From the President’s Desk Fellow Rotarians and Friends, As advised by email, the Board members have agreed unanimously to suspend our dinner meetings until further notice. This is not only to look after all our members’ health but we have a duty of care to our members that already have health issues or are vulnerable due to age or low autoimmune levels. The duration of this suspension is not known at this stage. The situation is being monitored daily and you will be updated as soon as more information is known. Your health and safety is our primary concern. The best scenario is that this decision proves to have been unnecessary. The worst scenario is unthinkable. Please do not think that Rotary has stopped working. We need to continue our good work in our community. These are some of the ways we keep “business as usual”: • The Board meeting last Tuesday was cancelled. All reports are to be submitted as usual with items to be raised at Board level identified in the agenda as per normal. These will be distributed by email. • All committees can continue to operate by phone, email, messenger, Skype, etc or, at the discretion of the Director or Chair, by mutually agreed meetings of individuals. • Attendance to events such as functions or fundraising will depend on the nature of the event and personal discretion is advised. Once further information is known members will be advised. • Guest speakers will be rescheduled. Other clubs are also suspending their meetings so if you are planning a visit please check first. I have been advised that Rotary Insurance will NOT cover any claims due to the coronavirus. There are lots of other Rotary events being postponed or cancelled including: - District Conference – cancelled
- District Assembly – postponed
- Science and Engineering Challenge – postponed
- Bushfire Dinner Dance Auction - postponed
Please keep in touch with your Rotary friends. Committee chairs – please keep in touch with your committees. Stay safe and let us know if you need anything – anything at all (including toilet paper)! Regards, Tony Alsop (Chris) President Rotary Club of Geelong East Mobile: 0414 324 814 30 March 2020 Christ Church Community Meals This is our Club's fifth Monday and if you would like to help out, contact Jenny Acopian. RI Peace Fellowship Jenny also encourages members to think about nominating an outstanding person in the community who could benefit from a RI Peace Fellowship in 2021. Rotary International is now accepting applications for 2021 Rotary Peace Fellowships and we need your help to identify possible candidates. Two types of fully funded Rotary Peace Fellowships are available for the 2021-2022 academic year. Master’s degree in a range of disciplines related to peace and conflict resolution. This program is aimed at leaders near the start of their careers. Program is 15 to 24 months, based at a partner university in one of the Peace Centres in UK, USA, Sweden or Japan. Professsional Development Certificate in peace and development is intended for social change leaders with extensive experience working in peace-related fields. Program is year-long, based at the Rotary Peace Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. A new Peace Centre in Uganda is restricted to people already working in Africa.
The Fellowships cover tuition, accommodation, living expenses, travel, research and field work expenses and insurance. Information about each Rotary Peace Centre, the academic programs offered, eligibility criteria, how to apply, application form, endorsement process, role of Rotarians and the District can be found at www.rotary.org/en/peace-fellowships Deadline for submission to the District is 31 May 2020. Please direct enquiries to D9780 Peace Fellowships Officer Jenny Acopian at jennyacopian@hotmail.com Bunnings BBQ sessions If you can assist on either of the following dates, please let Yannick know: Boosting Bushfire Impacted Economies Yannick has custody of the Travel Fund Box into which members can place funds to support the Club’s proposed trip later in the year. Program – Suggestions for Speakers invited Kris Adam advised that we have vacancies for the remainder of the Rotary year. Please pass on your ideas to Kris. Rotary District Grants Club Secretary Jenny reminded us that they are there for the asking (provided the ask is accompanied by the necessary papery bits). Our Club has achieved some excellent results in our local community with the assistance of these grants. The deadline is 1 April. Trivia Nights – 17 July and 6 November Mark your diaries now and start memorizing the least important facts. These are great fun(d) and you learn stuff too. St. Albans Football Club – home game gate There are 9 matches to be played at St. Albans in the coming season and two people are required to mind the gate and collect the entrance fee. Please put your name on the sheet going around if you can assist. Club Walk About Whether you use it as a make up to maintain your attendance level or just as a way of keeping in touch with other Rotarians and what they and their clubs are up to, getting out and about at other club meetings is the thing. Yannick is on the trail so join up with her to learn about Rotary goings-on around about. Clubs in the Geelong area meet across the working week at various times and venues. Rotary Foundation Committee Report - from Past President Ross Taylor Polio Plus Appeal A total of $1210.07 was raised during the Polio Plus recognition period from Club members. We recognized the anniversary of RI with a reprise of the Paul Harris/Leland Childs interview in August, 1945. The Committee is putting out the challenge to raise another $290.00 for Polio Plus campaign to meet our Club's Rotary International obligation of raising another $1,500.00 this year to go towards the $50 million needed per annum to meet the continuing fight against the spread of polio. This will only require 11 members who missed donating in November, last year to donate $26.50 towards this project to meet our target. Any donations can be paid through the cashier and tax deductible receipts will be issued later. We will leave the appeal open for 4 meetings. The significance of $26.50 is that this amount was the first donation to The Rotary Foundation. Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Nomination forms are available for members to nominate any member deserving of a Paul Harris Fellowship recognition or multiple recognition this Rotary year. You need only fill in one section of the form and the work recognized should have taken place in the last 3 years. Nominations will be open until the end of April and should be handed to the President. The Club’s Recognition Committee will consider all nominations. New Home for Gateways Our Club have a plaque on the honour board as we donated around $1000.00 to their Albert Street renovation some years ago. Our Club Secretary Jenny received the following from Stephanie Gunn, CEO at Gateways Support Services Dear Jenny & Robyn, I am writing to tell you some very exciting news. Gateways has found a new location for our office because we have now outgrown our beautiful office at Albert Street. We have grown because what we offer is highly valued and deeply respected by our participants and families. We have grown partly because we had a fabulous office with rich, welcoming space for our staff that was only possible through your extraordinary generosity some 7 years ago. Albert Street is and will remain a core asset for Gateways’ business strategy and we will seek to lease the building to an organisation of the same values and standing that Gateways has. Your support and generosity made the building possible. To honour that support, we are currently in the process of designing a wall at our new office that will become a memory wall to which the name boards from Albert Street will be moved. The new office is at 12-14 Thompson Street North Geelong, which many of you may know of as the old Target Headquarters. The most exciting thing about this move is it is really big and it is in the heart of a new community. It is big enough for us to have a café and a gym. Both of these will specialise in support for people with disability and be open to the public as well. It is big enough for all our activities and fantastic new contemporary therapy spaces equal to none in Geelong to be held on site. And it is big enough for us to have space for other businesses that like what Gateways does and are committed to building a more kind and welcoming community, just like us. Our new space will mean we can build more activities and supports that are responsive to the evolving demand from participants, offering more integrated supports for families and with a focus on evidence based and transparent activities. My goal is to enable Gateways to showcase what an exemplary service provider and community member can offer. It is easily accessed by public transport and has lots of car parking. Gateways staff will start to move from mid-March and there will be an official opening shortly to which we will ensure you are invited. |
