As our President, President Elect and Immediate Past President all take well deserved rests as we head into what I am sure will be an exciting Rotary year, I have the privilege of taking on a role as acting President.
At the meeting on Wednesday, Keishan Hunkar and Kiara Hickman from Monash Rotaract presented the Club with a certificate of appreciation for our support of RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards).
This Wednesday will have a special Christmas in July meeting, with the chef providing a succulent turkey and plum pudding dinner.
To make it a festive event, please wear a Christmas hat.
Prepare for trivia, jokes, stories of your family Christmas traditions and lots of fun.
A gentle reminder to those who haven’t already paid, membership fees are due and reminders have been sent out to those who haven’t paid.
Shia will be away for the next meeting and I will stand in while she is away.
Wishing everyone a sensationally fun week, as we Create Lasting Impact.
Keishan Hunkar RYLA Conference Leader of District 9815 Rotaract Club of Monash
Keishan presented his journey as a leader in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) over the 10 years he had been involved in Rotary. Keishan, who currently works for Bunnings Insurance, commenced his journey participating in Interact. An interest in leadership led him to join RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) in order to have more exposure to development of leadership skills. Continuing his journey to further develop as a leader he joined ROTACT with the goals of building connections within opportunities and shared connections.
In 2022 Keishan joined RYLA where he met new people and developed skills in organising events in a Rotary team. Although COVID put a pause on events and team communication was tedious via Zoom meetings, he returned in 2023 with more active and creative bonds with RYLA team members. Keishan applied and obtained in 2024 RYLA leadership to coordinate 6 to 7 member groups to equip them with skills to work as coordinated teams.
In the 10 months Keishan has been able to create an environment to equip team members with leadership skills. Embracing the spirit of RYLA magic in an environment of comfort and courage that empowers RRLArians to challenge themselves and comfort zones, within the safety net of friendship. RYLA has helped Keishan learn project management, emotional intelligence, adaptable leadership, facilitation and presentation skills, time management, an understanding of his ‘comfort’ zone and to take Selfies. As Keishan manages teams he continues to challenge himself, overcoming self doubt and giving projects courageously a go, having fun and helping others.
Well done to Mike Finke from our club who won third prize.
By the way we sold 68 books of tickets (680 tickets) and raised $1,360.00. This money will be returned to the club in the next week or so.
The draw was completed on the 16th July 2026.
Please find below the winning ticket numbers and the organisations which sold the ticket.
1st Prize. $20,000.00 towards the purchase of a new or used car from the GWS group.
Ticket number 51370 (Sold by Waverley Gymnastics).
2nd Prize. $1,000.00 BP Fuel Card.
Ticket number 59947 (Sold by Waverley Gymnastics).
3rd Prize. JB Hifi voucher to the value of $500.00
Ticket number 08538 (Sold by Rotary Club of Nunawading).
Well done to everyone who sold tickets on behalf of their club or organisation. Further information regarding the raffle can be found on the “RotaryclubofWaverley” Facebook page and Garry and Warren Smith website and social media platform.
Please see below about the presentation of the prizes and the opportunity for a club to win $1,000.00 by being present.
There will be a presentation night on Wednesday 29th July 2026 from 5pm.
This will be at GEELY, 1611 Dandenong Road, Oakleigh. Vic 3166.
Please RSVP by close of business Friday 25th July 2026 advising how many of your organisation will be attending.
At the presentation of the three raffle prizes to the winners there is an opportunity for 5 (five) communitygroupspresenttowin$1,000.00fortheirclub/organisation/charity.
Dementia cafe this week was a special themed one as we were farewelling Jacob, a Melbourne Uni science student, who volunteers at the Cafe. Jacob is off to Denmark to further his research in neuroscience.
Thanks to Shia, Judy and Bob for the special treats.
All the volunteers and clients at Dementia Cafe so appreciate our contribution.
The next cafe 12th August, so please feel free to contribute.
Think you know a little bit about everything? Come along to our August Networking Event – Trivia Night for an evening of networking, laughs and some friendly competition.
Whether you're coming with colleagues or flying solo, it's a great opportunity to make new business connections while putting your trivia skills to the test.
7:30pm start at Melbourne Baseball Club, Surrey Drive, Box Hill.
Rotaract is a worldwide organisation of young people aged 18+ working together to change our world through community service, international understanding, professional development, friendship & fun.
After many years at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons building in East Melbourne, Interplast is moving our office to the Australian Volunteers International building in Johnson Steet Fitzroy, in order to significantly reduce our rent.
As part of our re-location plans, we need to digitise some of our hard copy records. We are hoping that some of the wonderful District 9815 Rotarians may be in a position to volunteer some time in the next 3 weeks to help scan hard copy documents and then file them in SharePoint. We will have instructions and protocols in place, and a staff member to brief and aid the volunteers.
If there are any questions, please pass on my phone number – 0487 13 00 41.
Whitehorse City Council is proud to host National Tree Day annually with the help of our community. This important event supports our Urban Forest Strategy by enhancing urban biodiversity, expanding our urban forest, and working towards our goal of increasing canopy cover across the municipality. We invite you to be part of this rewarding day. Join us on Sunday 26 July 2026 at Cootamundra Walk East to help plant trees and contribute to a greener, healthier future for our community. Together, we can make a lasting impact on local biodiversity.
Cootamundra Walk