Another Bunnings BBQ

Volunteering at the fun run

Community tree planting

Golf day winners

Beanies for new born babies

Some of our happy members

Our new meeting venue

TEAMWORK MAKES AUSTRALIA DAY BREAKFAST A BIG HIT

Here's a happy snap of some of our hard working Rotarians and partners preparing for a big day of cooking and serving bacon and egg rolls at the Wyndham Council's Australia Day breakfast event.

The fantastic group of 12 combined together like a well-oiled machine to deliver very tasty rolls.

We were also joined by Rotarians from other clubs in the cluster including Wyndham, Laverton Point Cook and Wyndham Harbour. It highlights the fact that our clubs can work together in harmony to achieve great results.

The morning started sluggishly and we thought it was going to be a flop. But gradually the crowd descended upon us and we were kept on our toes until the event closed at midday. In the end, we made a modest profit which will be shared between each club. But the combination of teamwork and camaraderie between everyone involved far outweighed any small amount of money that was made. This event could become a permanent fixture for the cluster in the future.

SUPPORT FOR ORPHANAGE SCHOOL IN PHILIPPINES

The Bahay Ni San Jose Orphanage is in Papaya, Luzon, Philippines and run by 4 Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. There are 52 children (18 girls, 34 boys) up to the age of 12 years who are abandoned, unwanted, from troubled homes or with mild physical, mental or hearing disabilities.

The Sisters have had a new school built at the orphanage, entirely with donations of money, materials, labour and pro bono professional support. This 2 story, 8 classroom school building was opened in May 2022.

Werribee Rotary Club, in partnership with Cabanatuan City Rotary Club in The Philippines, undertook the Orphanage School Classroom Equipment Project which involved the purchase and installation of essential classroom furniture and equipment at a cost of A$15,000. Werribee RC donated $10,000 towards the cost and Rotary District 9800 supplied a grant of $5,000. The Cabanatuan City RC provided financial oversight together with technical support in installing the 10 computers, 2 printers and software.

In the new school, these children will now have enhanced learning opportunities from kindergarten to Grade 6. The Sisters have employed additional teachers for the new classrooms and fully-equipped computer room.

Their new learning situation is far superior to what they had before. The aim of the orphanage sisters and the teachers is to provide these children with enhanced education opportunities and learning experiences to increase future opportunities in their lives.

SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY AT CHRISTMAS

The above picture shows Ian Hovey, President of Werribee Rotary, proudly presenting a cheque for $5,000 to Uniting Wyndham's Housing Team Leader, Deb Gorsuch. Uniting Wyndham plays a major role in the Wymdham community in supporting disadvantaged families and single adults. The money was used to provide 100 families with a hamper of food and drink for Christmas.

These are luxuries that are not normally able to be purchased by these consumers.

INTERACT HELPING ALFRED HOSPITAL

The images above show students, parents and Rotary partners at an Interact working bee at Wyndham Central College. The group is creating special bags for the outgoing patients at the Alfred Hospital Mental Health unit.

The work required is to shorten the handles, to print a label and to sew the label on to the bag.

Some of the patients have nothing in their possession and no means of support when they leave the hospital. The aim of the work done by the Interact group is to provide a bag which will be filled with a few toiletries and other special needs to give the patients a feeling of personal pride, hope and comfort on their road to recovery.

BINGO NIGHTS SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY

It's eyes down at 6:30pm for up to 100 people who attend a Rotary Club of Werribee Bingo event every Monday evening.

When each game commences, there is much silence and concentration as each player focuses on marking their card as the numbers are called. And, if they are the first person to shout "BINGO!" when their card is fully marked, there is much excitement in the room. Many games are played which gives all players lots of opportunities to collect a winning prize.

Players are very comfortable with the fact that our club profits from each evening and that all income raised is distributed to worthy community projects and organisations.

One of President Colin Muir’s first duties in the new Rotary year was to attend the Bingo. Colin was happy that all is going well despite the threat of Covid19. Colin said “It’s great to see the local residents coming out on a cold Monday evening to play Bingo. With two prizes of $1000 each going off during the evening I am not surprised how popular the Rotary Bingo is”.

Caller Ian and his team run a very professional and slick operation and always make the night not only fun for patrons but also a great success for some.

BABY BEANIES DELIVERED TO LOCAL HOSPITAL

Over 600 very colourful baby beanies, knitted by one of our Friends of Rotary, have been donated to the local Werribee Mercy Hospital's maternity ward. Helen Shaw, the sister of one of our members, has dedicated her time over the past 12 months to knit at least two beanies every day. Each beanie includes a small message "KNITTED WITH LOVE. PLEASE TAKE ME HOME". It also asks the parent of each baby to take a snapshot of their new-born wearing the beanie and then send the photo to us for publication on our social media sites. In this way, we can proudly show the world some of the good work we are doing for our community.

Three hundred babies are born each month in this fast-growing municipality. So this first batch of beanies will only last for about 2 months. We'll have to ask Helen to knit faster to keep up with the demand.

The hospital was delighted with the delivery and expressed their sincere gratitude for the wonderful gesture.

Pictured above left to right - President Graham Roper, Past President Ian Hovey, Micki Hovey, the mother of a newly-born baby and a maternity nurse.

CLUB HOSTS YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FORUM

Werribee Rotary, in conjunction with Beyond Blue, recently conducted a very successful Youth Mental Health Forum.

150 people were in attendance including the Under 18 teams from Hoppers Crossing and Werribee Districts Football Clubs in addition to students from MacKillop College. The two football teams subsequently competed in a football game playing for the Beyond Blue Cup.

The basic purpose of the forum was to tell the young people in the room that, if they are experiencing feelings of anxiety or depression, there is support and all they need to do is reach out.

There were a couple of excellent speakers including:

Todd Morgan from Outside The Locker Room, an organisation which provides mental health education and welfare support to sporting clubs, schools and the workplace.
Tom Downie who played AFL football with the GWS Giants between 2012 and 2016. He told the audience about the downward spiral of inadequacy he experienced as a footballer during this time. It reached breaking point when, in 2017, he stood before his teammates and officials to tell them of his decision to retire due to mental health problems.

After he left GWS, Tom sought help from Beyond Blue. As part of his rehabilitation, he now speaks very openly about his challenges at public forums. His message is simple – if you are not OK, speak to someone about your problems, whether it’s your parents, a friend, a doctor or a professional counsellor.

Werribee Rotary was proud to be involved in this project and hopes that it will help young people in the community to come to terms with an issue that is too often ignored.

The photo above show the captains of the two football teams displaying the Beyond Blue Cup.

CLUB VISITS WERN

Club members and partners paid a special visit to Rotary's WERN warehouse. WERN stands for Western Emergency Relief Network. It has been in operation for 7 years and is a joint project between 13 Rotary clubs in the western region of Melbourne to support families in desperate need of essential household items.

WERN obtains second hand furniture, whitegoods, blankets, pillows, and household goods which are then made available to needy families at no cost. There are a wide range of people who access the services including people from broken marriages, victims of domestic violence, fires and emergency events or others who have fallen on hard times.

Currently about 55 support agencies such as church groups, aid agencies and social work groups pay a fee to be a member of WERN which allows them to bring 'clients' into WERN and select goods. The WERN member Rotary Clubs can also refer people in need to the system.

Over the past twelve months WERN has provided support to around 900 families.

WERN operates on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each week, but is looking to open Mondays, and later Fridays. They are always seeking support from volunteers to undertake light duties, handyman duties, and general warehouse tasks.