At the club's meeting on 3rd July, we bid a sad farewell to our exchange student Andrea Fredskild.

Andrea arrived in Australia 12 months ago as a shy and wide-eyed girl and is now returning to her home in Denmark as a confident young lady. She was a student at Westbourne Grammar where she developed long-lasting friendships with her fellow students. She thanked everyone for their support of her, particularly her Rotary hosts. With their love and caring, she always felt at home and was very grateful to those who took her on trips to many parts of Victoria and Australia. One of her greatest highlights was the trip to Central Australia with her fellow exchange students.

Andrea said that, while she is excited to be returning home to see her family and friends, it is sad to leave. The whole exchange program has been an amazing experience to her. She has great memories of our country which will remain with her for a long time and promised that she would return one day.  She thanked our club for being so supportive.

On behalf of the club, President Graham thanked Andrea for being a part of our club for the past 12 months and wished her every happiness and success in the future.

The Rotary Club of Flemington has presented our member Lorry Rowe with the club's Vance Hilton Community Leadership Award for 2018. The award is named in honour of Past District Governor Vance Hilton who was a dedicated member of the club.

The award recognises a person who has, through their unwavering dedication to their community, enhanced the lives of people through a project or program which makes a difference.

In presenting the award, President Lesley McCarthy said "Lorry has dedicated her life to helping those in need. Through her daily endeavours at the Fit4Use store, she leads a team of volunteers who collect, sort, display and sell countless items which are donated daily. She also financially supports an orphanage and school in the Philippines which cares for disabled students, and a school in Thailand for girls".

Congratulations Lorry. Well deserved.

Tarneit grandmother Sue Tantaro is doing all she can to support her three grandsons –Anthony, Jakob and Lukas – who were all born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a condition that causes muscle wasting, breathing difficulties and heart problems.

The degenerative disease means by the time the boys are 12, they will lose their ability to walk. In their teens, they’ll lose their upper body function and will eventually become quadriplegics.

Most DMD sufferers usually die from heart or respiratory failure in their early to mid 20s. The condition affects one in 3500 boys and one in 50 million girls.

Sue’s eldest grandson, Anthony, was diagnosed three years ago just shy of his fifth birthday. The family then discovered his condition was hereditary.

By this time, Maree’s sister, Samantha, already had son Jakob, now five, and was heavily pregnant with Lukas, now three. Both boys have since been diagnosed with DMD.

Sue’s other daughter, Logan, is now being tested for the disease-carrying gene. If she is found to have it, Logan will opt to have children through IVF, which can eliminate the risk of her children having DMD.

“I think I’ve cried every day since Anthony was four and 10 months. As a grandparent, I worry about my daughters, who worry about their own children,” Sue said.

Samantha and Maree will eventually have to quit their jobs to be full-time carers for their sons.

The family is keen to raise awareness about early detection of the disease, and will hold a fundraiser next month to go towards the boys’ medical and lifestyle expenses.

Sue estimates that it will cost more than $1 million to care for the boys, who will need wheelchairs, modified cars and houses, and regular physiotherapy, speech therapy and hydrotherapy.

“The government does help, but there’s not unlimited funds,” she said.

“We are working with the charity organisation Save Our Sons. There is hope … you always live in hope.”

Sue is attempting to raise $100,000 to take the boys to Italy to receive a special drug that may benefit them. The drug is available in Australia but it is very expensive because it is not on the PBS. She has raised $35,000.

Click here to view a moving video of the three boys.

We are invited to a party to help the people from the tiny nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean celebrate their 39th year of independence.

The celebrations are taking place on Saturday, 14th July at 6pm at the Collingwood Town Hall.

A wonderful evening is planned to celebrate the unique Kiribati culture.

You can expect the following:

• Traditional I-Kiribati Dancing
• Island feast
• Singing
• Dancing
• Hangi style pig 

This is a feast style event in the traditional way of Kiribati, so bring a dish to share at the banquet. BYO alcohol and finger food or snacks for your table.

Cost of entry is only $10.

Jason Daddy is planning to book a table for 10 so, if you are able to attend, please let Jason Daddy know as soon as possible.

Planning is well advanced for the celebration of the club's 50th anniversary on Saturday 18th August.

This special function will be held at the Werribee Racecourse Function Centre. The guest speaker will be Ian Riseley who is just completing his year as RI President.

If you haven't already received an invitation, please click here.

Click here to register on-line.

Next year's District Conference promises to be much different and much bigger than anything before. It will be a Multi-District Conference consisting of four of the Districts in Victoria. It will be held on 16-17 February 2019 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Organisers are working hard to deliver a great conference. There will be many inspiring speakers and a large number of breakout sessions to enable delegates to choose sessions with specific Rotary content. There will aslo be a Youth Forum as well as an Interact/EarlyAct Forum.

Registrations will open on July 1st.

Click here to visit the conference website.

Click here to view a flyer of the event.

Click here to register online.

• Footy Tipping - Tony Todaro and Ross Smith continue to lead the pack, closely followed by Marty Vaina.

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