From Club Partnership to Personal Purpose
Reflection on FORaMEAL with a Personal Journey of Service by Yidan Xi.
Somewhere far away, there is war and famine. Yet here we are, gathered together at RMIT on Thursday 23 April 26 - and perhaps we can make a small difference. Even a little can mean the world to someone.
Rotary Melbourne has proudly partnered with The Rotary Club of Canterbury to support several FORaMEAL packing events at RMIT and University of Melbourne. As part of the organising team for these initiatives, these collaborations have brought together university communities, Rotarians, and volunteers to prepare emergency relief meal packs for families facing crises throughout the Asia-Pacific region - including the Philippines, Ukraine, Somaliland, and Papua New Guinea. Each event represented not only inter-club cooperation, but also the spirit of practical compassion that Rotary is built upon.
What began as a club collaboration gradually became something more personal for me. Through these events – working in rhythm with fellow Rotarians and volunteers, understanding the weight of food insecurity, and witnessing how a simple pack could become a gesture of hope – I found myself deeply moved by the charity and simplicity of this project.
Somewhere along this journey, I realised that FORaMEAL was no longer just a Rotary project to me. It had become a reminder of the kind of service that resonates with my own values: quiet, hands-on, meaningful. This realisation led me to continue volunteering individually across multiple FORaMEAL sessions with several local schools beyond the club-collaborated ones, including Strathcona Grammar, Scotch College, and Carey Grammar. Working alongside school children and teachers (mostly Year 9 cohorts) was truly inspiring, as I saw the next generation learn about food insecurity and work together to create collective impact. I look forward to continuing to support and be part of the club-collaborated FORaMEAL events as well as local schools in the future.
My contribution is modest, but each session has reinforced a sense of purpose I did not expect to find so clearly. To date, I have personally participated in packing 130,600 meals. These moments have a quiet way of reconnecting us with our values, our motivations, and the simple reasons we choose to serve.
· Meals that travel further than we do.
· Acts that are small enough to hold, yet large enough to matter.
Sometimes, a project doesn’t just feed families far away. Sometimes, it nourishes something within ourselves as well. Rotary is the platform where collaboration becomes impact, partnership becomes purpose, and service helps us shape a kinder world together.
April 2023 - 12,400 meals packed
Rotary Melbourne x RMIT x FORaMEAL(Rotary Club of Canterbury)
April 2024 - 12,000 meals packed
Rotary Melbourne x RMIT x FORaMEAL(Rotary Club of Canterbury)
August 2024 - 12,800 meals
Rotary Melbourne x University of Melbourne x FORaMEAL(Rotary Club of Canterbury)
May 2025 - 10,000 meals packed
Rotary Melbourne x RMIT x FORaMEAL(Rotary Club of Canterbury)
August 2025 - 9,870 meals
Rotary Melbourne x University of Melbourne x FORaMEAL(Rotary Club of Canterbury)
April 2026 - 10,000 meals packed
Rotary Melbourne x RMIT x FORaMEAL(Rotary Club of Canterbury)
In Total of 67,070 meals packed
