D9640 MattersDistrict Governor's monthly news

September2016

November is Rotary Foundation month 100 years of serviceDG Michael and Roz were at RC Alstonville to celebrate the Centenary of The Rotary Foundation.

As part of the Club's Centenary celebrations, MIchael helped plant a tree in the local Bullwinkle Park and was joined by the mayor of Ballina Shire, David Wright OAM and club president Bob Costello.

Byron Bay Rotary is working with local organisations on a major fundraiser where all proceeds will go to their local community.

The inaugural Golf Ball Drop is a community event where numbered balls are dropped from a helicopter.

The event’s objective is to invest in young members of their community, with Byron Bay Rotary projects taking Bravehearts child protection shows to nine primary school and five preschools for eight consecutive years.

Ballina Rotary Clubs will take the Braveheart program to five primary school in that area this year, as well as many other youth scholarships.

Band, beer, burgers and high-flying balls

The club has combined their Centenary celebrations with a determined effort to raise further funds to assist the END POLIO NOW campaign as it has been a major part of The Rotary Foundation's endeavours for over 20 years. A  major three day fund raising program was held 21-23 October and a public information evening on 26 October.

With polio only in three countries the end of polio is close. However, the polio virus loves to travel so 'no-one is safe until everyone is safe'. END POLIO NOW.

NEWS FLASH…

D9640 Outback Links Raising the Spirits Trip, March 2017 It has been decided to return to Charleville in March 2017 to complete the projects we could not finish in September this year because of floods. John McKenny from Glen Innes Rotary has agreed to be the project captain and he plans to commence work in Charleville on Monday 20 March 2017. Stay tuned for more information next month.

CLUB ANNIVERSARY MILESTONES

Two clubs in our district are celebrating significant anniversaries. BOONAH ROTARY celebrated their 70th anniversary on 3 November. Here are some photos from their anniversary meeting.

President of Ipswich Rotary (mother club and President of Boonah Rotary

Tony and Nancy Stenton, DG Michael, PHF Debbie Stenton, President Ray Stenton, PHF Felix Grayson and Kristine Grayson

Boonah Rotarians-past and present

President Ray Stenton. 91 year old Boonah Rotarian Joe Dover, PDG and past president of Boonah Rotary, Arthur Devin and President of Ipswich Rotary.

LISMORE ROTARY is about to celebrate their 85th Anniversary. Here are the details.

WE’VE COME A LONG WAY

Prior to the development of a vaccine against Polio, epidemics of Polio in Australia caused great fear and extreme measures to limit the spread of this disease. In 1937 an epidemic occurred in Victoria, with the following reaction by NSW authorities: "The prevalence of the disease in Victoria caused concern in other States, particularly New South Wales. Up to twenty crossings into NSW were patrolled by police. Special police were stationed at railway stations, aerodromes, bridges over the Murray River and at the wharves in Sydney to control the possibility of the infection being spread from Victoria to New South Wales. Vehicles were stopped and checked. Unless those in charge of the vehicle had proof that any child under the age of sixteen years travelling in the vehicle, had not had contact for 21 days previously with known sources of the virus or had been exposed to the virus or had attended a school closed due to the illness then the vehicle was refused permission to cross the border into New South Wales.” Herman Claassens, President of Grafton Midday Rotary, has converted the Carr’s Creek Primary school into an elegant B&B. He located this entry in the schools Visitors Book. Many of us will remember our own polio vaccination/s.

The first three photos below show Warwick Sunrise Rotary working at the coalface of vaccinations in India. The final photos show Austinville Rotary members working hard at a sausage sizzle while the Austinville Inner Wheel ladies were painting purple pinkies.

Global grants for schools and shelters From January 2017 for three years, the construction of low cost shelters and schools will be eligible for Global Grants from The Rotary Foundation. These building must have sustainable outcomes such as vocational training and the education of children. Projects such as those undertaken by Stanthorpe Rotary in Fiji and Jimboomba Rotary in Vanuatu might be eligible. When details of these grants are known, District Foundation Chair, Neil Jones will advise all clubs.

Your $25 will make it a great Christmas for kids in foster care

There are around 900 children between the ages of 0-18 in foster care on the Gold Coast.

The Rotary e-Club of NextGen wants to provide Christmas presents this year for these very vulnerable children. The Club wants to make this a special Christmas for these kids who are in circumstances not of their own making and who have already suffered a great deal

The Club’s goal can only be achieved with community support and they are appealing for donations of age-appropriate gifts or $25 gift cards/vouchers.

Gift card/vouchers should be from a major store such as Target or K Mart. However, be mindful when buying the gift cards/vouchers, that the card cannot be used at stores where alcohol or cigarettes can be purchased, including supermarkets.

More information can be obtained from Bruce on 0414 701 505. The website for the project provides information about where to drop off gifts and how to make a donation: http://helpinggckids.com.au/

Or send donations and gift cards to: Helping GC Kids, PO Box 1761, Oxenford. Qld 4210.

Drop Off Points for gifts:

• Robina Community Centre, 196 Robina Town Centre Drive (corner San Antonio Court), Robina • Nerang Bicentennial Centre, 833 Southport-Nerang Road, Nerang • Southport Community Centre, 6 Lawson St, Southport • Helensvale Cultural Centre, Sir John Overall Dr & Lindfield Road, Helensvale • Upper Coomera Community Centre, 90 Reserve Rd, Upper Coomera • Ormeau Community Centre. 3 Cuthbert Dr, Ormeau

DR BILL BRAND, FOUNDER OF BOWELSCAN Bill Brand was born and raised in Lismore, NSW. He graduated in Medicine in 1941 from the University of Sydney. He joined the army as a Medical Officer and served in New Guinea. He established a Casualty Station on the bank of a creek on The Kokoda Track, which was called Brand's Crossing. He returned to Lismore and practised as a surgeon then consultant surgeon until his death in around 1990. Bill was a member of the Rotary Club of Lismore until his death. He spoke often of the need to reduce what he considered the unnecessarily high numbers of deaths from bowel cancer. On at least two occasions he addressed Medical Conventions in the USA. The Lismore Club agreed to trial an awareness program including the use of a test for the presence of blood in the bowel. The trial was successful in that a number of people were detected as having bowel cancer. The Club decided to proceed with the test annually as a community service and the D9640 District Governor agreed to adopt it as a District program. Meanwhile, Bill met with some contacts from other Districts in Canberra and they decided to form the National Bowelscan Committee, which commenced a program in 1983. The Committee consisted of the President and Medical Coordinator of each particapating District under Dr Brand as the elected Chair. The Committee was Incorporated and gained exemption from sales tax and GST. By 2012, fourteen Districts participated in the program and, on average, over 1,540 kits were sold mainly through pharmacists and then tested by pathologists. Many hundreds of lives have been saved by the program, which will continue until a Federal Government program is in place.

Lionel Phelps President, Rotary Club of Lismore, 1962-63

BIN OR THE FRIDGE?

Your PR mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pass the bin test. Here’s the scenario. You’ve worked hard to produce handouts for an event in the hope of grabbing new members to boost your flagging membership. You’ve created comprehensive documents describing everything about Rotary, your club and your activities/events over the decades. You’ve spent hours shoving these documents into presentation folders. Wow…impressive and probably costly. The event comes and goes, and you seem to have given out a lot of handouts. As you’re packing up you find a bin to toss your coffee cups into, and what do you see? Oh dear. It’s overflowing with your precious and expensive handouts. What went wrong? The answer is simple. You’ve fallen into the trap of giving people what you want, rather than what they want to take away with them and keep. So, how do to keep your PR collateral out of the bin and get it onto their fridge as a reminder to contact or visit your club? That’s easy. Start with a PR strategy and give them something they want to keep. When you’re producing PR collateral, think outside the square. People will more readily read and retain something with a few dynamic words, a powerful message and engaging images, rather than a text-dense document. They simply aren’t interested in a lot of detail at that very early stage — they can always do a web search when they get home. Try producing PR collateral that people will retain, such as:

• simple and colourful DL (1/3rd of A4 size) flyers with an enticing message inviting them to visit your club – with a free meal

• calendars: say DL size with a fridge magnet • list of local emergency contacts, in DL size with a fridge magnet • CPR instructions or what to do in the event of a stroke and/or heart attack, in DL size with a

fridge magnet • balloons for kids printed with your club name • colouring-in sheets for kids with your club name • collaborate with a local coffee shop for an offer, eg: buy 10 coffees then get one free. Vouchers

are printed by your Club and have your Club information on the reverse. In summary

• Be strategic. Determine your target demographic, then produce promotional material to appeal to that audience

• Don’t overwhelm with too much information • Give them a reason to keep the item • Make collateral simple, colourful and engaging.

Rhonda Whitton

DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S VISITS