DG Kathy's February Journal (Jan 28, 2023)

Hi Rotarians

Wow - What a ride! As my year as District Governor comes to its end, I reflect on the fabulous experience it has been. There have been highs and there have been lows but what an honour it has been to be in such a wonderful role as DG.

It has been a three-year ride of learning a lot about not only Rotary, but about the people who make up our fabulous district. The opportunity to visit every club, meet the members, and view the fantastic work our clubs do for their communities has been amazing.

The unsung heroes who are allowing people in disadvantaged countries to have clean water, to get life-saving assistance, to live a life they would never have dreamed possible, to have the health benefits we are providing every day is nothing short of amazing.

I encourage you to talk to other clubs and see what is going on that we are not told about – the time is right to start telling our stories and sharing the goodwill that is second nature to Rotarians.

I would like to thank everyone who has been part of my journey this past year. The people who have supported me behind the scenes, the Rotarians who have proudly shown me what their clubs have achieved, whether it be building a park, assisting the homeless, growing a mob of sheep, helping a school with cooking facilities, feeding hungry children, training fire fighters, providing music for dementia patients, giving teenagers the opportunity to grow to their full potential or assisting in providing a palliative care facility. The amazing work being done not only in our local communities, but around the world, needs to be known.

The friendships, the laughs, the experiences, and the people I have met along the way has shown me that taking on a role where you can give your all to Rotary has rewards that are never imagined when this journey starts.

Thank you for joining me on this journey in Imagining Rotary – and thank you for putting your faith in me to take on such an amazing role.

My best wishes for DGE Ian McKay in his year ahead as DG – may it be as rewarding for you as it has been for me.

Kathy & David

P.S.

A HUGE thank you to Deb Robertson for the hours she puts into this amazing production of the Journal every month during our Imagine year, also HUGE thanks to Pauline Stewart for producing all our Facebook and webpage updates and more HUGE thanks to Paul Barrett for producing the weekly Travel Guide. Without these amazing Rotarians and their untiring dedication, you would not have the opportunity to see what our District is up to and be kept up to date on every little thing that comes across our desks.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH

Kathy Rivett

District Governor

Mobile: 0417 053319

kathy.rivett@rotary9780.org

Saturday Afternoon open to the Public!

DG Kathy and the conference team are excited to welcome you to join in the fun in Ballarat in March and to invite your friends and family to join us on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon is open to the public, so spread the word that they can join us to hear Jelena and John speaking and even get a book signed, if they would like.

Scan the QR code or go to https://www.trybooking.com/CGDXK to book a ticket to the Saturday afternoon session. Bookings close 5pm 20 March.

Details about all of the fantastic Speakers are on the Conference website.

For more information about the conference program and venues and to register for all or part, click here .

There are five types of tickets available. The first is a ticket for the whole conference including the Saturday night dinner. Below is the ticket selection page from the conference TryBooking site and I have highlighted the full conference ticket with a green rectangle. Note a booking for the full conference does not require any further bookings unless you are adding a booking for another person who cannot attend the whole conference.

If prospective registrants are unable to attend the whole conference then each of the four sections can be booked individually.

These tickets appear below the full conference ticket and I have highlighted these with a yellow rectangle. Any combination of the four can be booked.

A reminder: The conference website can be found at https://rotary9780.org/page/district-9780-conference-2023

Yours in Rotary Service

District Secretary Paul Barrett

Disasters can devastate a community without warning, leaving people in urgent need of medical care, housing, and other basics they need to survive. In response to recent earthquakes in the region, The Rotary Foundation invites contributions to the Turkey/Syria Disaster Response Fund to support member-led projects that provide supplies and health care to people who have been affected. Together, we can offer our support to these communities. Here's how you can help:

Donate to the Turkey/Syria Disaster Response Fund.
Fundraise among your colleagues, friends, and family using Raise for Rotary .
Learn how Rotary members are helping.

Your gift will make priority funding available for disaster recovery and support for Turkey and Syria through disaster response grants.When you donate to our Turkey/Syria Disaster Response Fund now through 31 March 2023, make priority funding available to support our members’ earthquake relief work through disaster response grants. If needs diminish, or if more funds are raised than are requested, surplus contributions may eventually be made available for disasters worldwide.

We hope that you can help support communities in need with a gift to our Turkey/Syria Disaster Response Fund today. Thank you. Sincerely,

Jennifer Jones	Ian H.S. Riseley
2022-23 President	2022-23 Trustee Chair
Rotary International	The Rotary Foundation

Our District has Assistant Governors who aid the District Governor by managing a specific area. Some assist clubs, some assist various District Committees and others manage a specific aspect of our District organisation. Each month we focus on a different Assistant Governor, and let you get to know them a little better.

This month we head to Geelong with a bit of information about Cats supporter and

Assistant Governor for Youth, Wendy James from Horsham East Rotary.

Here is her story:

Congratulations to all who received awards and honours on Australia Day

Several of our Rotary community we recognised on Australia Day for their community service.

(Apologies to those we have not been made aware of)

Keith & Sheila Mansfield from Highton and John McDonald late of Torquay Rotary were each awarded OAMs for their untiring commitment to their community.

Christine Dufty from Nhill received the Hindmarsh Shire Citizen of the Year award

Reminder to send information through to remember our fellow Rotarians

We have received a few details of friends and colleagues who have passed away, but are aware that there are many still to come. Please don't delay to send the information we need, to acknowledge each person we have lost.

At the District Conference, in Ballarat March 24-26, we will have a display featuring those friends and colleagues who have passed away since the District Conference last year in Port Fairy. For those of us who are not familiar with each Rotarian please send information that will help us know them. Not just their name. dates of birth/death and time in Rotary, but what they loved doing - favourite roles or projects, what your club members will remember them for, passions outside Rotary too. We also need a photo of them - preferably a great photo - of them participating in a Rotary project? doing something they loved? having fun? enjoying themselves? feeling proud of an award or achievement?

Please email Deb.Robertson@rotary9780.org with this information.

Click through for a mock-up example of how this information will be displayed.

Show the world what you've been up to in 2022-23!

Don't forget - we need your photos or videos to display at Conference.

Photos should be either jpeg, png or compiled on PowerPoint pages, MP4 videos are OK too.

What is special about your club? What are you most proud of? Which projects would you like to tell people about? How do you have fun?

Any of these could be included in our PowerPoint/video presentation, which we would love to share in March at our District Conference in Ballarat.

Keep this in mind as you do your projects/fundraisers/social events - record what's happening with great action photos or videos. Then send it to DG Kathy, Kathy.Rivett@rotary9780.org or Deb Robertson Deb.Robertson@rotary9780.org so we can share your ideas and achievements with the whole District.

Enviroclub Awards and Four Challenges to Focus on - Trees, Bees, Waste & Water!

Thanks to the members that helped on the Environment & Sustainability stand at the District Conference. It was nice to see the entries in the special tree for your town. We received 10 entries, and felt it was a nice way to engage members.

Some of the Geelong clubs are doing great work in conjunction with the local council. (See following article)

We had another 5 clubs awarded Enviroclub certificates at the Conference. I have included the list as an inspiration for all clubs to get involved. It is a simple process to register for an Enviroclub Award & most Clubs will already meet the Bronze level with the projects they are already undertaking, so get your entry in here.

The E & S Committee have set Four Challenges to Focus on - read on to learn more..

Recently Mount Gambier Rotary had some great media coverage for their donations to Australian Rotary Health and the Mt Gambier Mayor's Appeal.

Applications for the first round of 2023 Balwyn Rotary Centenary Grants close on March 31^st whilst the second round closes on September 30^th

For more information and to download the application form, go to: https://balwynrotary.org.au/centenary-grants/

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Rotary in Australia in 2021 the Rotary Club of Balwyn promised to donate a significant portion of its annual income generated from its Camberwell Sunday Market to assist other Rotary Clubs in Australia in their humanitarian endeavours.

Click the link below for current information from Rotary partners