ROTARY OF PERTH PRESIDENT UPDATE - 17TH OCTOBER 2017
 
How amazing it has been to see Rotary Club of Perth members “In Action”! This past week we saw tremendous support for our Eye Contact Photo Exhibition which is still on display in Cloisters Square. This photo exhibition sheds a light on a few of the faces who are directly impacted by the work that organisations such as Homeless Healthcare (http://homelesshealthcare.org.au/) are providing to assist those fallen to less fortunate circumstances. Speaking to some of those people whose photographs appear in the exhibit, it is amazing how what might seem like simple acts of kindness by others can be the turning point to change in one’s life. I hope that the show of support from our Rotary Club members on the exhibition opening night was as much an encouragement to those present as it was for those of us who attended.
 
Don’t forget this week we’ve got our Helping Hand Auction supporting the work of our Cambodia Family Support Project. On Thursday evening, 19 October at 5.00 pm, please come out to support the work of Vince and Helen Keane, Emma Cork, and all those who are working to make a difference in the lives of others particularly in Cambodia. This year’s auction will offer some fantastic items, including holiday accommodation, artworks, wine and even golf lessons! We thank Macquarie for its continued support of CFS and Rotary. We all know how hard it is to put on a great charity event, we can show our support and appreciation for the CFS team’s efforts by attending and better yet…by digging deep to bid on an item or two!
 
In case you were unable to attend our joint breakfast with the Rotary Club of Crawley last week, you missed out on a great meeting and fellowship. In addition to hearing some great insight into how our state’s Chief Scientist, Professor Peter Klinken juggles the competing interests of science, industry, and politics in his role, we witnessed the recognition of three great supporters of our club. PP John Garland presented three Paul Harris Fellowships to Sen. Dean Smith, Joanne Quinn, and Jamie Mackenzie. In his remarks, PP John acknowledged the continued support that these quiet achievers have continued to make in their work for our Rotary Path of Hope Project. Bringing their professional (i.e. vocational) skills to the benefit of projects such as the Path of Hope Gala Ball is but one example where all Rotarians and non-Rotarians (such as in the case of Joanne) can benefit the community. By working together, our club and Rotary can continue to achieve great things.
 
Speaking of working together, another outcome of our joint breakfast with the Rotary Club of Crawley was a commitment between our two clubs to work together on a project in early 2018. President Jaap Poll, along with the RCC’s Director, Strategy & Development, Karin Borzel, have assembled a great team of dedicated Rotarians from their club to kick this project off. Jill “Awesome” Dawson and myself have kindly agreed to join the planning committee to represent the RCP. Here is a brief summary on the project:
We are thrilled to be joining together with Rotary of Perth to run our second annual One in a Million!
The primary focus of One in a Million is recognising someone from within the community who displays “Service Above Self” and the vales of the 4-way test but who, most often, goes under recognised for their contribution. We seek to award one of these amazing people each year with a Paul Harris Fellowship.
We have picked the area of focus for this year: Homelessness
 
Therefore, the funds that will be raised on the evening through auctions (silent or otherwise). The proceeds of all Donations will go towards this cause and, ideally, the specific charity associated with the individual who is nominated the PHF. We would will be starting with a small working group and would like to launch this ASAP. That being said, there are already pieces in motion so we are not starting from scratch. The date has been set for March 22nd 2018 at UWA Club; max capacity for the evening is around 200.
 
This week, we have two of our Rotarians returning from their 2 weeks in Cambodia (Alta Terblanche and Adrian Tan) as part of our Stiches of Hope Project, one outgoing (Rebecca Tolstoy) for our Rotary Path of Hope Project as she makes her way the United States and Genève (UN Headquarters) to continue the work for expanding POH across the globe. We appreciate that supporting projects take time, expertise and money…and as volunteers, we know this comes from our own pockets! On behalf of the Rotary Club of Perth, we thank you all for your commitment.
 
This week, I was again reminded of the generosity of others when I received a note from Ulrich Kunzmann when he sent through a note updating us on his recent cleaning out of the King Park Wishing Well. Ulrich said: “…23kg of coins to the bank, and as per the attached slip, there were 3007 coins worth A$907.00. I also have some 3 little plastic coin bags full of foreign coins from at least 21 different countries; they can be auctioned off at an appropriate occasion to further increase our takings from Kings Park…”   So this Friday, the task is to auction off the foreign coins Sergeant!
 
And speaking of wishing well, I dug a bit deeper (no pun intended) into its history with our “resident historian”, PP Dick Cook. Dick forwarded me a copy of the speech he gave to the Kings Park Board at King’s Park to mark the 50th Anniversary of the well. I have attached a copy of this great anniversary in the newsletter for your information. With the Peter Pan statue in Queens Gardens (East Perth) and the Wishing Well in Kings Park, it is only a matter of time until our club achieves the trifecta with our “digital wishing well” in Elisabeth Quay. If you have an interest in joining this specific project committee, please see PP Graham Peden as we look to finalise the initial design in the coming new year.
 
Thanks again for all our members who contribute selflessly on what I know must be a daily if not weekly basis!
 
Join Leaders. Exchange Ideas. Take Action.
Yours in Rotary, Stephen Inoyue - President - Rotary of Perth 2017/2018