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Meeting 1 April
Chair Campbell Chambers opened the meeting and acknowledged Rotary, the organisation that brings us all together. President Rhys was not feeling well, and as he was scheduled to leave for Viet Nam later in the day for three weeks, Neville stepped in as President (and the coming two meetings), and made the traditional Welcome to Country. There were no visiting Rotarians, other than the speaker, Mark Anderson. And there were no Birthdays, Spouse/Partner Birthdays, Anniversaries, or Rotary Join Date Anniversaries. Mark Anderson is the Senior Coordinator, Fund Development for the Rotary Foundation at the South Pacific and Philippines Office. Mark has been the President of two Clubs and has been a Rotarian for over 35 years. As one might expect of someone in his position, Mark is a member of the Paul Harris Society and Rotary Foundation Major Donor. Mark began his presentation with a fascinating anecdote about meeting Nelson Mandela in 1999, during a visit by John Howard (then PM) to South Africa. The presentation was so comprehensive and wide-reaching that it simply cannot be summarised in a few paragraphs. Mark left a copy of his slide presentation, to which members can access it by contacting Nicholas (nicholasoei24@gmail.com). I list a few of the highlights, which for me, were “ah ha’ moments, such as
• Rotary itself is not a charity; it is a membership organisation – the Rotary Foundation is the charity.
• There were 238 Global Grants made to Clubs in Australia last year.
• Rotary is one of a handful of major organisations which has a specific emphasis on Peace and programs dedicated to achieving it.
• Polio eradication remains the Number 1 priority of Rotary, with an annual budget of about one billion dollars, of which Rotary contributes fifty million.
• “Polio is our priority, Peace is our passion, and District and Global Grants are our work” Mark urged Clubs to come up with projects that the club “owns and operates”, as opposed to funding or contributing time to projects others own. He said if the project addresses a recognized need (preferably a local need) then the funding will come, either from a Rotary Global Grant or local givers. Importantly, he believes that having such projects will be the best tool for raising the profile of Rotary, and hence recruiting and retaining new members.
President’s announcements
• A new members forum will be held at Rhys’ home on Sunday 4 May.
• The annual Club Planning Day will be held on Saturday 10 May.
• Community Service is actively seeking donations, of either money or in-kind, for the Sleeping Bag Appeal.
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