Member profile
Richard Parker gave an update on his 28 years in RC Adelaide and RC Melbourne, which began in 1992 when he was GM of the SA Housing Authority. He reflected on weekly meetings of RC Adelaide in the Sir Donald Bradman Stand at the Adelaide Oval, which helped him build his connections in Adelaide. In the mid 1990s he move to Melbourne to head up the Melbourne CityLink Authority, and took the opportunity to join Rotary Melbourne.
The demands of the CityLink authority were such that he had to take a break from Rotary, rejoining the club in 2008 following his retirement. Richard spoke warmly about the diversity of projects delivered by Rotary Melbourne, which clearly demonstrated to him the wider moral potential of Rotary. Since then he worked with James Pullar on the Club’s homelessness programs and helped establish the Make a House a Home initiative. Beyond that he has thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship opportunities of the Around the Bay bike ride. Thank you Richard; many members would not have been aware of your rich career experience.
New Member Experience
Two recently inducted members told us a little of their early experiences in Rotary Melbourne.
Vaideek Chaudary spoke about the great support he has had learning about the projects and Committees of Rotary Melbourne courtesy of his Mentor, Jim Orchard, since his induction to the Club in June 2021. His busy work life and the 3 months of lockdown has made it difficult for him to meet many members in person. He is looking forward to meeting many more as things return to “normal”. Vaideek has accepted a role on the Communications team and was very grateful for being asked to get involved.
Cameron Glover was also inducted in June 2021 and spoke of his desire to join Rotary Melbourne, which he saw as a visionary and dynamic club. Having attended only 2 in-person meetings, Cameron is looking forward to being able to get to know more members in person at face to face meetings. He is keen to get involved and spoke of reaching out to several committees not getting a response from a couple. While he will persist he wondered whether some new members might not. He closed by expressing his determination to get involved and helping to make Rotary Melbourne even greater. Immediately Cameron finished his presentation, Past President Quin Scalzo quickly responded, suggesting Cameron join the Welfare of the Young Committee, where he would be welcomed with open arms.
Expert Member Update:
Honorary Secretary Russell Board revealed his highly relevant, passionate interest in Horse Racing. Dressed as a jockey Russell began his highly informative presentation talking of his delight, when a horse in which he had a stake, Realm Of Flowers, booked a Melbourne Cup ticket with a dominant win in this year's Andrew Ramsden Stakes. All looked promising for his horse to be successful in the Melbourne Cup until the horse became ill just a week ago, and that was the end of that! Russell briefed us on the astonishing records of lineage of thoroughbred hoses going back 25 generations to the 16th century. Russell's anecdotes about the breeding of thoroughbreds made viewing the recording of this meeting from Rotary Melbourne’s web site worth the trouble. He closed by sharing his liking of Grand Promenade as a good prospect in this years Melbourne Cup field.
Presidents Update: International Women's Day 2022
President Reg gave a quick update on the plan to build on the model developed in the pandemic to take national the Annual International Women’s Day (IWD) breakfast successfully led by Kerry Kornhauser over 10 years. The next IWD event will be live at the Sofitel on 9 March 2022, and will be distributed nationally in partnership with Swinburne University, using a highly innovative platform known as Run the World. This will enable Rotary Clubs all over Australia to customise local fund rising celebrations using the content generated at the Melbourne event. The team is reaching out to a prominent keynote speaker and high profile panellists to create another unforgettable event.
Project Updates:
Richard Parker returned to the screen to provide an update of the Make a House a Home which provides assistance to formerly homeless people with the normal home-wear basics needed when moving into permanent, semi furnished flat or unit. Working with project partner, Launch Housing, the project team provides 2 tea-chest packs of new bedroom, bathroom and kitchen essentials. Providing new home-wear basics enhances the self worth of people who have lived rough and existed on cast offs of the community. This enables them to sustain their transition to a normal life. K-mart is the retail partner providing in volume kits of 60 items which cost in total $260. This niche project has in the last year assisted 120 homeless people to settle into their new homes. Wilson storage has donated the storage boxes, and Chris Wang has provided warehouse space for both storage and assembly of each pack. Key regular volunteers are Chris Wang, Allan Wang, Jim Orchard, Robin Reid, Trevor Nink and Richard Parker.
Past President Mary Barry introduced the item noting the Rotary Safe Families Project developed by Dorothy Gilmour and herself, with assistance of a significant grant from District 9800, become a significant national program. While Dorothy has moved to Southbank Rotary, where the program now resides, Peter Berg has assumed the role of Rotary Safe Families Champion on behalf of Rotary Melbourne. Peter explained that 80 Clubs around Australia have appointed Safe Family Champions. The initiative is promoted through the Safe Families web site, linked to the Club's web site. The 3R principals of Recognise, Raise Concerns and Refer for support have been embodied in a Safe families publication and 2 new video’s are planned on Child abuse, and abuse of men. Champions meet and share experiences bi-monthly. Peter highlighted the work being done with Afri-Aus Care on family safety issues in that community and highlighted efforts to produce, through translation multi-lingual promotional material, and strengthen local government connections.
