The Rotary Club of Glenferrie has partnered with the Rotary Foundation and other clubs to deliver some truly inspiring projects over the past few years. Those projects include the establishment of the Hawthorn Men's Shed, the Clean Water and Sanitation Project in Timor Leste, the Bike Rescue Project with the Yiyili Aboriginal School in northern Western Australia, and the clubs Rotary 100 project to build a unique interactive playground feature at Yarra Bank Reserve Hawthorn. This incredible story about a recycling project in Brazil speaks volumes about the power of Rotary and the value of the Rotary Foundation.
The celebration of 100 Years of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand got of to a spectacular start Friday, with an event broadcast via YouTube from Government House, Canberra featuring His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of Australia, and a litany of stars. The signature project for the event Give Every Child a Future was spotlighted during an online event that celebrated Rotary, Rotarians and the wonderful work done over the past 100 years.
To recognise the worthiness of all useful occupations
Paul Harris wrote: "Each Rotarian is a connecting link between the idealism of Rotary and their trade or profession". Vocational Service may be the least understood of the Rotary Avenues of Service, and yet it is the very foundation of Rotary itself. The introductory statement and three of the four objectives of Rotary relate to Vocational Service, underlining its importance to the philosophy and culture of Rotary.
The origins of the Four Way Test date back to 1932 when creditors of a near bankrupt aluminum company assigned the author of the Four Way Test, Rotarian Herbert Taylor, to save it from further financial ruin. Competition in the aluminum industry was fierce. Mr. Taylor was looking for a way to distinguish his new company from the others, while at the same time achieving financial prosperity. Mr. Taylor decided that ethics and doing what was right would be the key to the turnaround.
The club Board has voted to join with the Rotary Club of Brighton North in support of a Rotary Foundation Global Grant application to assist victims of the devastating bushfires in Sarsfield over summer. From a contribution of $2,000 from each of Rotary Glenferrie and Rotary Brighton North, total funds available for the project are likely to grow to $150,000 with support from a generous public donor, the District 9800 Foundation Grants Committee, Rotary District 9800 and The Rotary Foundation Global Fund, highlighting the power of Rotary Foundation Grants in multiplying impact. The grant application is being led by Rotarian Mark Stephens of the Rotary Club of Brighton North.
Following up on the club's project in Sarsfield earlier this year, please refer to this article about Milusa and Kevin Giles, whose property Glenferrie Rotarians worked on during the Bushfire Cleanup Project earlier this year: Victorian bushfire clean-up half way there, as survivors wait anxiously to rebuild
Sir Clem Renouf, an unassuming accountant from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Charter Secretary of the Rotary Club of Nambour and Past Rotary International President ignited the global Rotary campaign to end the scourge of Polio, a program that has saved untold millions of people from one of the world's most terrible diseases. Sir Clem passed away on Thursday 11th June 2020. Click on Read More to read the tribute from District Governor Grant Hocking. Click on this link to view this feature story on Sir Clem that went to air in April 2010 on the ABC's 7:30 Report . Vale PRIP Sir Clem Renouf.
The Consortium of Rotary Clubs which included the Rotary Club of Glenferrie has completed the project to install water tanks and toilets in the Baguia region of Timor Leste. With a total budget of A$139k and supported by a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation, the Consortium led by Vijay Susarla and John Walmsley of the Rotary Club of Camberwell installed four toilet blocks and thirty-two water tanks in primary schools throughout the remote Baguia region of Timor Leste. Baguia has a 'Sister Province' relationship with the City of Boroondara.
The Yiyili Aboriginal Community School is a very poor school between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek in the Kimberley Region in the north of Western Australia. The Yiyili community is based on the Louisa Downs Station. They have 60 students from Kindergarten to Year 10 and six teaching staff including one Indigenous Language teacher. They have an innovative vocational service program where the students are taught to dismantle and re-assemble bicycles. BikeRescue is an award-winning accredited program that uses bike mechanics as a vehicle for outreach, engagement and mentoring.
