Announcements:
1. Tony Alsop talked about International Scout Day, 1 August 2017 and presented special badges to three members who wore their scout scarf and woggle: Andrew Thornton, Stan Deans and Tony himself.
2. Jenny Acopian reported on Christ Church Community Meals where 14 of our members and friends served a two-course meal to 100 guests. Bill Bailey enjoyed his first time assisting at the program and gained an appreciation of the much-needed service we and other community groups provide to disadvantaged people of Geelong. In addition we supplied toiletries collected from our members by Chris Adam, and several towels were donated to Samaritan House for homeless men, courtesy of Dorothy Sinclair.
3. Jenny reported on Rotary’s Trivia win. Last Wednesday, Team Rotary (Warren, Jenny and friends) won the heat of the trivia quiz held each month at the Mr Willis cafe in Ormond Road East Geelong. This win catapulted us into the Grand Final to be held in September.
4. Peter Funston reported on National Tree Day on Sunday when 10 Rotarians and friends, under the supervision of COGG experts, planted 200 river red gums along the banks of Hovell’s Creek at Lara. The sun shone, the wind blew and it didn’t rain – a great morning’s work that resulted in our meeting (by a factor of four!) International President Ian Riseley’s call for each Rotarian to plant a tree during the 2017-2018 Rotary year.
5. David Sykes reminded members to keep records, scan certificates, take photos of events, etc throughout the entire Rotary year so when the time comes to prepare the Annual Report, all the necessary information is at hand.
6. Sue Dunlop reported that Leo, a Youth Exchange student from Taiwan, will be hosted by several Geelong Rotary clubs this year. Sue Beretta and her family, and James and Sue Dunlop will play host to Leo for some months, with other clubs playing their part at various times. Leo is hoping to arrive in Geelong on 11 August.
7. Stan Deans urged us to become involved in District 9780’s program, Defying the Drift, aimed at raising the awareness of young people to opportunities to pursue careers in agriculture. The residential program will be held at Marcus Oldham College from 25 to 27 September 2017. Stan has already found two participants and urged others to look for likely young people who would benefit from the program.
Membership Report
David Sykes presented his report and advised that our Club’s membership goal this year is a net gain of three members.
A special evening aimed at raising awareness of opportunities for volunteering in our community will be held on 22 August The guest speaker will be Gail Rogers, currently CEO of the Geelong Community Foundation and former CEO of Volunteer Geelong. All members were encouraged to bring along a friend / colleague/acquaintance interested in volunteering.
The evening will be sponsored by the generous support of AGB and their charity arm, Community Veracity. Thank you to Robert Dejanovic and Tony Alsop.
Eddification - Foundation Facts from the PDG
Donors pledge $1.2 billion to end polio - On 12 June, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, global leaders and key donors took the stage at the Rotary International Convention. Standing shoulder to shoulder in front of more than 20,000 Rotarians, each pledged their support to end polio, committing a total of $1.2 billion to global eradication efforts. The additional funding will go toward disease surveillance, outbreak response, and the vaccination of more than 400 million children annually. If realized, these historic pledges will drastically shrink the $1.5 billion funding gap that stands in the way of reducing polio cases to zero worldwide. In 2017, only six cases of polio caused by the wild virus have been reported
Bill Gates extends partnership with Rotary - When WWE superstar John Cena introduced Bill Gates as the convention’s keynote speaker, more than 20,000 Rotarians leaped to their feet to applaud the philanthropist. They stood to cheer again when Gates began his speech by announcing that his foundation will extend its 2-to-1 funding match for the next three years. With Rotary committed to raising $50 million per year over three years, that will translate to $450 million for polio eradication efforts.
During his address, Gates touched on many topics. He talked about Rotary’s leadership in the fight to end polio. He addressed the importance of continued surveillance and detection of not only polio, but also other infectious diseases. He gave statistics about the global and long-term impact of eradication efforts, and as he described each achievement, a section of the convention arena was lighted by LED bracelets worn by attendees.
Vaccine-derived polio cases reported in Africa and the Middle East - Recently, at least 24 cases of vaccine-derived polio were reported in Syria, and at least four in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Health officials are working with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to respond to the outbreaks with supplementary immunization activities and field investigations. Other investigations and immunization campaigns are underway in neighbouring countries in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading.
Thought You Should Know....
“Optimism is what brings us to Rotary. But Rotary is not a place for those who are only dreamers. It is a place for those with the ability, the capacity, and the compassion for fruitful service.”
Sam F. Owori, 1941-2017
Entertainment Book Brings You More Value
The Shed Café (Breakwater) – Up to $20 value
The National Hotel (Geelong) – Up to $40 value
Ballarat Provedore (Warrenheip) – Up to $40 value
Bomboras Restaurant (Torquay) – Up to $35 value
Carboni’s Italian Kitchen (Ballarat) – Up to $30 value
