Pictured above is a delighted President Rob Fava (middle) who has just inducted two new members into our club. 

Welcome to our newest Rotarians, Mahindra Patel and Ravi Chaudary, who both expressed pride in joining the club and also about the exciting opportunity to work with fellow Rotarians to support our community.

In his acceptance speech, Mahindra said he hoped to make a difference. To emphasise the point, he told the tale of the starfish.

The images shown above are logos of some of the local community groups that Werribee Rotary has provided financial assistance to over the past few years.

Thanks mainly to the income provided through our weekly Bingo program, we have been able to assist many needy community groups who use the funds to support their activities. Some of the recipients were successful applicants for a grant through our annual Community Grants project. Others are organisations that we have a close relationship with and that we regularly support.

Our goal of helping others is certainly making a positive difference in our community and we are proud of these achievements.

At a recent club meeting, we had a special visit from Immediate Past District Governor, Ron Payne (pictured right), who presented last year's club President, Kim Deneys, with a Rotary Citation in recognition of the work we do to support our local and international communities.

Ron expressed his congratulations to members and their partners for the magnificent effort in supporting the 2023-24 Rotary theme - "Create Hope in the World". He said that only 8 citations were awarded in District 9800 which comprises 60 clubs in various parts of Melbourne and regional Victoria.

President Kim thanked PDG Ron for recognizing our club. He said it was an honour to lead such a great group of hard-working members and partners who helped promote the club during the 2023-24 Rotary year.

Sixty people recently attended a pleasant Sunday afternoon high tea function to celebrate the end of one Rotary year in our club and the dawn of another. The photo shows outgoing President Kim (right) officially handing over the chain of office to Rob Fava who will lead the club for the next 12 months.

In his final address, President Kim expressed his thanks to all members and their partners for their wonderful support of him during the year. He proudly identified some of the many projects that we completed or have continued with during 2023-24. 

President Rob thanked Kim for leading the club so well. He vowed to continue the fine work that has been achieved over the past few years and he hopes members will join him on that journey.

In addition to members and their partners, the function was attended by some dignitaries including 3 councillors from the Wyndham City Council, various Presidents from neighbouring clubs and the District Governor Nominee Graeme Hope.

Click here to view some photos of the afternoon.

'Daisy' the delightful dog attended a recent Interact meeting at Wyndham Central College. Daisy is one of the Story Dogs that our club is sponsoring and she visits the Riverbend Primary School to assist Grade 2 students with their reading. 

The concept of the Story Dogs program is to assist young children to improve their literacy skills and their self-confidence by reading to the dog. The accepting, loving nature of dogs gives this program its magic and helps children relax, open up, try harder and have fun while reading to a friendly, calm dog.

The Interact students (pictured above) loved the concept and are now raising funds to sponsor a dog too.

Pictured above is Professor Vasso Apostolopoulos being awarded one of Rotary's highest honours, a Paul Harris Fellow. She received the award from President Kim Deneys.

For the past two years, the proceeds from the club's annual golf day, which amounts to $50,000, has been directed to the medical research facility at Victoria University. Vasso is the head of this facility. Her team is doing tremendous work in developing vaccines for various forms of cancer and other diseases.

Vasso was born and educated in the western suburbs of Melbourne. She studied at the Universities of Melbourne and Oxford. In the 1990's, she was the first to develop a method of immunotherapy to stimulate the immune system, which is used today by hundreds of labs around the world. Twenty years ago, she conducted human trials of vaccine formulations for breast and ovarian cancer. One of those trials now has long-term follow-up data showing that, 25 years later, those injected with the cancer remain cancer free.

Vasso has also applied immunotherapies to other diseases including multiple sclerosis, diabetes, drug addiction and alzheimer’s disease.

Pictured above are Maddy Farnaby, Emergency Relief Co-ordinator at Wyndham Uniting and Graeme Roper, Past President of Werribee Rotary.

The new and used toys shown in the picture are just some of the first batch of gifts donated by our club to the Uniting Christmas Appeal for families of children who will find things tough over the Christmas period. More toys will be handed over as the festive season draws closer. Maddy was delighted with the delivery and expressed her sincere gratitude for our contribution.

Our club will also be donating funds to Wyndham Uniting to enable them to supply Christmas hampers for needy families in the municipality. This will be the second time we will be helping to make things a little more joyous for those who will struggle to provide for their loved ones. 

Sadly, many children at local school Wyndham Park Primary arrive in the morning without having had anything to eat. For many years, members of Werribee Rotary and friends of the club have been supporting the school by visiting every morning to provide the students with some nourishment before they attend classes. Known as the Breakfast Club, the menu consists mainly of toast and fruit and the kids love it.

The school is also very grateful for the service we provide. Before the breakfasts were available, the young children would lose concentration in class and exhibit anti-social behaviour. Now they are much more attentive and engaged which makes the teachers' job a more productive one.