Latest News

President Jama Farah and Past President Suzanne Zammit have been to DIK to check out the contents of the first container of our Horn of Africa Project. The container is due for shipment Monday 22 Feb.

Thanks to all our generous Golf Day sponsors contributing to the overall success of the day, raising funds for local projects.

$1200 Sponsors: Kincrome, Davis Lawyers and Seddon Comminity Bank

$600 Sponsors: FPW Finance, Joseph Lois Real Estate

Other Donors: Tripp and Co. Pty Ltd, The Golf Clearance Outlet

By Ryan Hyland

Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta joined the Rotary delegation to the 26th United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on 10 November to explore ways Rotary can work on environmental challenges, including by restoring mangroves, a crucial ecosystem that can mitigate the effects of climate change in coastal areas.

The climate summit, also known as COP26 (short for Conference of the Parties), brought together nearly 100 heads of state and governments over a two-week period to set new targets for fossil fuel emissions. This was Rotary’s first time at the annual conference.

The pandemic forced teachers to adopt new modes of teaching. It was uber timely that Rotary Altona City established the Hobsons Bay Rotary Teacher Awards program in 2018.

Focusing on early career stage teachers, experienced teachers, and teams, the awards recognise and encourage outstanding performance in local schools.

Rotary Port Phillip in conjunction with representatives of Spend it Well, a local Timorese Government organisation, SABEH, and the Australian Government representative in Timor Leste coordinating the Australian Government response to COVID19, initiated a project to administer one dose of an anti-COVID vaccine to approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people over a two-week period. 

Fifteen-year-old Rashmi dreams of being a doctor. When Interplast last met the Sri Lankan schoolgirl, she was busy studying for her Ordinary-Level examinations, undertaken in the final two years of high school.  

Aiming to enrol in a biology stream for her higher studies, Rashmi’s goal was to become a doctor, and help others, as she has been helped over so many years.   

Monday 29th May 2023 is the Melbourne Convention Host Hospitality night

Rotarians who are registered for the Convention can apply to host between 4 and 8 international and interstate guests in their home for dinner. Priority for hosting will be given to Registered Convention attendees but non-attendee Rotarians are also welcome to apply.  

The latest newsletter from District 98009 Foundation Chair, PDG Julie Mason, can be read by clicking this link .

Members of the Rotary Club of Footscray mourn the sudden passing of fellow Rotarian George Kerry on Monday 20th June.
George was a quiet, ever-present gentle man. Introduced to the club by his father, George senior, he was an active member for almost 33 years. He lived the Rotary motto of ‘Service above Self’ and will be greatly missed
A  funeral celebrating George's life will be held at
Holy Protection Cathedral
1-7 Albion St, Brunswick East
10.30am Thursday 30th June
 

At the meeting of May 5 the club welcomed staff of Mambourin, an organisation that supports people with disability.  Following a presentation by Casandra Smith, General Manager-People and Culture three awards were presented:

Most Outstanding Supported Employee of the Year Award

Louise Emmett (see photo)

“A supported employee within in our social enterprise …a vibrant and outgoing member of the team working towards a Cert 2 in Warehouse Operations and obtaining a forklift licence”

The club was delighted to welcome new members Rana Yawary and Khushel Kahn at our meeting on May 19^th. We look forward to getting to know them and their contribution to the club.

A successful RYPEN Camp has just been completed. 16 students, 5 Supporters and 3 Rotarians attended. The students were 15-17 year olds in years 9, 10 or 11. The supporters are the enthusiastic young people who voluntarily give up their weekends to act as team leaders for the students, and the Rotarians are the members of the RYPEN Committee including Suzanne Zammit.

Suzanne found it such a breath of fresh air to be at Doxa encouraging the students to explore and step into their potential and they so do.

Congratulations to Lawrence Atley. April marks 50 years of his association with the Rotary Club of Footscray as a member and honorary member. A full report on his significant contribution to Rotary will feature in the next Bulletin.

A very succesful fundraising Golf Day was held at Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club on March 25th.

Forty four players registered and hit off after breakfast in the club house, competing using the Ambrose format.

The winning team was led by Nick Barker of BTR Constructions whilst the team of Rodney Johnstone, Phillip and Adam Caruso and John Casey were runners up.

Special registration fee for RI Convention.

Ensure you register for this once in a lifetime opportunity as the 114th Rotary International Convention is held in Melbourne 27-31 May 2023. 

The best and cheapest registration fee of US$425 is available for 5 days only during the Houston Convention [4-8 June 2021, Houston time]. Fee increases to US$475 on 9th June. Register online at: https://convention.rotary.org/en

Melbourne will host the 2023 International Convention!! While the official promotion program for the Convention will not commence until after the 2022 Convention, have a think about the opportunities to Volunteer at this wonderful event.

https://www.rotarydistrict9800.org.au/Stories/2023-international-convention

Two meetings were organised by The Rotary Club of Footscray members in the month of February, one online via Zoom as a general check in to see how everyone was doing and second, face to face informal at 540 Barkly St., Footscray. It was great to see members and share a few laughs.

It seems only a few weeks since Jama Farah asked me to be president elect (PE) for his year as president. In a fit of absence of mind, I said, yes. We are now nearly at the end of my first month having had the Changeover night, the District’s changeover night, a second meeting at The Plough Hotel and soon to come, my first Zoom Board meeting. Apart from that, there’s been a Zoom meeting of our cluster’s Presidents and a veritable e-blizzard of emails from everywhere except someone in Nigeria offering me a fortune. 

The Club has been consistent in organising meeting throughout this two-month period. In April, a zoom meeting in the first week was followed by a dinner meeting at The Plough Hotel later in the month. The Footscray Rotary Board Meeting was organised on the 13th May.

Tommy Quick is the guest speaker for tonight’s zoom meeting. Tommy Quick is a young 28-year-old stroke impacted man, who is riding a recumbent bike 9000 across Australia and up the East coast with the goal to raise $1m for stroke research.  He only has 62 days until he starts in WA and heads to Melbourne. 

Looking forward to meeting Tommy and listening to his story.

The Rotary Club of Footscray fundraising dinner for youth projects – held in conjunction with the 2021 Footscray Art Prize was organised on the 8th May 2021. The event began with a special viewing of the Footscray Art Prize exhibition at the Footscray Community Arts Centre followed by dinner and an auction at the Australian Croatian Club.

We raised just over $3000 from the dinner, this includes tickets sales and silent auctions.

Suzanne would like to applaud the generosity of the club members who attended and their guests, for donating goods, time and their skills to make it a very enjoyable evening.

For those who have been unable to visit the Footscray Art Prize in person, here is a link to the catalogue and a virtual tour of the main prize exhibition at the Footscray Community Art Centre.

The catalogue includes the Young Artists entries, the prizes sponsored by our club. 

For those who have been unable to visit the Footscray Art Prize in person, here is a link to the catalogue and a virtual tour of the main prize exhibition at the Footscray Community Art Centre.