By Past President Lisa Lowcock, Rotary Club of Essendon

Days for Girls (DfG) Keilor Gateway Cluster is an international project of the Rotary Club of Keilor East, and involves team members making sustainable kits containing menstruation sanitary items.

Club members first heard of Days for Girls in 2014. A small group of ladies armed with scissors and sewing machines enthused about this hugely impactful project. So, a team of volunteers (nicknamed “the Daysies”) got to work in Past President Cherrie Osborn's kitchen and lounge room. This team has inspired more than 100 people to meet each month in Essendon to create 500 kits annually.

By Tony Laycock, President, Rotary Club of Canterbury

The FORaMEAL project is an initiative of the Rotary Club of Canterbury.It was originally established to help those across the Asia Pacific region, an area prone to many natural disasters leading to the loss of homes and access to basic necessities including food.

The FORaMEAL packing project has been a great success across District 9800. Financial and physical support is provided by a number of individuals and organisations including, but not limited to, the District leadership; clubs within the Eastside cluster, particularly Rotary Balwyn and Camberwell; schools in the Boroondara area; and, Swinburne University. Packing events at District conferences have been a great success with up to 40,000 meals produced in a short space of time. 

By Immediate Past President John Wall, Rotary Club of Melbourne South

Empower Australia operates food relief centres that are open to anyone who is facing serious food insecurity. There are five relief centres across Melbourne: City Road, Lower Plenty, Ringwood, Pakenham and Grovedale (Geelong).  Approximately 80 volunteers work at the City Road venue with 150 volunteers in total across all five sites.

As at 11^th October 2020, Empower Australia provided the equivalent of 747,000 meals, compared to 104,583 in 2019; and, 36,951 volunteer hours compared to 13,273 in 2019. In the last week of October, Empower supported 2,493 people and up to 3,000 in previous weeks.

When a friend introduced Samantha to the Orbit Satellite Club of Southbank, she saw an opportunity to use her business creativity and help make a difference in the world.  She joined the Club in June 2020.

Although having lived in Melbourne for most of her life, Samantha travelled extensively pre-COVID, particularly to the USA, Middle East and Brisbane for work. A digital transformation strategist, Samantha recently commenced maternity leave after giving birth to son, Harlow.

World Polio Day 2020

Whilst COVID-19 is front and centre of everyone’s minds, we must not forget Rotary’s focus on eradicating polio. We are so close! World Polio Day is 24^th October, and I encourage you to participate in the virtual event being held at Parliament House next Wednesday, 21^st October. 

Polio eradication efforts have already made a major positive impact on our world. Since 1988, nearly 3 billion children have been immunized against polio, and nearly 19 million people are walking who would otherwise have been paralysed.

It wasn’t exactly ‘tumbleweeds blowing down the main street’, but 60 years ago the area known as Hoppers Crossing was different—mainly paddocks, stone fences, thistles, rabbits and a snake or two. Infrastructure was scant and scattered and ‘going into town’ meant a trip to Werribee. 

But love came to the rescue!

Gordon Street Little Pantry is a new community initiative based at 252 Gordon St in Footscray, Melbourne, Australia.

It is based on trust and the Footscray community spirit of goodwill. It stocks basic food and sanitary items and is open 24/7 for collection or donation during these extraordinary times.

It is located at 252 Gordon Street Footscray out the front of Footscray Church of Christ.

The celebration of 100 Years of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand got off to a spectacular start with an event broadcast via YouTube from Government House on 10 July. The signature project for the event Give Every Child a Future was spotlighted during an online event that celebrated Rotary, Rotarians and the wonderful work done over the past 100 years.

By District 9800 Governor-elect Dale Hoy

By Warwick Cavell, District 9800 Vocational Service Director-elect

When six opportunities for Victorian start-ups were unveiled via the State Government’s CivVic Labs initiative, Rotary District 9800 stepped up to the challenge.

The basis of the six opportunities is to give local start-ups the chance to secure up to $185k each to build a product, work with a customer and help solve some of Victoria’s most pressing issues. District 9800, represented by District Governor-elect Dale Hoy, Mary Barry, District Vocational Service Director and Warwick Cavell, District Vocational Service Director-elect, partnering with Outcome.Life, an internship placement provider for international students and graduates in Australia, responded to the Study Melbourne challenge of “How can we strengthen social and community connections for international students studying and living in Victoria?”

By John Granger

Yarraville … a midway train stop between Footscray and Williamstown with heavy industry on the Maribyrnong River. Whilst this is true, the essence of Yarraville is vastly different.

The soul of Yarraville is in its shopping area and its citadel is the magnificent art deco Sun Theatre in Ballarat Street. 

Rotary District 9800 Governor Philip Archer

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on 8^th March with many events scheduled over the following week. Women in Rotary are staging a unique online event in which you can participate on any of four days from Tuesday 9^th to Friday 12^th March. With an impressive line-up of speakers from Rotary International’s President 2022-2023, Jennifer Jones, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, to New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, this is sure to be a wonderful and informative event. More information can be found via this link:  https://www.iwd.org.au/

By John Granger

Hearing the name ‘Caulfield’ resonates in different ways. There’s the Jewish community who have, for a number of generations, made Caulfield and surrounding suburbs significant areas of worship and havens for wonderful Jewish cuisine. As well, the architecture of the area’s houses – particularly the retained and restored California bungalows – celebrates the rapid development from the 1900’s through to the 1920’s. Caulfield has also been a significant area for all levels of education with Caulfield Technical School (founded 1922) after a series of amalgamations, becoming Monash University (Caulfield campus) in 1990.

By Jo Cowling

The Rotary Club of Richmond has been serving the Richmond community for over 54 years,

working with local groups, businesses and government to support people in need in the community.

The Next Step Program is one of the Club’s signature projects and is designed to support, guide and prepare disadvantaged young people living and attending school in the City of Yarra for a career matching their interests and capabilities.

An experienced Youth Worker is employed to work with Collingwood Secondary College and teachers to identify those students who would most benefit from the program.

By Club President Neville Page

North Melbourne Rotary has been involved in many significant international projects for over fifty years, but none has been more effective than our current water filter program in Colombia. The distribution of just ten water filters to indigenous communities has transformed the lives of thousands of people.

The innovative project grew from a visit to Melbourne by Andrea Mayorga, a Rotaractor originally from Colombia. Andrea had developed close ties with North Melbourne Rotary and shared stories of her work supporting disadvantaged indigenous communities in her native hometown. Rotary North Melbourne saw the potential to help with her outstanding efforts.

By Tony Thomas, Rotary Central Melbourne

Ruth Carlos Martinez of Melbourne Rotary had an early introduction into humanitarian work through her mother. She helped as a volunteer at age 14 in Manila’s slums, and even then, she learnt something about pushing back on bureaucracy and establishment.

Ruth came to Australia from the Philippines in 1979. With a BSc and MBA, she progressed to senior IT roles in a career spanning 24 years with Coles and Wesfarmers. She also qualified in professional counselling and ran a regional women’s wellness retreat.

By Jess Wheeler, Chair RYLA District 9800 Committee

In District 9800, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a leadership program focused on personal growth, leadership development and community for people aged 18 to 25 years. Over the course of seven days, participants are immersed in content designed to challenge, inspire and provide space to reflect.

By Lisa Lowcock, PP Rotary Club of Essendon

Youth Projects is an independent registered charity committed to breaking the cycle of disadvantage by providing front line support to individuals, particularly youth, experiencing unemployment, homelessness, alcohol, and other drug issues. They also help those looking to re-engage with learning and employment. A key service provided by Youth Projects is through Night Nurses Outreach. Read more.

By Rowan McClean, District 9800 Club Service Chair

Ann’s father was in Rotary for fifty years; her grandfather was President of Rotary Essendon when Royce Abbey was inducted; and, two of her uncles were Rotarians. You might say Rotary was in Ann’s blood, so it was not surprising that she joined Albert Park Rotary in 1993 just four years after women were admitted to Rotary. Read more.

By Martin Taurins, Rotary Club of Gisborne, RAGAMS Chair

In 1989 when our son Jacob, a budding musician with university degrees in arts, business and music, was diagnosed at age 20 with multiple sclerosis (MS), we didn’t know anything about the disease. RAGAMS, in partnership with the Melbourne Neuroscience Institute and Rotary Health Australia, have successfully supported PhD scholarships for research on progressive MS and received a Rotary Global Grant to support progressive MS research at the Florey Institute and Monash University. Read more.

By Henry Drury

In 1838, settler James Watson, yet another homesick member of the ubiquitous Scottish diaspora, named his landholding Keilor in memory of the family farm in Forfarshire, Scotland. This locality, 16 kilometres north west of Melbourne township prospered in the 1850s as a staging post for the hopefuls on the way to and from the gold diggings in central Victoria. Read more. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways that many of us experience Rotary. But every challenge also opens opportunities. Clubs are discovering that meeting online gives them more flexibility to adjust meeting times when that’s better for members.