ROTARY CLUB OF DINGLEY VILLAGE What is Rotary? The Rotary Club of Dingley Village Recent Events – Changeover Kingston Charitable Trust Women in Rotary Wheelchairs for Kids Dingley Village Historical Society – Rotunda Working for a Polio-Free World			Last updated 01/10/2011
What is Rotary? Rotary is essentially a grass roots organization, with most of its service efforts being carried out at the club level. Fundraising during the year is allocated to many worthwhile projects and this year money raised at the Dingley Market has been used to purchase wheelchairs for children in third world countries.  In addition we have adopted a village in Papua New Guinea and supplied them with Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets to combat against malarial infection. These nets have the advantage of protecting people sleeping under them and simultaneously killing mosquitoes that contact the net. Malaria is a fact of life for the average person in PNG and sees more than 1.2 million people affected in that country each year. By adopting a village in PNG we know that we will improve the life of every person that is given the opportunity to sleep under a treated net. The Rotary Club of Dingley Village In over 200 hundred countries and municipalities, 33,000 Rotary Clubs meet regularly to have fun, network and plan toward the Club’s humanitarian and educational program for the year. Because of the difference in culture and club size the formality of Club meetings differs. At the Rotary Club of Dingley Village we meet of a Wednesday evening at the Dingley International Hotel. Our meetings are very informal. Some clubs meet at lunchtime or early in the morning. The men and women who make up the membership at Dingley Village have the choice of having dinner at the meetings if they prefer. Throughout the Rotary world guest speakers are a feature of meetings and a diverse and entertaining program is arranged. Since the commencement of the new Rotary year in July the Dingley Village club has had the following speaker topics: · Two local secondary school students addressing the Rotary funded Youth Leadership program which they attended. · An excellent presentation on Malaria prevention which kills so many young children in neighbouring islands. · Research scientists from Monash University provided insightful information on asprin and senior citizens in our community. · We were fortunate to have a guest speaker explain about working with adolescents participating in violence in particular the bringing about of behavioural change in these people. · Recently we were entertained by a local resident recounting his trekking experience on the “Camiro de Santiago” pilgrimage walk in northern Spain. Our most recent club meeting will see members attending Parkdale Secondary College for dinner with the students and entertainment by the school band. So life in Rotary is entertaining, informative and a way to balance life by giving some discretionary time in helping others less fortunate. Volunteers in service clubs like Rotary International at times are difficult to recruit. If you are interested to learn more about membership of the world’s oldest volunteer service organisation and help your local and international communities please contact: Membership Chairman. Heather Winch. 0419 155 357 John Glenn: 9551 4383 or 0409 953 554 At Dingley Village: · We are involved with our local Primary and Secondary schools · We support the local Community Advice Bureau · We have working bees at Abbeyfield House in Dingley Village · We support local sporting and community groups · We raise funds for local and international projects · We visit local elderly residents · We involve local youth in Rotary Youth programs · We are currently in the final stages of planning to construct a war memorial in Dingley Village which will be the focus of Anzac Day commemorations in Dingley Village · We welcome visitors to our meetings.
Recent Events
Change Over This year our change over was a fun filled Formal Wear themed evening. Our new President Pam Trevan took over the Presidency for 2011/12. Pam has been a Dingley Village resident for some years and she has held several positions in the club including President not so many years ago. In fact Pam is only the second member of the club to take on the President’s role for a second time. Pam is very enthusiastic in everything she does in Rotary and we look forward to her leadership and the year ahead.		President Pam Trevan
Change Over Member Photo		Club members at change over from left to right – Kevan Thomas, Steve Brough, Pam Trevan, Pam Huber, Heather Winch , Vic Smith and John Glenn.
The Kingston Charitable Trust presented a cheque for $10,000 to the Rotary Club of Dingley Village to assist with a community project to design and build a memorial sculpture honouring Australian service men and women. In the months ahead, Rotarians Alistair Law and Kevan Thomas will be working closely with Jill Page from Dingley Voice of the Arts as well as with the RSL and the community, to design and commission an artist to develop the sculpture. The Trust grant was made possible thanks to the Dingley Village Community Branch of the Bendigo Bank which donates $20,000 a year to the Kingston Charitable Trust. The Bank believes the memorial sculpture will be a fabulous project for Dingley residents because it will provide a focal point for the community on ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day and other occasions commemorating service men and women. In presenting the cheque, Mayor Steve Staikos thanked the Bendigo Bank for its contribution and its great community vision and leadership. Bank Chairman Michael Benjamin said the Bendigo Bank was very pleased to support the Trust and Rotary’s initiative, and was looking forward to the day when local schools and the whole community could gather in celebration of the ANZAC spirit at the memorial.		Kingston Charitable Trust Back Row: Alistair Law- President Rotary Club of Dingley Village, Councillor Steve Staikos, Councillor Paul Peulich, John Nevis-CEO City of Kingston. Front Row: Michael Benjamin, Kevin Thomas-Rotarian, Jill Page-Dingley VoiceFor The Arts, Sandie Baskin- Lord Mayors Charitable Trust. The Dingley Village Bendigo Bank has contributed more than $800,000 to the Dingley community since its inception in 2002.
Women in Rotary Did you know that we are celebrating 21 years of women in Rotary? Rotary has nearly 188,000 female Rotarians whose diverse talents create active and friendly clubs. Women have served in leadership positions as Club Presidents, District Governors and Directors of the Rotary International Board and participate in all areas of service, bringing their own unique skills and abilities to make Rotary an amazing and productive organization both in our local community and internationally. So it is with much happiness that we have recently inducted our newest member Pam Huber to the Rotary Club of Dingley Village. Pam is a retired Accountant and has lived in Dingley Village for the past thirty-seven years. Below is a photo of Pam with her husband Wally and Club President Alistair Law taken on the night that Pam joined the Rotary Club of Dingley Village.
Junior Mayor comes to Rotary Meeting Our new Junior Mayor Ebony Let and her family recently attended a Rotary Meeting. Ebony was our Guest Speaker for the night and smiling and confident, used the microphone and spoke about her experience so far in being the Junior Mayor. Ebony was selected from twenty-two Grade 6 children represented from primary schools in the City of Kingston. She has already attended a City of Kingston Council Meeting, The Harvest Festival and an Australian Citizenship ceremony. Ebony, a local Dingley resident is a School Captain at Kingswood Primary School where she is in Grade 6, plays the piano, attends dance lessons, plays netball and basketball, participates in long distance running and enjoys reading and writing. In her words “Becoming Junior Mayor has been an honour and a great privilege and so far I’m having a great time contributing as an official at events and am looking forward to continuing in representing the youth of Kingston in the near future.” “Already it has been a great journey and experience and has helped to transform me into a more confident and successful leader.” Ebony is a most worthy recipient of the title of Junior Mayor. Ebony expressed a desire to raise awareness of one of our projects, Wheelchairs for Kids. With the backing of her school, she wrote to the schools in the City of Kingston inviting them to hold a fundraising event for this worthy project. Three other schools including St Marks Dingley Village, Westall and Le Page came on board.	At the time of writing, more than $1100 has been raised from our two local Dingley Village schools and we are awaiting the results from the other two schools. This has been a fabulous result and already translates into nearly ten new wheelchairs for impoverished, disabled children in developing countries. Wheelchairs for Kids is a Rotary sponsored project involving a volunteer workforce manufacturing solid and strong wheelchairs. In developing countries where health care and other social services are poor or non-existent, raising a child with a disability presents a significant burden to the whole family. Thank you Kingswood Primary School for your support and raising community awareness of Wheelchairs for Kids. Our photo shows Ebony, second from right with Emily, Emi and Beth at our Wheelchairs for Kids stall at the Kingswood Primary School Fete.
Wheelchairs for Kids We are also grateful to the wives/partners of our members who add so much to the success of Rotary in our organization. Veronica Podbury, wife of Past-President Dudley has been a driving force in raising funds for the purchase of 145 wheelchairs for impoverished, disabled children in developing countries. Wheelchairs for Kids is a Rotary sponsored project involving a volunteer workforce manufacturing solid and strong wheelchairs designed to be suitable for use in remote rural areas, where buildings, roads and paths are generally not designed with the disabled community in mind. In developing countries where health care and other social services are poor or non-existent, raising a child with a disability presents a significant burden to the whole family. Without a wheelchair, a child can be housebound and a burden for the carer, usually the mother. In many cases a child intellectually capable of attending mainstream school is denied the opportunity because of the absence of a wheelchair. The gift of a wheelchair gives twice. It not only presents the child with freedom, but also frees the mother to work and contribute to the family’s income. One of these wheelchairs costs $100.00 to build and through the efforts of Veronica and her group of dedicated helpers, the Rotary Club of Dingley Village has helped 145 children become more independent. Veronica and her team have recently been making an amazing range of jewellery and together with their magic sponges and serviettes will be sold at the Dingley Market. Your purchase of an item from her stall will directly help fund a Rotary project for a child in a developing country.
‘The Rotunda’ celebrating 150 years of Dingle Village.	Dingley Village Historical Society – Rotunda Our clubs contribution of $500 to the building of a Rotunda in commemoration of the 150 year anniversary of the establishment of Dingley Village has recently come into fruition. The Rotunda has recently been completed and is located in the foreground to the Harold Box hall in Marcus Road Dingley Village.
	Working for a Polio-Free World Rotary has been instrumental in vaccinating over two billion children with the Sabin vaccine. We have reduced the number of polio cases by over 99 percent and have reduced the number of endemic countries from 125 to 4. Rotary is proud of these accomplishments. However we cannot slacken our efforts now, because as long as there is wild poliovirus anywhere, the disease can easily spread again. The Rotary Club of Dingley Village will continue to raise money to make our world polio-free. If you see our stand at the Market or in the shopping centre, remember that for a gold coin donation, a child in a developing country will be vaccinated and spared from ever contracting this dreadful disease.