Meetings are held at 6.30pm on the first and third Thursdays of the month.
Meetings are held at 6.30pm on the first and third Thursdays of the month.
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 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:
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:
Ron Hunt and Suzanne Zammit I were part of the large group that farewelled the nine students who recently spent four days sailing around Port Phillip Bay on The Enterprise. The crew and students all loved loved the adventure. Ourclub sponsored theree of the sailors who will be at our meeting on February 1st.
During the August 2 days of Open Day 3600 regular and 400 veggies sausages were sizzled! What a team and thanks to all who helped out.
When travelling through the Outback there is plenty of evidence of Rotary activity. Here's a couple of examples noticed during a recent road trip.
The speaker was Retired Detective Sergeant Peter Bellion - a former crash scene investigator and reconstruction expert from Victoria Police’s Major Collision Investigation Group.
Our speaker on August 23rd was Vivienne Porter. In 1977 Vivienne was a Rotary Exchange Student in South Africa.
Tweddle have acknowledged their appreciation of the $5000 Rotary Club of Footscray Aged Care and Community Fund grant which has the purchase of outdoor furniture and Aboriginal resources for Tweddle staff and families.
"Tweddle’s recent expansion meant we had new outdoor spaces but no furniture. The new tables and chairs have been well utilised by staff, especially over the summer months.......
On Monday 7 July, Carol Castano had her last craft group at Maribyrnong Community Centre. Maria Silber presented Carol with a certificate of thanks and the offer of an honorary membership of the club. It is estimated the group raised $20000 over the life of the group.
Carol has written a report on the groups work over the years -see next page.
Lenka arrived from Czechia/Czech Republic on Sunday 13th and was met by her host family and Rotarians from the District Youth Exchange Committee and her host clubs of Flemington Kensington and Footscray.
She has already had a taste test of Australian snacks and this is how she ranked them in order of preference -see photo below. Interesting to see that Vegemite came out ahead of Twisties.
Members of the club recently participated in a scarf collection, wearing their favourite to our meeting and donating extra scarves to “Reaching Out In The Inner West”, to be distributed to the needy for warmth during winter. The club collection was supplemented by Maria Silber’s friends and her bushwalking group with over 200 scarves passed on for distribution. Western Bulldog scarves dominated the collection!
