Congratulations to David Martin for organising such a successful week for the students involved with the DIGIT program. David has received wonderful and supportive feedback from the organisations that the students visited and are looking forward to being involved again next year. David also asked the students for feedback from their visit and is going through their comments now.
I would like to thank Rob Wilkinson and Pam Wood for helping me organise the wonderfully successful lunch that we had at North Ryde RSL on Saturday 24 May for ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children). ROMAC is an official project of Rotary International (RI) and is supported by Rotarians and Rotary clubs in all districts in Australia and New Zealand.
ROMAC is one of only a few multi-District Zone 8 projects approved by RI. Others are Australian Rotary Health, Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS), Rotary New Zealand World Community Service and Rotary Down Under.
ROMAC is run entirely by volunteers and has no offices or paid staff. Overheads and administrative expenses are paid out of earnings on capital. Expenses for the treatment of children are paid from donations and grants. ROMAC currently receives no government funding so relies very heavily on the generosity of Rotarians and other supporters to enable them to treat children. And for this they are extremely grateful.
The lunch was organised after I received an email from Glenys Parton, Chair of ROMAC, who was visiting Sydney from New Zealand and who wanted to meet with our club to thank us for the support that the club had given to ROMAC over 25+ years. With the help of Rob and Phill Isaacs OAM, who supplied me with the names and contact details of people who have been involved with ROMAC, invitations to the lunch were sent. Pam contacted the other Rotary clubs in our district and invited them to attend. We had approximately 60 people attend the lunch. It was great to be introduced to so many wonderful volunteers that have been involved with ROMAC over many years. We also had the privilege of meeting a couple of the doctors, Dr John Harvey (burns specialist) and Dr Matthias Axt (orthopaedic specialist) who have operated on the children supported by ROMAC. I would like to thank our District 9685 Governor Niranjan Deodhar for attending the lunch also.
Glenys Parton presented our club with a Certificate of Appreciation for the support that North Ryde Rotary Club has given to ROMAC. Our club makes an annual donation to ROMAC, and we thought that we would take the opportunity to present this year’s donation, which we added a Bunnings BBQ to and increase the amount to $5,000, to Glenys in person.
But a special congratulations to Rob Wilkinson who was presented with a surprise Lifetime Recognition Award for the work and support that Rob has given to ROMAC. I understand that this award has only previously been awarded to 5 people over the last 37 years. I would also like to thank Rob for going around the room and introducing the people there involved with ROMAC and interviewing them on their time with ROMAC. Rob also showed slides and videos of ROMAC patients. From this Ruth Vumbaca, the District Vocational Chair and a member of the Rotary Club of Warringah pledged her club would make a $1,000 donation to ROMAC. Thank you everyone for attending the lunch.
I would like to share with you part of an email that I received from Bruce Jacob, the President of the Rotary Club Epping, who attended the lunch:
‘Hi Rob and Garry,
Congratulations on a wonderful ROMAC afternoon; it was truly inspiring.
In my 15 years as a Rotarian, the 2 hours of the presentation is arguably the best 2 hour experience I’ve had as a Rotarian.
Your 25-year commitment and hands on involvement Rob is amazing; in young person language, “ you are a legend”.
Bruce’
I would like to wish Mei Yamamoto, our Youth Exchange Student from Japan, a very happy birthday for Tuesday 27 May. We are looking forward to celebrating Mei’s birthday and hearing her perform at the North Ryde RSL Club on Friday 30 May.
Planning for this year’s Annual Celebration Dinner being held on Friday 27 June at the North Ryde RSL are well underway. Please see the Invitation further on in this bulletin. A reminder to RSVP to myself or President-elect Mandy Van by Friday 6 June.
The Board will meet this Friday 30 May at 7.30am via Zoom. The Board will finalise the distribution of funds raised this year at this meeting. There is no Club meeting this week. Our next club meeting will be Friday 6 June via Zoom link below. District Governor Nominee Michelle Ellery will be our guest. All are welcome to attend.
