Hello fellow Rotarians,

I hope you have been able to enjoy the sunshine we have had over the past few days.

This week I talked to our NYSF (National Youth Science Forum) candidate Keely Xia from Dandenong High School who was so appreciative of our support for, in her words “..this once in a lifetime opportunity..”.  According to Keely’s homeroom teacher she is in the top 3% of students at Dandenong High and is a dedicated student who is a problem solver and independent thinker.  I found her be articulate and respectful, she addressed me as Miss Ramsay even after I introduced myself as Cherie on the phone.  Keely is interested in engineering, particularly in robotics which she has been passionate about since primary school.  Hopefully Keely makes it through the selection process as I think she is a great candidate.

Speaking of great opportunities for youth don’t forget MUNA (Model United Nations Assembly) is on Saturday August 19^th at Nossal High School.  This year our club has sponsored two teams from Lyndale Secondary College who will represent India and Saudi Arabia.

There will be four resolutions debated which relate to humanitarian, environmental, economic, and political topics.  This year’s topics are:

• The global environment and a meaningful response to natural disasters.

• Restructure of the United Nations Security Council

• Protection of international trade routes

• Social Media regulation.

If you haven’t attended MUNA I highly recommend it.  The students really get into their roles and make deals and alliances and use rhetoric etc.  Please see the invite below for details.

On Thursday night we had the first meeting of Presidents in our cluster with our new AG, Leanne.  It was a great night and exciting to hear the ideas from other clubs and also their enthusiasm for some cluster events this year.  We talked about membership and Jen who is a member from Berwick Rotary spoke to us about creating some video content to promote Rotary and who we are and what we do.  There was great support for this and offers of support in tips for taking videos and editing them.

Thanks to Terry for organising the final working bee a the house in Endeavour Hills on Saturday 29 July) and the members who helped out including Leanne for doing a coffee and cookie run!

We are only two weeks out from our clubs Mental Health Forum called Healthy Minds which Leanne has been organising.  This is a great community event put on by our club that supports our RI President Gordon McInally’s focus on mental health and how Rotary can make a difference by “.. opening up the conversation about mental health and helping people get access to any professional help that they might need,”.   There are great speakers and information from local agencies such as Operation New Start and Headspace.  Please make sure you share the invite with family and friends and if you’re on Facebook share the Club’s post about it.  Tickets can be purchased through the link on the invite and please let Leanne know if you are able to help out.

Don’t forget to bring your foreign currency for Brian’s collection tin for UNICEF.

Dates to Remember

Tuesday August 1^st – Social night.  Dinner at Positanos. 

Tuesday August 8^th -  Joe Rechichi from Springvale Benevolent Society

Tuesday August 15^th – Healthy Minds forum, Lyndale Secondary College

Saturday August 19^th MUNA – Nossal High School Theatre.

As always please RSVP through club runner for meetings.

Have a great week and Create hope in the world!