President Shalini welcomed our guest Kerith Cummins on her third visit to the Club, guest speaker Past District Governor David Alexander, and Club Honorary Life Member Peter Hadwen.
Announcements:
- Kerry has had an operation on his goitre and he has been diagnosed with blood cancer. It is not operable and he is waiting to learn what his options are. Despite the diagnosis, Kerry remains upbeat, and we wish him well.
- The amount raised at Saturday’s Sausage Sizzle outside Alan the Butcher’s is unknown at present, but will be revealed upon Lorna’s return next Tuesday.
- The Easter Raffle at Woolworths is going well, with about $1,000 worth of tickets sold so far. The tickets will again be sold this weekend at Woolies and the Market. BNI, a business networking group that Marcus, Tracey, Sangeeta and Kris belong to, bought $200 worth.
- We are getting as much information as possible out about this Saturday’s Market.
- is Rotary International’s (RI)Maternal and Child Health Month.
Our Chairperson for the evening was Ros Weadman who had never done it before, and what a superlative job she did!
Ros introduced David Alexander, the current D9810 Foundation Chair and the District Governor in 2010-11, to speak about The Rotary Foundation – TRF.
David gave the “lightweight” Foundation presentation, an overview of its main aspects, as it can be difficult to understand its complexities.
- The aim of TRF is “Doing Good in the World”.
- TRF is the engine-room of RI. Rotary International is why we are in Rotary.
- Some people don’t see beyond their own club; they don’t see the bigger picture and all the problems in the world, e.g. East Timor, Ukraine.
- What is Rotary? Think of an iceberg, 1/9 is above the water, 8/9 is below. It takes time to understand Rotary, how you can help it and how it can help you.
- People join for a variety of reasons, including networking, to use their skills, support Rotary’s causes, help the local community, etc.
- We can bring our skills to address the international issues of Rotary and what’s happening in the rest of the world.
Structurally we have:
- The Club
- Beyond the club, there are District Committees addressing the Five Avenues of Service and make the bigger picture more successful.
- Action Groups, there are 37. WASH = Water, Sanitation and Hygiene,
RAGAS = Rotary Action Group Against Slavery,
ESRAG = Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group
- Foundation Giving
Donations come from the Arch Klumph Society members, the highest level, down to the lower levels such as the Centurion Club.
- International Conventions
- Rotary Friendship Exchanges, for example with India. Rotarians from the two countries work on a project that is appropriate and receives a Global Grant.
Some Rotarians invest money, some invest time and some invest both.
There are 1.2 million members around the world.
What do you need to know about TRF?
It’s a 4-Star rated charity, with 91% of the funds going to the beneficiaries.
Rotarians do so much to help people around the world, people they’ll never meet, e.g. in the EndPolioNow campaign.
2022-23 D9810 Spending Plan:
- D9810 raised USD$160,000 three years ago, therefore $80,000 came back to us this year, the 50%.
- This money will be used for District Grants.
- For Clubs to qualify for District Grants, members need to attend the District Seminar on the 4th of May.
- The District Foundation Committee helps the Clubs in D9810.
- Our Club raised USD $5,196 for TRF last Rotary year.
- So far only $1,286 has been lodged this year. Shalini pointed out that we make the bulk of the donation towards the end of the Rotary year in May.
- The other $80,000 is used for Global Grants which fund projects aligned with Rotary’s 7 Areas of Focus.
- Only 21% of Rotarians give to TRF unfortunately.
- Yet the Foundation has tremendous impact. Recent successful projects have taken place in Ethiopia, Indonesia and Fiji. And at Renmark High School (SA), indigenous students are engaged in a sustainable project growing fruits and vegetables for high-end restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne.
Special Presentation to PP MPHF Russell Marnock.
David has known Russell for a long time and said that he has been an absolute champion in his support of TRF. Russell is being honoured with a 3-ruby Paul Harris Fellow badge for his contribution, along with some funds from the Club, of almost $10,000.
After his acceptance, Russell made these observations:
- He joined Rotary because his daughters did Youth Exchange, and RI is such a broad organisation worldwide.
- Most of us give something to charity and TRF is a great charity to support.
- He is a member of the Paul Harris Society and his donation has grown slowly over time; it is the equivalent of a coffee a day or a weekly meal at the pub. It is taken from his credit card and he barely notices the deduction.
- The 91% of the funds raised that then support the enormous amount of voluntary work together make a compelling case for each of us to give something to TRF. Russell encourages all of us to do that.
- Our Club has benefitted from Foundation Grants over the years: the bus for the visually-impaired schoolchildren, toilets in East Timor, and our $50 vouchers for community members in our COVID response are recent examples.
- We should put more work into inspiring members to donate to TRF.
Committee Reports:
Emerald Rotary Market: PP PHF Catherine Elfick
- We have received a good response from stallholders; we have 10 now, but this will grow by the end of the week.
- The roster is being circulated now.
- Put your street signs out if you haven’t already done so.
- The attendance of Easter Bunny is confirmed.
- Raffle tickets are being sold at Woolies
- Ros mentioned that the article she wrote promoting the Market and the Easter Raffle is in today’s Star News.
Community Service Report: PP PHF Emma Clark
- Thanked Ros for the newspaper article.
- The Committee is taking Easter gifts to the Emerald Glades residents on Thursday afternoon.
- There’s lots happening in the “Defibrillator” world – the batteries are out of date. Some people want to upgrade to more automated versions.
- The Emerald Primary School Fair raised $22,000 on Saturday, a fabulous result. Emma and the Fair Co-ordinator were in isolation. Emma thanked our members who conducted the vaccination certificate checks. Electrical leads were everywhere, and it was wet weather but no-one got electrocuted!
- It is likely that a donation to the Flood Recovery will be made to Lismore.
Rotarians Against Malaria - RAM: PP MPHF Gloria Hargreaves
- Thank you to all those sponsoring Gloria and to the 3 who are also going to do the walk.
Closing Remarks: President Shalini:
- Thanked David for his enjoyable, interesting talk on The Rotary Foundation.
- Congratulated Russell on his new PHF recognition.
- Thanked Keith and Peter Hadwen for visiting.
And of course Alan at Emerald Village Meats for his ongoing support to Rotary and the community.
