On behalf of President David, you are invited to join the Club in a fun experimental social event designed to bring the Club, past and future members and our extended connections, together in friendship in COVID-19 lockdown - by Zoom of course!
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? A Virtual Progressive Dinner
When: Saturday 29th August 2020
Time: 6.45pm
Where: from the comfort of your home
Format: Entree, Main and Dessert of 30 minutes duration enjoying your food of choice - fine dining, simple fare or takeaway, followed by a group get together finale
Emcee: Adrian "Funno" Funston will guide us through the evening
Zoom manager: Isobel Caulfield will work her magic bringing us into a group and then randomly allocating us to our surprise dining breakout rooms. What could go wrong?!
Competition: For those who wish!
The "Best Covid -19 Mask"
The "Most Interesting Virtual Background"
The "Most Interesting Physical Background"
Judge Greg Lee, ably assisted by David Nutter, will decide the winners! Virtual awards will be made at our final group gathering at the conclusion of the evening.
Attached is an invitation for you to share, the details of the night and instructions on how to use zoom on a mobile device.
Register on the link below and the zoom link to the evening containing the information you need will be automatically forwarded to your inbox
At our next Wednesday night meeting on the 26th August, Chairman David Nutter will be conducting a very special event with two of our longest-serving members, Gary Evans and Fred Edwards. It has been a long time since these two gentlemen stepped up in front of the microphone and told us a thing or two about themselves. David N has produced a template so that each will have no trouble figuring out what to say!
I am so honored to serve as your president this year. We have important work ahead of us at Rotary, and we are going to have a lot of fun as we do it.
Last year, we launched our five-year Action Plan to build a stronger future for Rotary. We are working to increase our impact, expand our reach, enhance participant engagement, and increase our ability to adapt. The last several months have shown that we — as Rotarians and Rotaractors — can realize these goals as we forge a new path for the future.
Without question, COVID-19 has posed new and previously unimaginable challenges for Rotary. But within every challenge is perhaps an even greater opportunity. And while I could not have known what lay ahead when I selected my theme for the year, Rotary Opens Opportunities has even greater relevance as we begin our new Rotary year.
I am incredibly inspired by how our members have aadapted and responded to COVID-19. This global pandemic has made it difficult for many of our clubs to operate as usual, but we persevered, and over the past few months, I’ve enjoyed connecting with my fellow Rotarians and Rotaractors in a new way: by visiting hundreds of clubs from my home. It’s been fun to attend so many meetings virtually. If you haven’t already, I encourage your club to try an online meeting or add an online component, like hosting a guest speaker from a Rotary or Rotaract club located in a different part of the world.
As we build a stronger future for our organization, it’s good that we are reaching out to new people and introducing them to Rotary. It’s important that our clubs reflect the communities we serve. More diverse voices in our clubs and in our leadership will help Rotary stay in touch with a changing world.
So let’s find every opportunity to show we value each and every member. Let’s seize this moment to build on what we’ve learned, to embrace our new reality, to welcome new faces, and to find additional ways to shine. This is how we will have a continuing impact on the world. And if you need assistance along the way, Rotary offers many resources that can help you reach your goals.
Rotary means different things in different parts of the world, but we are all united by our core values and by The Four-Way Test. Rotary may change, but our values remain constant.
I look forward to hearing about how you’re finding new opportunities to engage and make an impact in your club and community. Rotary Opens Opportunities, both for the people we serve and for ourselves.
The annual Zone 8 Conference is alive! Despite the disappointment of the cancellation of the physical conference due to covid19 restrictions, the team has worked hard to bring you a fabulous program of inspirational speakers. Past Rotary International Director and Convenor of the conference, Noel Trevaskis, invites you to register for what promises to be an inspiring two days. Many of us were travelling to Alice Springs for this event. You have now been given the unexpected opportunity to register for free, and participate in this wonderful Rotary showcase! Click here to register: https://e.mybookingmanager.com/E81217415202145
'Rotarians Against Malaria' (RAM) is a volunteer-run organization working to eliminate malaria.
People who get malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can usually be prevented.
COVID-19 is a corona virus pandemic that has spread quickly to all corners of the globe, presenting an emerging threat to millions of families at risk of malaria, fragile health systems in malaria-affected countries and decades of progress against malaria.
In the 1900s, malaria was pandemic in the world. Fifteen years ago, malaria killed a child every 30 seconds!
However, considerable progress has been made in preventing, diagnosing and treating malaria. As a result, deaths have fallen by 60 percent. Now, the aim is to reduce malaria cases and deaths by a further 90 percent by 2030.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the fight against malaria. Key factors that could impact the delivery of malaria prevention interventions include:
The shutdown of malaria prevention campaigns, reducing access to life-saving prevention tools, such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets and hindering early diagnosis and treatment, leading to increased severe malaria cases, and more deaths;
Lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect and enable frontline health workers fighting malaria to treat people safely at health clinics;
Disruption to the supply chain of antimalaria interventions, such as long-lasting insecticide treated nets (ITNs), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS);
Limited access to essential health services and community health workers prevented from conducting testing at the local level and providing antimalarials that lead to early diagnosis and treatment of malaria;
Reluctance or inability of people with fever to seek life-saving treatment, resulting in a higher number of malaria-related complications and even deaths
The global malaria community's coordinated response to COVID-19 must sustain malaria control efforts to prevent, detect and treat malaria and avoid unnecessary cases and deaths, while preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Former yellow Wiggle, Greg Page's not-for-profit, 'Heart of The Nation' and 'Nextdoor' are joining forces to help save Aussie lives. He has given an impassioned plea to get whole neighbourhoods involved in a lifesaving training session.
Greg and Surf Lifesaving Australia will lead a special virtual training class on the 19th of September, with the goal of breaking the world record for most people simultaneously trained in CPR and defibrillation. With this one simple step, you can help save a family member, friend, or neighbour.
Greg has taken up CPR education as his mission, after surviving a heart attack at a bushfire relief concert earlier this year.
“The shocking thing for me was I thought I was fit, I was walking every day, I was going to the gym, I was playing cricket" he said. "It’s a warning to everybody that even if you think you’re fit and healthy, you should get the proper checks done.”
Greg was saved by a Nurse in the crowd who helped perform CPR before using a defibrillator to shock his heart back into action.
“If you are empowered by knowing about CPR, you can actually be a lifesaver,” Greg said. “I just really want people to understand that any attempt at resuscitation is better than none.
Register here and join Greg and Surf Life Saving Australia on the 19th of September, at 7:00 pm AEST, where they will lead this life-saving event and hopefully break the world record.
Chesley Reynolds Perry, a Spanish-American War veteran and former Chicago Public Library employee, served as Rotary’s first secretary and is known as “the builder of Rotary International.”
MY TIME VOLUNTEERING AT THE PANTRY (AKA- Bk2Basics)
As my commitment to work with local charities to support the community and see how Rotary can assist, I contacted and offered my assistance to a local charity that I’ve supported in various ways over the last year or two but could never actually go down to help in person, since I’ve been working full time and not able to have time off to do this. So when my current job gave me a rostered day off, I jumped at the chance to assist them for a day and see how it all works.
BK2Basics can be found in Vesper Driver Narre Warren and is currently restricted (Lockdown 4) to 3 volunteers per day. Not only do the volunteers need to fill up and put out food throughout the opening times, they need to ask the public coming in if they require fresh milk, yoghurt and Beef ravioli (which was special for the day available), clean any spills, but also keep an eye on people not taking more than the limits allowed.
Upon arrival, I am temperature checked and immediately need to hand sanitise and put gloves on. I then assist by working through all the fresh vegetables and fruit that has been donated to place them out on shelves in small crates and throw out anything that is not suitable for consumption. There wasn’t much that had been donated in the morning and the ladies I met, Tracey, Rene and Sharon, tell me its going to be a very quiet day as there just isn’t enough food for the people that are going to come in.
They then show me boxes and boxes of multi-coloured chocolate-coated little buttons that need to be decanted into sandwich bags for the public to pick one bag up. I can tell you each sandwich bag takes about 3 coffee cups worth of these. One box of these takes about 24 sandwich bags and you must be careful not to spill them out, when closing the zip bags.
Just before 10 am, the first person is waiting outside the roller door wanting to be temperature checked, ID card checked and noted down. The charity has had to create an ID card for everyone with a photo, to stop people coming in multiple times and double or triple dipping and to ensure everyone has a chance to receive and pick food items they need.
What I witnessed was for the first hour, all people that came through were Seniors who were very friendly and very appreciative of the assistance that they were receiving. The rest of the time the people coming in were of various ages and included quite a few immigrants as well.
What I saw was that the volunteers were friendly and helpful to everyone that came in and it made me feel great that I could be a small part of the day to assist them where I could. At lunchtime I went out and got us all coffee and some nibbles to snack on. There really is no downtime,so someone is usually leaving to go grab some coffees, while the rest of them are doing other things. They did tell me that lots of coffee drop-offs would be very helpful and appreciated by them 😊.
At about 1 pm, Tracey (who is in charge for the day) calls and speaks to the owner of the Charity and explains that there simply isn’t enough food, so we had to close for the day. Before we do though, we clean everywhere and ensure that anything requiring refrigeration is placed in the chill room and that signs are placed outside to indicate that The Pantry is closed and a message is put up on Facebook and Instagram, to let everyone who follows them know of the development of the day.
From what I saw, they need assistance in decanting bigger quantities in to small manageable bags and they need donations of fresh food, gloves, masks, containers. They prepare and deliver meals to the city for the homeless, who are now housed in hotels because of COVID-19 and they also offer food on Wednesday evenings from their own house (they had to stop at Hampton Park due to restrictions). Extra Pallet Shelving would be very helpful in the warehouse next to the Pantry to enable pallets to be lifted from the floor, allowing easier access to items that need to be decanted or placed onto shelves in the Pantry.
They do not receive any government help or funding and could do with more pallet shelving for the warehouse next to the panty, for the stock of donations that they already have. I believe last week they spent $1500 on plastic containers alone to place prepared meals in for delivery to the homeless in Hotels, and of course they cannot be re-used, which means each week they are looking at a similar expense. The need to prepare meals becomes bigger as the weeks go on, especially during this Lockdown, where more people have lost jobs or shifts and can't’ afford to put food on their tables.
My question to all Rotarians – How can you help me to assist this awesome Charity, which started out of their own garage and is now receiving many more referrals since moving into their donated warehouse?
Do you know a supplier of Gloves, Hand Sanitiser, Fresh Vegetables and Fruit, Milk, Frozen Meals and even bunches of flowers or pot plants (they offer this to ladies that come in and the ladies that work there, feel they need an extra ‘pick me up’ to take home with them)?
Cash donations are needed to assist in covering electricity costs for running the chill room, petrol costs for delivery to the city, as well as picking up donated food from surrounding suburbs, extra food and other items to be able to prepare the meals that they donate.
Do you know any Managers from your local Woollies, Coles, Aldi etc that you think would commit to donating food on a regular basis?
If you can email me (cherylzuhlsdorff@hotmail.com) and let me know who to contact, or who you have contacted, that I can follow up with to see where or how they can help, it would be greatly appreciated. I am also trying to think of ways/events/trivia nights or such, to raise funds for this charity, so any assistance with that would be appreciated as well.
Going forward (as my roster allows me), I will be working/assisting one day a week and will offer additional help over the weekends, if required.
Greetings, fellow Rotarians and Rotaractors!
Former yellow Wiggle, Greg Page's not-for-profit, 'Heart of The Nation' and 'Nextdoor' are joining forces to help save Aussie lives. He has given an impassioned plea to get whole neighbourhoods involved in a lifesaving training session.
MY TIME VOLUNTEERING AT THE PANTRY (AKA- Bk2Basics)
At about 1 pm, Tracey (who is in charge for the day) calls and speaks to the owner of the Charity and explains that there simply isn’t enough food, so we had to close for the day. Before we do though, we clean everywhere and ensure that anything requiring refrigeration is placed in the chill room and that signs are placed outside to indicate that The Pantry is closed and a message is put up on Facebook and Instagram, to let everyone who follows them know of the development of the day.