(Established July 2023 from the merger of Rotary Clubs Manningham and Templestowe and has since welcomed former members from the Rotary Club of Doncaster.)
Co-Presidents 2025-26 Esther Murray (L) Anthony Callinan (R)
Dear Members and Friends,
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) is Rotary's charity and gives us the ability and opportunity to fund projects utilising District and Global Grants. We were honoured to have Rotary Foundation Trustee, PDG Dennis Shore speak to us on Wednesday about how TRF operates and encourage us as clubs and individuals to be contributors and participants. Indeed we have a story in this week's newsletter about Learning Leading at East Doncaster Secondary College which was funded by a Rotary Foundation District grant. Thank you Dennis for sharing your valuable insights from inside the world of Rotary headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA.
The Club Board held a packed meeting last Monday. More details are in the report below. One important outcome was the confirmation of Esther Murray and Brian Negus as Presidents Elect. We all wish them well for 2026-27. They will now be concentrating on nominating their board in time for our next Annual General Meeting on 12 November at the Templestowe Bowls Club.
Next week we will meet at the Templestowe Bowls Club and hear from a sub-committee of the Community Welfare and Health Committee. We will be joined by Rotary Community Group Leader Trish Carr to hear about the Community Group QR Code Project. This is a project to create a QR code to be located around the area to provide quick access to anyone who needs immediate assistance with organisations who can help with health, housing or welfare issues. This is a great project and we will be asking members to assist in a variety of ways.
As mentioned recently and as part of our Community, Welfare and Health Committee - Anthony Callinan, Brian Negus and Esther Murray met with the leaders of Doncare, CareNet and Ajani. This meeting was to gain an insight into the challenges they face and to further our knowledge of the needs of our Community. Of course there are many things however what shocked me in particular was the increased demand for food.
At our recent board meeting we discussed this as we see it as an important aspect for Rotary involvement. Our focus is to support these organisations but to not be the front line givers. As part of our usual Christmas donations we will review our next step and keep you informed.
Our speaker this week was Rotary Foundation Trustee, PDG Dennis Shore from the Rotary Club of Hawthorn. Denis spoke to us from his current role as Zone 8 Foundation Trustee.
He commenced by stating that his task was to identify what The Rotary Foundation is and why it is important for Rotarians to know and understand this.
He then referred to the Object of Rotary International (R.I.) and how this is reflected in Rotary’s Vision Statement. (Details for this and what follows can be found on the R.I. website). The Vision Statement gives rise to a number of other features, key to describing what Rotary does and how it does it – referring to the 4 Way Test, the five Avenues of Service, and several mottos such as “Service Above Self.’ Together these statements give a useful indication of what Rotary is, its purpose, what it does and how The Rotary Foundation helps to achieve this in practice, particularly from the financial perspective. Dennis then reminded us that in 1917, then R.I. President Arch Klumph suggested the establishment of an endowment fund to help Rotarians with the financing of their projects. This concept grew to being named The Rotary Foundation in 1928.
Nowadays, the main priority of The Rotary Foundation is to complete the ‘End Polio Now’ program, which was pledged to rid the Polio virus from the World. As most know, we are almost there, but need to complete the project as a priority. In this regard, Dennis commented that the Polio Society is worthy of our consideration toward Rotary achieving this objective. He also noted that we all have the opportunity to advocate TRF’s work toward this goal to raise awareness of The Rotary Foundation.
Over Term 1, 263 student leaders from East Doncaster Secondary College undertook Learning Leadership training at selected Melbourne Schools and at the Melbourne Exhibition and Events Centre (MCEC).
In February 2025, the school provided a leadership training day for Student Leaders where over 90 students attended the day at NewHope Baptist Church which enabled students to learn the essential skills of planning a year of leadership, how to be a leader and start thinking about what initiatives and student might have for the College.
On Wednesday, March 5th, EDSC’s leadership team had the opportunity to attend the GRIP Leadership Conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre, where several student leaders from other schools across Victoria joined to build their leadership skills.
If you were to take a Road Rules test, or even a formal driving test (as is required once you reach a certain age in NSW), how would you go?
Manningham Council is offering its Wiser Driver course, free of charge, starting in late October. Most people who've taken this course thoroughly recommend it!
Doncare has advertised its Gala Function to which all members are invited. If you are interested in the evening, please let one of our Co-Presidents know as we may be able to make up a table of ten.
If you would like to consider a donation, please also let us know.
