May is Youth Services Month. Rotary has many longstanding programmes that benefit youth. The International Youth Exchange networks, RYLA and RYPEN are three such examples. New programmes include support for the Wellington Regional Children’s Hospital and the centennial project, Rotary Give Every Child a Future. Many clubs prioritise youth initiatives in their planning and delivery of service programmes. The past 100 years is absolutely loaded with outstanding examples of Rotary supporting young people from our communities.
Our organisation has consistently been responsive, adaptive, creative and very well organised. Today we are meeting the many challenges presented by the COVID 19 https://covid19.govt.nz/communities/ lockdown in the same manner. Individual Rotarians, clubs, clusters and the District teams have embraced a variety of virtual opportunities and are continuously building new formats and acquiring new skills to keep our friendships and service ethic alive and well. We are guided by the Government’s COVID 19 advice as we turn our thinking towards the evolving shape of Rotary changeovers, training, meetings and service projects.
Increasing our ability to adapt: That is one goal of our new Rotary Action Plan. And wow, have we seen that ability put to the test this year.
In March, Gay and I were to visit Zimbabwe, Turkey, and eight other countries over the course of 30 days. After participating in a medical mission in Zimbabwe and Commonwealth Week activities in London, on the 11th day, we were packing our suitcases for Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
While attending a dinner at the High Commission for Pakistan in London, we received word that it would be impossible to travel everywhere on our itinerary. So, instead of flying to Zurich, we returned to Evanston and One Rotary Center.
Good morning all Club President’s secretaries, and Treasurers,
Please find attached the Rotary Foundation Form which should be emailed through to me when you process your Rotary Foundation funds. This is just a friendly reminder that we really need your funds sent through as soon as possible, so we can get them accounted for in this Rotary year.
Thanks in advance, and please be assured that your donation does make a difference in the lives of people not only in New Zealand but all around the world.
Kind regards,
Please go to 'read more ' to access the Rotary Foundation Donation Form
The COVID-19 Pandemic Lock-Down has curtailed our ability to provide District Learning and Development sessions through District Training Assembly and other face to face gatherings in our Rotary District 9940. But we have risen to this challenge and have now reprogrammed a range of Learning and Development sessions using on-line technology for the 2020/21 Rotary year, Rotarian's and Leaders of our District and Clubs.
DGE Gillian has asked to have District and Club Leaders Elect, as well s Rotarian's coming into roles for their club in the 2020/21 Rotary year, be provided with a range of Learning and Development on-line sessions presented by a great team of experienced and knowledgeable Rotary District leaders.
We have achieved this through some fantastic commitment by our session presenters with a range of key topics that will be presented over three weekends in May - starting next Saturday 16 May, then Saturday 23 May and finally Saturday 30 May.
District ICT Chair Richard Stephen has established a Zoom Conference platform that can provide Rotarian's of our Clubs with the ability to register and then access the presentations for the programmed times over the next three weekends in May.
How do you access the scheduled program of presentations to register your attendance?
Since the emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, Interplast’s ability to deliver our traditional programs has been severely interrupted.
International travel restrictions have closed all borders across the Asia-Pacific – even for humanitarian work unless it is COVID-19 related.
Interplast’s New Zealand and Australian medical volunteers have been required to focus on local COVID-19 responses, preparing for worst-case scenarios in their own countries.
We have been in regular contact with our international partners to ascertain how we can help them at this extremely challenging time. Their immediate needs have changed to focus on COVID-19 preparation and responses, so we are doing whatever we can to support them in this.
Recognising that Interplast is currently unable to deploy surgical and training teams across the Asia Pacific region, the organisation is prioritising virtual mentoring and digital training:
Have you considered being on a District Committee?
We’re keen to identify enthusiastic Rotarians who would like to have an involvement beyond their Club level. You may be an experienced Rotarian, a relative newcomer wanting to be further involved or a Rotaractor keen to develop your leadership potential.
You are likely to have a special interest / expertise in a particular field, be it Communications, International service, Membership, Youth programmes, Club Development, Foundation – the list goes on.
Check out the Directory for our range of District committees and contact me if you’d like to know more.
We’d love to hear from you.
Gillian Jones DGE. Gillian.rotary9940@gmail.com. Phone 0274403764.
Due to Covid 19 we have just been advised that we can extend the time for our travel raffle.The closing date is now the 20th June with the draw taking place on the 30th June.I thank those clubs who have returned ticket butts and made payments into the raffle account.
030791 0551609.000 Westpac bank Wanganui Rotary Club, Could I respectfully remind you that each payment needs to be identified by the club you belong to. I have had some difficulty with reconciling some tickets to payments as the club has not been identified.
Unfortunately I do know all the members in the District. Could those who have made payments withoutidentifying the club please could you email me with:
“IYM made me consider futures that had never even crossed my mind before by giving me opportunities that I would never get at school. And being alongside other girls with similar interests allowed us to help and encourage each other to explore our interests and turn them into possible careers.” Lucy McCrone, IYM Participant
Lucy was lucky enough to attend an IYM residential programme, and our goal in a COVID-19 world is to offer a different but no less inspiring experience to all the 142 programme applicants in 2020. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, our Innovative Young Minds programme will be moving online in July 2020.
Like many others, we are in new uncharted territory and need to think and work differently. We have chosen to use technology to adapt our programme and create something new and innovative for our young women. It is both exciting and challenging, but our goal is to inspire our young women to think innovatively so it’s only right that we do the same!
The COVID-19 pandemic is stopping many of our regular activities in their tracks. For Rotary, that has meant taking a fresh and imaginative approach to our meetings. Many clubs are successfully connecting by Zoom and discovering surprising advantages and opportunities.
Raising funds for our projects is not so easily solved. Rotarians love to get together for BBQs, dinners, sports events and performances. So how can fundraising continue under lockdown?
This is especially posing a challenge for our big Australasian centennial project, Rotary Give Every Child a Future. This three-year Pacific immunisation programme is committed to moving ahead regardless of the current difficulties and has put out a general appeal for funds from Districts and Clubs.
Drawing on innovative new ideas, it has also just launched a special E-card for this year’s Mother’s Day. The card can be downloaded and emailed to all those mothers who are important parts of the senders’ lives. Donations are invited in their names to help vaccinate Pacific women against cervical cancer.
Look out for future E-cards on special occasions like Christmas and birthdays, for the person who has everything!
As if one major threat wasn’t enough to Pacific Island countries, Cyclone Harold has hit some of them hard at the same time as they have been trying to avoid or contain COVID-19.
Small, fragile communities, their health systems resources are always under pressure, as sadly demonstrated by the fatal epidemic of measles last year in Samoa.
The Cyclone risk to the region is a regular threat, and cyclones have become more powerful in recent times. Remember Cyclones Pam, Winston and Gita.
This year has been no exception. Cyclone Harold struck in early April, starting in the Solomon Islands as a slow moving but damaging storm before heading to Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga, intensifying to the maximum level 5 as it advanced.
Severe flooding in the Solomons was followed by devastation to parts of the other island states caused by the cyclone’s winds of over 250 km an hour and the gigantic waves it generated, accentuated by king tides.
Byond Disaster NZ is a Charitable trust ‘not for profit’ organisation with overseas Donor Status.( section 32 Tax act)
Byond Disaster Relief is “Joining the Dots between the needs of victims in a disaster with our willing donors”.
Byond trained Response teams are volunteers that, Initiate,facilitate and coordinate relief aid.
Byond Disaster Relief partnering with Rotary Clubs, Corporates, Schools and other NGO’s, volunteer’s, local and National Governments and the UN cluster system.
Byond Disaster Relief NZ also prepositions supplies in New Zealand for responding in the ‘event of an event’. Family Water filter kits, temporary large shelters (child learning spaces, medical centre etc) tool kits, Shelter kits, water storage solutions, Luci Solar lanterns and more.
Byond Disaster Relief NZ believe in developing valuable and sustainable community relations amidst chaos.
Byond Disaster Relief NZ believes every community affected in a disaster is different “remember that”... ethnicity, religion, class system, and cultural.
Byond NZ can contribute assistance to the three phases of the disaster event.Emergency phase, transitional, and the early/long term recovery.
Byond NZ is part of a family of other independent
Byond disaster relief countries, such as Philippines, Australia, UK, and Brazil
In this month's Rotary Down Under magazine are two more NZ Rotary club innovative and creative initiatives, one by Dargaville Rotary and the other by New Plymouth North Rotary.
A five week advertising campaign has commenced on the Rotary Oceania Facebook that invites the public to contact Rotary if they are interested in finding out more about our organisation or are interested in membership.
District PR Chairs are asked to please make your (District Governor and) District Membership Chairs aware of this campaign so they can respond appropriately to contact by the public.
The first insertion was placed yesterday ( 3rd May) and advertising for each is NZ-wide and runs for 4 days each, ie. almost continuous advertising over this 5 weeks. They all are the same format and have accompanying text.
The ongoing issues around the COVID-19 Coronavirus have many Rotary Clubs trying to sort out ways for their members to engage with the club remotely, aka “Doing Rotary from home”. For many, a stay at home, social distancing regime will be an entirely new experience. Thankfully technology has improved massively, so it’s possible to stay engaged and do Rotary from the comfort of your own home. Here’s some tips to help you with a new online way forward.
Have a dedicated space at home: It is possible to have a video meeting from your lounge with your feet up, but that’s generally a bad idea. If you can, set yourself up with an actual “home office” space to work from, because that way you can block yourself off when you’re in that space to do work and Rotary-related tasks. Even a little corner of the kitchen table can make a huge difference in letting you get your head into that “Rotary" space
DG John H Mohi attending his home club (Wellington North Rotary) virtual meeting this morning (22/4) with guest speaker Rotarian Christine Hurley who is talking about one of Rotary 100 projects “Give Every Child a Future”.
Ross Forbister reported that two members from South Melbourne Rotary as well as Marion Patchett joined the meeting as well.
After watching the TV documentary on child poverty in 2011, Tracy Wellington and her husband decided they could try to make a difference.
Through contacts and social networking, they established Kiwi Community Assistance, a charitable wholesale "foodbank with a difference", collecting and redistributing not just food parcels to foodbanks, but also clothes and other donated dry goods. Operating costs are funded by donations and sponsorships.
Using the extensive infrastructure developed to detect poliovirus and carry out vaccination campaigns, the polio eradication program is helping protect people from COVID-19, especially in countries where polio is endemic, or people are especially vulnerable. From Pakistan to Nigeria, the program is drawing on years of experience fighting outbreaks to support governments as they respond to the new virus.
Rotary on COVID-19 and its impact on Polio Eradication efforts
The COVID-19 emergency will interfere with some aspects of polio eradication efforts. As a result, it’s all the more vital for Rotarians to remain committed to fighting polio. Read Rotary’s statement on COVID-19 and its impact on the fight to end polio.
Join Rotary for World Immunization Week
As scientists work to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, we can do our part to keep our communities healthy by encouraging everyone to immunize their children.
The global health community needs Rotary’s help to spread the word about the importance of vaccinations during World Immunization Week, 24-30 April.
At Rotary International we are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Glenna Goodacre.
Ms. Goodacre sculpted the PolioPlus statue at One Rotary Center in Evanston, Illinois. Dedicated in 1991, the statue depicts a Rotary member immunizing a child against polio with other children looking on.
As we work to achieve a polio-free world, Ms. Goodacre's statue reminds us of our commitment to end polio and provides us inspiration to finish the job. We are so thankful for Ms. Goodacre’s creative contribution to Rotary’s polio eradication efforts. endpol.io/2VPXNdA photo
We have two months left to recruit qualified candidates for the 2021-22 Rotary Peace Fellowshipand we need your help! As a Rotary leader, you play a key role in communicating information about Rotary Peace Centers programs to potential candidates. We encourage you to use and share these resources and help us uncover the next cohort of Rotary Peace Centers:
The Petone Rotary Club sponsored Alex to attend the forum back in 2016. He was head boy at Hutt Valley High School and then headed to University of Otago to study Health Sciences.
Alex applied for Medicine, but his grades weren't quite high enough after his first year of Health Sciences. After re-evaluation he decided to study a Bio Medical Science degree as he was fascinated by human anatomy.
Josef Shadwell, former Hutt Valley High School head boy, First XV halfback and member of the First XI Cricket in 2013, a parliamentary intern for Ginny Andersen in 2018, and currently Communications Coordinator at Massey University at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, featured as our guest speaker this week at our online Zoom meeting ( Petone Rotary Club).
Rotary Club of Takaro, Palmerston North Rotarian, PDG Mitchell Brown is doing his bit for our communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic lock-down of Level 4 and Level 3. As the Area Commander for the Manawatu Area of Fire and Emergency NZ he and his Area management team are leading the Palmerston North career fire stations and the 20 volunteer fire brigades that support the communities in the Horowhenua, Palmerston North and Manawatu council areas.
"All of our staff are supported with Pandemic PPE Kits and COVID-19 protocols and procedures to keep them safe and maintain their incident response bubble. I am really proud of all our front line personnel who have fronted up in this challenging time to support their community emergency response and incident needs."
Meanwhile, Mitchell's' role in the District with AG Roger Buchanan is to lead and facilitate our District Learning and Development program and needs for the 2020/21 District and Club leaders.
With support from DGE Gillian Jones we are providing Learning and Development opportunities on-line and through Zoom meetings through May and early June to assist Club Presidents to complete their preparation with their Club leadership teams and roles for the 2020-21 Rotary year, "Rotary - Opens Opportunities".
I am a community pharmacist but haven't been working on the front line but I have been working in the planning and support space to help my colleagues during a very stressful time, which they have really appreciated.
Pharmacists and their staff are essential workers and have been providing their usual services with a "closed door". Patients are allowed into the pharmacy in a controlled manner to allow for physical distancing to keep everyone safe.
Many pharmacies have set up two teams that don't work together if one staff member gets sick with COVID 19 there is another team to take over.
COVID-19 and the lockdown has wreaked all sorts of disruption to the usual ways of doing things but the Rotary Club of Hutt Valley has taken it in its stride and adapted.
The club's Wednesday breakfast meetings have continued by Zoom, and most weeks more than three quarters of the members click in to share 'Bubble' experiences and news over the cornflakes. What's more, the club has signed up and welcomed three additional young members 'virtually' - Nicky Lord, Martin MacLean and Lee Bell.
President Bruce Manning said that Rotary information packs had been delivered to their letterboxes and the Zoom welcome from all members was received really positively. As well as the Wednesday breakfast events, the club hosts a 'Friday Fives' session when club members - as well as others from within the wider Hutt clusters - meet by Zoom to socialise over a glass of wine.Hutt Valley club President Bruce Manning leading the club's online meeting
From David Shackleton-President Rotary Club of Port Nicholson 2019/2020
“The Rotary Club of Port Nicholson enjoy a well established relationship with the Malaghan Institute and have supported their work in cutting-edge research and clinical trials to advance the understanding of the immune system, across cancer, asthma and allergy, infectious diseases, gut health and brain health. Through the generous donations of past member Ian Paterson and fund raisers by Port Nicholson Rotary, the Club has developed a firm and long-standing relationship with the Malaghan Institute.
Kapiti Rotary's 2nd Zoom meeting was attended by 41 Rotarians,1 Exchange student and several family members. A virtual induction welcomed Nic as a new member and we were introduced to Leo - our newest Kapiti Rotary family member. Guest speaker was our own Richard May with his Reflections on Hong Kong and the meeting concluded with chats from members. A most enjoyable meeting.
The RYLA committee and alumni are working hard to bring a vibrant programme to nominees in January 2021. With all the uncertainty right now, what we can say is that we'll be ready to light up the New Year in January with RYLA in whatever form we can.
With the Covid 19 lockdown Fellowship has taken on many innovative new ways of 'doing'.
Contributions to the June District 9940 Bulletin will be very much appreciated and I am sure will be reflective of a new way of connecting and working.
The final acceptance date is Sunday 7th June.
All stories need to be as a word document and kept to a maximum of two pages.
Every year, May 5 is 
Dear District Officers
Rotary Club of Takaro, Palmerston North Rotarian, PDG Mitchell Brown is doing his bit for our communities during the COVID-19 Pandemic lock-down of Level 4 and Level 3. 
David Shackleton-President Rotary Club of Port Nicholson 2019/2020
Red Cross have a terrific little publication on “how to lead in disaster recovery”. 
June is : Rotary Fellowship Month -