The Rotary Club of Geelong East donated $1,500.00 to the Mark West Foundation during the senior game of football at St. Albans ground.

The funds will be used to assist disadvantaged children from missing out on the opportunity to play football. In the 2019 season, there are sponsored children playing at 25 Geelong clubs, due to the assistance of the Mark West Foundation.

 

The Mark West Foundation was established following the tragic death on the football field of Mark West at the age of 19.  Mark had played football at all levels of club football and began coaching at the age of 17.  A very talented footballer and someone who believed that he had to give back to the game, for the enjoyment he gained from it.

 

The Foundation has two Mission Statements:

 

 

 

Details on the Mark West Foundation can be found at the website: http://www.tmwf.org.au/the-foundation

 

 

The Rotary Club Geelong East, together with the City of Greater Geelong and the Corangamite Catchment Authority, launched the Barwon River Safety Markers.

This six year start-to-finish project was the brainchild of Rotarian Keith Dawson of Rotary Geelong East. The idea of the project was to TRANSFORM and make SAFER the activities areas along both sides of the Barwon River. Safer for Walkers, Runners, Riders, Tourists and Families.

 

A total of 46 double sided Location Marker signs were installed along the Barwon River on both sides. Along approximately 10 kilometres of river on both sides stretching from the Breakwater to the Ring Road.

 

The two most important pieces of information during a Triple Zero call is the nature of the emergency and its location. When an incident occurs at a specific street address, it is generally easy for emergency services to find the caller. However, if it takes place in large open-spaces, walking trails or beaches where no obvious reference points exist, it takes extra, valuable, life saving time to identify and verify the specific location and vehicle access point.

 

 

River’s Gift and Sailability were the recipients of a combined $15,000.00 from the most recent Rotary Club of Geelong East Dinner Auction.

 

River's Gift is the largest source of funding for laboratory-based SIDS research in Australia. To date, River's Gift has generated over $1 million to save babies lives, by funding scientific research, delivering Safe Sleep Education and raising awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

 

Sailability is a “not for profit” organisation, volunteer-based, and through the activity of Sailing enriches the lives of people of all abilities – the elderly, the financially and socially disadvantaged as well as people with physical challenges.

 

The Dinner Auction attracted 150 Guests and was MC’d by media personality and Rotarian, Gary Newton and the auction was conducted by Joe Grgic.

 

Dozens of local businesses supported the auction by donating goods and services to be auctioned on the night and the club thanks them.  The club’s Dinner Auctions are held every two years.

 

The Rotary Club of Geelong East hosted ten Canadians visiting our District. Four couples and two single women travelled from Canada to Australia on a Rotary Friendship Exchange.  Ten Australians will go to Canada in August on the return leg of the Exchange.

The visitors were home hosted by local Rotarians both on their way into the District and again on their departure.  In Geelong they toured the Bollards, Narana, National Wool Museum, did a tour of Corio Bay, Anglesea Golf Club, attended an AFLW match at GMHBA Stadium, toured Queenscliffe and a Picnic in the (Eastern) Park.

 

They spent time in Portland, Warnambool, Grampians, Port Fairy and Drysdale.

 

The feedback from all, was that they thoroughly enjoyed their 14 days in the area.

 

The Rotary Friendship Exchange allows small groups of Rotarians to go to other countries and meet with locals and experience the culture and so see local sites of interest and animals.  A component of the Friendship Exchanges is creating greater understanding and friendships between people of the world.

 

It is with great excitement that we announce Melbourne as the host city for the 2023 Rotary International Convention, the largest conference secured this century for Victoria.

 

 Melbourne is a Big Events City! Set to deliver over $88 million to the Victorian economy, the Convention is the most valuable conference ever won for the state, with the four-day event anticipated to attract more than 20,000 Rotarians from around the world. The global spotlight will be on Melbourne and how we present ourselves to the world.

 

 The Convention will take place 27-31 May 2023 using superb venues; Rod Laver Arena and the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. All activities and events are within the Heart and Soul of Melbourne. Over 7000 hotel rooms over 50 properties across Melbourne. Our transport plan uses our famous trams, ferries and buses to quickly and easily move delegates between venues, hotels, event and restaurants. And of course, Melbourne is a very walkable city with many interesting routes and laneways to tantalise visitors.

 

 In addition, the Victorian visitor economy will be bolstered with expenditure from thousands of visiting Rotarians utilising transport, hospitality, entertainment, venues, attractions, tourism services, event planning, freight customs broker services, technology rental, security and various other members of the local business event and tourism supply chain, as well as the flow on benefits across regional Victoria for pre and post touring. Rotary has a business heritage as well as community service. We are proud to make an impact on local business and create jobs.