ROTARY OF PERTH PRESIDENT UPDATE - 27TH MARCH 2018

I believe I say this every week, but Wow! What an amazing week for the Rotary Club of Perth! And Wow again for this week as well! It is humbling to see all the activities that our club members are contributing their time, energy, and finances to every day of the week. From Sydney to Canberra, Atlanta, Georgia to Perth, the Rotary Club of Perth is selflessly serving its local and global communities.

First up, the Rotary Club of Perth was privileged to be represented at the Rotary International Peace Conference in Sydney by Rebecca Tolstoy. Among the attendees showing the power of Rotary through peace was the Rotary International President & fellow Australian, Ian Riseley, Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, World Vice Chair for Rotary Action Group Against Slavery Dave McCleary, and many others.
For the Rotary Club of Perth, Dave McCleary (Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Roswell in Georgia, USA) has been a tremendous support to Rebecca and Path of Hope. When Rebecca first met Dave at the RI these two Rotarians immediately saw the links between Human Trafficking and Family and Domestic Violence. What was more so remarkable was the approach each Rotarian was taking to address these issues through the framework of Rotary internationally.
 
Over the past two weeks, Rebecca has hosted Dave across from Sydney and then to Canberra and Perth. In Canberra, superstar PoH volunteer Victoria Jackson meetings organised meetings between Rebecca and Dave with numerous lawmakers to share the message on what Rotary is doing COLLABORATIVELY across the globe…in particular between the US and Australia. RCP member Sen. Dean Smith was gracious in hosting a lunch for us visiting Perth Rotarians including, Dave, the president of the Canberra Rotary Club, and visiting Rotarians from Canada on behalf of the RI President in Parliament House. One of the key messages I heard throughout all these meetings from Dave was “the Power of Rotary”. When members of the community use their voices and their actions to create positive change for the world, this sends a powerful message to our lawmakers!
 
Also at lunch, Sen. Dean made a great suggestion that I’d like to share with our members! Sen. Dean suggested that the RCP make a trip to Canberra in the June/July timeframe (when the Parliament is sitting) to see firsthand how the wheels of government work. Sen. Dean offered us the opportunity to meet with our WA legislators, to attend question time as visiting public, have lunch in the Parliament House dining room, and also see some of the great sites of Canberra (e.g. the War Memorial which I’m sure someone like Philip Skelton could help us organise with a military historian for exclusive insight!). No doubt this would be a fantastic club fellowship event! Jill Dawson has already put her hand up to help with planning of a dinner while there so you know this will be one NOT to miss! Please email me to express your interest to participate….numbers are limited!
 
“Collaboration” has also been a key word for our club over the past several weeks. Our involvement in a number of joint events with the Rotary Club of Crawley have proved a great success. These included:
The One in Million Dinner which raised over $13,000 for Orange Sky – a grass roots NFP providing mobile showering and laundry services for the homeless. Jill Dawson was our club’s principle supporter of this joint event and judging from its success (nearly 100 participants) we know she had her hands on things!
UWA Careers Day which saw RCP, RC Crawley and our Rotaract Club of Perth generate over 100 signups from students interested in finding out more about volunteering opportunities with Rotary. The joint team is planning a social catch up on 6 April (?) TBC where all the students will be invited to find out more about specific opportunities to serve the community. I believe this will be a great opportunity to draw new members for not just Rotaract, but also Rotary projects.
Joint Panel on Human Trafficking. Today’s breakfast meeting at the RC of Crawley was another successful gathering of Rotarians from across the community. It is out intent to continue this type of collaboration in the years to come.
 
 
 
Please be sure to check the bulletin for the upcoming meeting dates. As the Easter holidays and District Convention looms, there are some Fridays where we will not meet.
 
Finally, our next major event is the evening Leadership Series with Mike Utsler, COO of Woodside, and leader extraordinaire. This is an event not to be missed…and one you should look to invite colleagues and friends to. While we are not using this as a ‘recruitment drive’, it will no doubt be a great opportunity for members of the public to learn about who Rotary is and what we do!

Join Leaders. Exchange Ideas. Take Action.
Yours in Rotary, Stephen Inouye - President - Rotary of Perth 2017/2018