ROTARY OF PERTH PRESIDENT UPDATE - 7TH NOVEMBER 2017
As we start to head into the holiday period, our lives no doubt become ‘busier’ as we look to tidy up loose ends at both work and home to enable many of us to relax and enjoy the holiday season. I trust that this will be a great time for our members to enjoy with families and friends, but am also cognisant that this may not necessarily be the case for some. In the spirit of Rotary and fellowship, I would encourage all of our members to think about how we might be able to make this a festive season for not only other members of our club, but also for our community.
 
If you attended our meeting last week, you would have become aware that November is National Asbestos Awareness Month. We were privileged to hear from our guest speaker, Prof. Richard Lake, about new treatments that unleash the immune system against cancer; these are giving promising results in some patients with mesothelioma and other cancers, but unfortunately not in everyone unfortunately.
 
Our club’s support of Reflections Through Reality Foundation (https://www.reflections.org.au/ ) “is personal”. It was great having Richard Gardner, a former RCP member and brother of Tony Gardner, visiting with us for this presentation. Likewise, it was a privilege to host Bruce Watkins, Chair of RTRF, Jo Morris, RTRF Operations Manager, and Renee Knowles, wife of Barry Knowles who established the Foundation as guests as well.
 
  
 
Together, the Rotary Club of Perth in partnership with Reflection Through Reality Foundation are aiming to raise $22,500 for RTRF. The raising of these funds will help to purchase a blood analyser machine which will significantly improve the research team’s capacity to assess the efficacy of new therapies to treat mesothelioma and other solid cancers by enabling quick analysis of blood samples.
 
 Our target is to raise these funds in the next three weeks to enable the presentation of a cheque to the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases by our Christmas Breakfast. To date, RTRF has already raised half the funds for this machine (total cost $45,000). We are proposing that the funds raised for the purchase of the machine will be given in part to the memory of Barry Knowles, founder of Reflections Through Reality Foundation (RTRF). Barry never faltered in sharing his passion for finding a cure and supporting fellow sufferers right up until his passing in December last year. There are opportunities to recognise others for gifts given as well. (See attachment to this bulletin). If you would like to be a part of the giving program, please see the flier included in this bulletin or feel free to contact Jo Morris at jomo@reflections.org.au or via mobile on 0407 255 221.
 
In terms of club events, I know that your calendars are full, but please ensure that you BUY YOUR TICKETS to the club’s annual New Year’s Vienna Pops Concert. This year Marco and team have created a new twist…not only will we be celebrating a New Year’s Eve Concert, we will also have a matinee concert which looks to provide a great family event. This is of course is one of our club’s key fund raising events so please come and support! General admission is to be booked online: http://www.ticketswa.com/event/vienna-pops-new-years-eve-2017?ct=t(VPops_Ticket_Sales9_3_2017)  Please contact Marco Camer-Pesci for VIP tickets.
 
Thanks once again for all you do for Rotary.
 
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Yours in Rotary, Stephen Inoyue - President - Rotary of Perth 2017/2018