CLUSTER MUSTER CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF FOUNDATION

 
 
The clubs in the Chirnside and Hobsons Bay clusters celebrated the centenary of the Rotary Foundation in style last Monday at the Yarraville Club.
 
The highlight of the evening was a group discussion by a panel of four people who have benefited by the Foundation. Convenor PDG Julie Mason posed questions to the panel members relating to their experiences in being the beneficiaries of the Foundation. They proceeded to give the audience an insight into the power of the the Foundation and the opportunities it generated for them.
 
The panel members consisted of:
  1. Jessica Trijsburg - She was selected to be a Rotary District 9800 World Peace Fellow at the University of North Carolina between 2011 and 2013. Her area of expertise is multicultural interfaith dialogue and peace building, particularly between Muslim and Christian communities. Jessica now works at Melton City Council as a Community Capacity Coordinator. She manages a team in the areas of community engagement, development, funding, leadership, and volunteering, as well as indigenous affairs and intercultural development.
  2. Lien Trinh - Lien is a public health consultant in eye care. She was funded by the Foundation in 2013-14 to attend the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has worked in PNG, Vietnam and with indigenous Australian communities. She also spent time in Sri Lanka after the country was hit by a tsunami. She used her network of contacts to source glasses for victims of the disaster. Lien is currently engaged by the Rotary Club of Melbourne to coordinate their End Trachoma by 2020 campaign.
  3. Del King - Del was a member of the Group Study Exchange team that visited India in 2012. She is a Youth and Community Liaison Officer with the Victoria Police. She is also currently the President of the Rotary Club of Flemington.
  4. Dennis Shore - Dennis is a Past District Governor (2012-13) and Past President of the Rotary Club of Hawthorn. In 2005, he led a Group Study Exchange team to New Mexico. He is the current District Foundation Chair.
The panel members proved to be insightful and inspiring and were proof that the Foundation is doing so many good things in the world.
 
The chair of the D9800 Foundation Centennial Committee, Ian Knight, expressed his thanks to the organisers and participants for making it a wonderful evening.
 
No expense was spared to celebrate the occasion including the lighting of a candle placed in a Rotary Christmas cake.