary Health shows the great work they are doing over a few different areas
Who We Are?
Australian Rotary Health is one of the largest independent funders of mental health research within Australia.
We also provide funding into a broad range of general health areas, provide scholarships for rural medical and nursing students, as well as Indigenous health students. Australian Rotary Health provides funding into areas of health that do not readily attract funding, and promotes findings to the community.
Australian Rotary Health is a project of the Rotary Districts of Australia and is supported by Rotary Clubs. We have a broad vision to improve the health and wellbeing of all Australians.
What We Do?
Australian Rotary Health provides funding into four focus areas, and promotes findings to the community:
Mental Health Research
Since the year 2000, Australian Rotary Health has focused its funding on mental health research. In 2012 this focus narrowed to the Mental Health of Young Australians, and in 2013 research projects focussing on the Prevention of Mental Health Disorders were included.
There are three ways we fund mental health research:
• Mental Health Research Grants
• Ian Scott PhD Scholarships
• Postdoctoral Fellowships
General Health Research
Australian Rotary Health engages with a variety of funding partners to provide Research Grants and PhD Scholarships. These projects encompass a broad range of general health areas including cancer, heart disease, children’s health, motor neuron disease, diabetes and more.
There are two ways we fund general health research:
• Funding Partner PhD Scholarships
• Research Companion PhD Scholarships
Indigenous Health Scholarships
These Scholarships support Indigenous students to undertake tertiary training in nursing, physiotherapy, psychology, dentistry and other health related degrees at university. These scholarships help Indigenous students to overcome barriers to tertiary study and qualification.
Rural Medical & Nursing Scholarships
Australian Rotary Health provides scholarships for medical and nursing students to undertake placements at a rural and remote health care service. Students experience what these facilities have to offer and provide an incentive for recipients to pursue a career in rural Australia upon graduation.
ARH MENTAL HEALTH FACT SHEET
How many people experience mental illness? • Almost one in five Australians (20%) will experience a mental illness in a 12-month period
• Nearly half (45%) of the population will experience a mental illness at some stage in their lives.
• At least one third of young people have had an episode of mental illness by the time they are 25 years old.
• Mental illnesses are the third leading cause of disability burden in Australia.
• Anyone can develop a mental illness, and no one is immune to mental health problems.
What are the most common mental illnesses?
• Anxiety disorders affect around 14% of the adult population every year.
• Depression affects around 6% of the adult population every year.
• The remainder are affected by substance abuse disorders, psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, personality disorders, and other conditions.
Many people have more than one diagnosis.
What are the chances of recovering from mental illness?
Most people with mental illness recover well and are able to lead fulfilling lives in the community when they receive appropriate ongoing treatment and support.
However, only about half of those affected actually receive treatment. The majority of people who develop anxiety disorders and depression improve over time with appropriate treatment and support.
What can we do to improve these outcomes?
We believe continuing to create public awareness to break down stigma and raising funds for mental health research is a positive step to improving these outcomes.
Lift the Lid on Mental Illness is an initiative of Australian Rotary Health, one of the largest non-government funders of mental health research in Australia.
You can help raise money for Lift the Lid during Mental Health Month (October) by hosting a Hat Day event, setting up Lift the Lid awareness stands in your local area, or donating at www. australianrotarhelth.org.au
Where do donations go?
• 100% of the money raised for Lift the Lid on Mental Illness goes directly to funding mental health research through Australian Rotary Health (ARH).
• ARH PhD and Project Grants are used to develop and trial preventions and treatments for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses.
2021 will be your last opportunity to participate in what has been a fantastic success and a great credit to Roy Knudsen the initiator of the Ride to Conference. The Committee have decided that it is time to admit that the longer it runs – the older we get! SO, quit whilst you’re ahead.
It has been a fantastic success by the many people who have ridden and provided the necessary support services for the riders. Collectively they have raised well in excess of $1million. The principal beneficiaries have been Life Education, ($350,000) and Rotary Centenary House, ($180,000) with Rotary Health, Disaster Aid Australia, Interplast, End Trachoma, and a few other worthy beneficiaries also benefitting through the years.
The organising committee have chosen to conduct this last ride at a time independent of our District Conference. The route will be in and around parts of our District from March 20th through to the 27th as a way of providing Clubs an opportunity to show their support to the riders, including a couple who have done every ride and several who have completed a dozen or more.
To mark the occasion the Committee have commissioned production of a special Rotary ride shirt in Rotary colours. Each participant will receive one as part of their registration for the event. We hope to see some past riders make a special effort to join us for this Ride, including those who have joined the E bike fraternity.
The shirt is such a good generic design that we think it would be a wardrobe item for any Rotarian who enjoys riding. They can promote Rotary whilst enjoying the safety offered by the highly visible colour.
We know there are many Rotarians who enjoy riding in some form or other. Here is an opportunity to acquire a keenly priced, quality ride shirt that will give you years of service and advertise that Rotarians are active, fit and energetic members of the community.
If you would like to add one to your collection or acquire some for your Club’s keen riders then all you need to do is drop an expression of interest email to 9820ride@gmail.com with an indication of your requirements.
You will be provided with an order form during October along with a size chart so we can obtain details of numbers and sizes you require to include with our order.
This Rotary Ride shirt has no additional print to tie it to a particular event, District or Club. It would be usable by riders from other Rotary Districts and we would love to share the opportunity with them as well.
This is a once off $75 opportunity. Don’t miss it!
