Rotary Melbourne members and guests are invited to attend the Gon-Bae! Gala - Celebrating 75 Years of Korean–Australian Friendship event. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the good work of Rotary to the Korean-Australian community, while also providing an evening of networking with community members, business leaders, and partners. The event will be held at the Immigration Museum on Thursday 18 September, 7pm-9pm
Thank you to Barbara Yerondais for your reflection at last week's meeting Wednesday 27 August 2025.
Membership Anniversary this week: Bob Burgess (49), Dimitrios Salampasis (1), Antwan Malouhi (1).
Happy Birthday this week: Peter Berg, Yidan Xi (TODAY!).
At last week’s meeting we celebrated the birthday of Club Member Bruce Livett – an esteemed neuroscientist, philanthropist, polio survivor and proud Rotarian. Bruce enjoyed a distinguished career at the University of Melbourne, pioneering research into the brain and nervous system, even milking venom from cone snails to develop advances in pain medicine.
Thank you to Ruth Carlos Martinez for last week's reflection.
Spotlight on Rotarian Edgardo Mulato
Rotary Melbourne was privileged to welcome Edgardo Mulato, a respected Rotarian and currently serving as Deputy for the Department of San Salvador in El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly.
If you are interested in keeping up to date with all that’s been happening with volunteers, donations, welfare agencies & clients, and the many exciting things ahead at RIMERN please click on Read More for Issue 15: June/July 25. This issue is full of ways in which you can support RIMERN and the great work they do in supporting our community.
At last week’s 5,091st Club meeting, Guest Speaker Duncan Harris, President of the Australia Africa Chamber of Commerce, delivered a powerful address on Africa as a partner in innovation and opportunity, urging Australia to engage boldly. We also recognised the inaugural Cynthia Edgell Empowerment Opportunity Gift recipients.
President José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate and President of Timor-Leste, spoke last week at at the Australasian Emission Reduction Summit in Melbourne. His message on courage, youth leadership and reforestation featured Rotary Melbourne’s burgeoning new partnership with Foundation Rai Matak and the Rotary Foundation - upscaling the proven WithOneSeed model to now grow 10 million trees in 10 years - helping 20,000 farming families and their communities plant trees, grow livelihoods through the sale of carbon credits, and shape a hopeful future in Timor-Leste.
The Rotary Action Group for Peace invites you to the first online Global Meeting of Peacebuilders in 2025–26 on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 (Midday London Time). This session will spotlight educational opportunities to support your peacebuilding journey, strengthen projects, and connect you with a global network of leaders. Join fellow peacebuilders worldwide as we begin a new year of collaboration, learning, and inspiration. Click Read More below to register.
Rotary Down Under is offering two $10,000 scholarships for budding journalists in the name of RDU founder Paul Henningham and his successor Bob Aitken.
On Duty: Bill Pickett (Photos), Bob Glindemann (Reception), Peter Addison (Raffle), Barbara Yerondais (Reflection), Karen Kim (MC).
Membership Anniversary this week: Jo Crowston (2), Stewart Stribling (24), Stephen Rando (4).
Happy Birthday this week: Clive Weeks & Bruce Livett (TODAY!), Dean McIntyre, Chris Wang, Sue Smith.
Adam Zaccaria, Board Chair, Launch Housing has announced the appointment of Sherri Bruinhout as the new Chief Executive Officer of Launch Housing. Sherri brings more than 30 years of experience in driving innovation and challenging the status quo and within the housing, homelessness, and justice sectors, across both government and community services.
Congratulations to the inaugural recipients of the Cynthia Edgell Empowerment Opportunity Gift:
Our club member Getrude Matshe,Global Curator & Founder – HerStory Circle and the DiversityConnector, shared her own African-Australian perspective on last week's meeting with guest speaker Duncan Harris.
Club Maestro David Kram returns to Melbourne to conduct a very special concert on Friday, 6 September in Caulfield South. From the Depths, a new cantata by young Israeli-Australian composer Alon Trigger. Based on the entire Book of Jonah from the Hebrew Bible, the work is presented in both Hebrew and English. David describes it as evocative, uplifting, and educational - a moving experience for all lovers of music.
The cantata is scored for chamber choir, trombone, and piano. The music is modern yet melodic, with Mediterranean colours that make it appealing to everyone. Click read more below for more information and to book.
Guests of the Club: Duncan Harris (Speaker), Victoria Taseska, Jade Applebee, Jasminka Taseska, Elena Suprihartono, Simone Tsantarlis.
Visiting Rotarians Emerie Agunwah (Diamond Creek), Tonie Thiel (Casterton, Vic.).
Guests of Members: Hassan Looky (Philip Cornish), Chrysanthe Pragastis, Thisby Lau (Sue McDonald), Frank Wyatt, Bill Cole (Stephen Rando).
Dubai has been officially selected to host the Rotary International Convention in 2027. It will be a convention focused on excellence and innovation. What's more, our club's own Amanda Wendt has been appointed Vice Chair of the Convention Committee. Save the date in your diaries now: 5-9 June 2027.
Australian water utilities companies are turning to floating solar panels to reduce evaporation, conserve water and generate renewable energy in response to climate challenges, reports Planet Ark.
Rotary and the Gates Foundation are renewing their longstanding partnership to end polio, announcing a joint commitment of up to US$450 million to support the global polio eradication effort at the annual Rotary International Convention.
Despite the wintery rainy night 50 Melbourne Rotarians, Melbourne University Rotaract and guests volunteered for meal packing, on behalf of FORaMEAL, at Melbourne University last Tuesday, 12 August 25, led by President Philip. Over 9,000 meals were packed in 1.5 hours.
Larry A. Lunsford, a member of the Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, USA, is the selection of the nominating committee to become Rotary International’s President for 2027-28. Larry visited our club in 2022 as a Trustee of the Rotary Foundation, and met up with us again during the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne in 2023.
Congratulations to our own Will Abdo on his award of Specialty Marketing CEO of the Year 2025 by APAC Insider.
Membership Anniversary this week: John Green (28 - TODAY!), Antonio Pajovic (10), John Peberdy (19), John Saunders (4).
Happy Birthday this week: Sumeer Bhandarkar, Adrian Nelson.
