Latest News

The reports of a case of polio in Gaza highlights the need for continuing the fight against polio.
Our club has previously been involved in the Rotary D9800 fundraising Walk with Us Campaign.
It is happening again over October and the club has registered, aiming to raise $2000.
When registering and nominating your $ target, please link your registration to the the RC of Footscray team - Footstrollers24.

Garden DesignFest an event organised by Rotary Clubs of Kew and North Brighton will be held on 16 and 17 November 2024.
A number of gardens will be open for event which can be visited on organised bus tours to a number of gardens, or individual gardens.
Funds raised will support Rotary charities.........

Fred was a pioneer of the local abalone industry in the early ’60’s. After arriving in Australia in 1956, he and two friends cycled to Melbourne in time for the Olympics Games.
Whilst working as a bus driver he became a very keen skin diver and soon started diving for abalone.
Business opportunities arose when there was interest from Safcol and SPC for canning abalone and developing an export industry.
By 1963 he was living off abalone and started a canning business in Nth Laverton -Abolone Exports- and started canning and exporting worldwide and employing 35 people.

The shipping of the 18th container to the Horn of Africa was celebrated at Donations in Kind (DIK) on Saturday 14th September. The medical equipment donated by Western Health and Austin Health is headed for Sitti General Hospital in the city of Biki, Somali Regional State of Ethiopia.
Jama Farah, Director of International Service, Rotary Club of Footscray, introduced a number of distinguished guests including Mr Hadera Abera Admassu, Ambassador to Australia of the Federal/ Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The Youth Exchange students from District 9800 and 9790 had a weekend camp at Beechworth on 10th - 11th August. Accommodation was in the Old Priory, a beautiful old building near the centre of town. The camp was organised by D9790 for both inbound and outbound students and our students enjoyed the opportunity to mix with such a large group of students. The Outbound students found it really informative as they had the opportunity to speak to newly arrived students from the country where they will be spending 2024. They had the opportunity to ask about what school is like, what the local customs are and what sort of clothes they are going to need for the winter. They had an endless list of questions.

Over recent years we have developed a strong relationship with Vicrtoria University, particularly by providing a BBQ for their special occasions. Over the last two weekend we have provided BBQs at the Sunshine and City campuses for Open Days. Both were great financial successes and opportunities for club fellowship. At the city campus we were particularly busy with ~1500 sausages cooked. Our proceeeds from the two weekend was approx $7000. There are plans for us to be involved in future events.

Through the generous support of health services, donations of valuable medical equipment continues.

Jama has recently taken delivery of 40 hospital beds and matresses from a nursing home in Kew and this week Western Health donated XR and anaesthetic machines and more ultrasound equipment. Western Health recently published an article in one of their newsletters featuring the association with the Rotary Club of Footscray and this wonderful project.

Valentina Bolados Cornejo and Alice Giang from Audika spoke about hearing issues.
Hearing is fundamental to our connections with others and is the third most common problem over 70 and more common in men and diabetics.
Hearing loss results in:misunderstanding, emotional impacts, stress in relationships, depression/anxiety/social isolation and is associated with dementia.
To minimise impact of hearing loss they advocated regular hearing checks and avoiding noisy environments.
They also briefly discussed the common symptom of tinnitus - ringing in the ears. There are many causes including stress, and although there is no cure, they advocated distraction as the best management.

Speaker: John Toomey of Wide Awake Wellness
John spoke about managing our personal lives to protect our mental health.
With examples from his personal experiences he emphasised the importance of “attention” in our relationships and focusing on being less self absorbed and turn one's attention on others:
-Show kindness to others
-Acknowledge those doing good
-Create more friendships
-Acknowledging people you meet.
With selfless service to others we experience positive feeling.

On July 18th we were pleased to welcome Cindy Richendollar from the Rotary Club of Washburn, Maine. USA. Cindy was visiting family nearby and spoke briefly about her many roles with Rotary and exchanged club banners with President Bob Newman. Cindy sent the following message- “I had a great evening with your club. Wish I could be here longer and get to know you better. Please send my utmost gratitude to the club for their hospitable welcome.” Another highlight of her visit to Melbourne was a visit to the football! It was great to have Cindy with us for the evening.

On Saturday July 27th 10,100 “For a Meal” packs were packed at an event arranged by Jama Farah. A team of 35 included Rotarians, mainly from the RC of Canterbury and members of the Ethiopian Community achieved this feat over a period of a few hours. The packs will be included in a container due for shipment to Ethiopia later the year and is planned to be directed to the Hararian community. A great effort.

Jamie Robertson and John Rogers spoke at our meeting on July 18th about their research into the dental public health in Victoria. Spurred on by a love of history and their experience in dentistry they reviewed the past 50 of public dental health service and published an authoritative document, looking back with ideas for the future.
The presentation highlighted a passion for improving dental care in a comprehensive review worthy of a scientific meeting.
During the period of review a stand out public health measure was the fluoridation of water in Victoria during the 1970’s.
The need for advocacy was emphasised as the delivery of programs is so dependent on the incumbent government. The National Health Alliance has benefited dental care but an well established voice in Canberra with access to the minister is vital.

Elwyn Davies was the speaker at our meeting on July 4th.
Having initially worked as a labourer after leaving school in the UK, Elwyn applied for nursing training and was accepted.After completing training he specialised in Acute Care nursing gaining expertise in cardiology and intensive care. During a recruitment drive for nurses in Australia, he migrated in 1986. At the time he arrived there was the turmoil of the nurses strike here in Victoria. Fortunately the strike had no impact on Acute Care departments and he settled in to working at Western Health. The outcome of the strike was significant improvement in conditions for nurses and better patient care.

The Changeover, or "Rollover"as we call it due to lack of change, was a happy and successful meeting with a large turnout.
The incoming DG, Michael Lapino gave a brief and punchy talk about "the magic" of Rotary, David Dippie of North Essendon, gave us his idea and hopes for the new groupings of clubs, and the old Sergeant, JR, was exhumed for a true story. 

A new member Che Granger was inducted and we look forward to his involvement inthe our club.

Adding to the VIPs present, Peter Shepard DGE was a welcome guest.

Start Well - Finish Brilliantly

The Vice Chancellor of Victoria University, Professor Adam Schumacher spoke at our meeting on June 6th. He spoke with great pride and enthusiasm of the university’s innovation in the tertiary education sector, improving student outcomes and student satisfaction

Prof Schumacher believes the “flipped” campus is the campus of the future and this already a feature at some of the campuses of VU. The model connects tertiary education both higher degrees and TAFE with industry and provides opportunities for research. VU embraces the flipped campus where at least one industry partner is physically situated on campus. This allows a wide range of students to be actively involved in education and work placements, internships and in some fields the opportunity to work directly with the public.

Latest News on Horn of Africa Project

On Saturday June 1st Rotarians joined with members of the Ethiopian community at Donations in Kind for the packing of the latest container of medical equipment and supplies bound for Djibouti and then onto Ayder Hospital in Tigray, regional state of Ethiopia.

The local federal member of parliament Tim Watts made a special effort to be there. Jama Farah, President Bob Newman and Tim Watts all spoke about the program. Members of the Tigray Community provided traditional food which was enjoyed by all present.

Official presentations can be viewed with this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OQhPW16qYaCn_-jlpkTKe4kB8cQn4pws/view

For the third year now, the Rotary Club of Footscray has partnered with Mambourin Enterprises Ltd to present Awards to 3 employees at Mambourin in recognition of outstanding service to Mambourin.  The Awards were conceived to assist in attracting and retention of quality workers in the particularly challenging workplace market in provision of disability services.
 It was a pleasure to be able to present each awardee with a certificate of recognition and an Award of $1,000.00, which is contributed equally by the Rotary Club and Mambourin.
 

The Evan Phillips Award was presented at our first meeting in May. Ms Gemma Ladgrove, Apprentice and Trainee Manager at WPC, detailed the process leading to Ms Thao Nugyen being selected for the 2024 award. Currently Thoa is in her fourth year as an automotive apprentice. From a young age she always a passion for cars. After school she would tinker with engines and eventually started doing repairs for friends. When she finished high school a friend suggested she get formal qualifications and so applied for an apprenticeship leading to this award. She loves her work!
We were pleased that Thao’s mother was present for the presentation.

Our speaker was Sasha Kober who gave a very thoughtful and researched, personal reflection on “The state of State Education”.
Sasha has been teaching at Princes Hill High for 20 years and is a passionate advocate of “quality free accessible education”.
Despite its problems, Victorian education delivers the best attendance rates and NAPLAN scores and less difference across private/public divide, in the nation.
Major issues:

Our speaker on April 4th was Katie Hall, Member for Footscray in the Legislative Assembly since 2018.
Katie is proud of her Footscray heritage and was encouraged by her family to become involved in public life.
2025 will be a big year for the local community:

Thanks to all our sponsors for the fundraising Golf Day at Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club on Friday 21st April.

At the Meeting on May 5th the Evan Phillips Award was presented to Rebcca Ann Grange a young woman who is undertaking an apprenticeship in Certificate 3 Light Vehicle at Footscray Nissan.

This award is set up to remember and honour Evan Phillips a powerhouse in the club from 1969-2010. Thanks to Emanuel and Fred for their organisation of a very worthy recipient for this Award. I would also like to thank Evan’s daughter Judy Pepi and son in law Michael for their generous donation towards this award. 

Congratulations to Rebecca Anne Grange and we wish her well in her career.