What We Do
Rotary Clubs have portfolios to carry out the aims and projects of the organisation. Here’s an outline of those roles and the activities Woodend Rotary is undertaking.
Club Service
Club Service is a diverse portfolio that relates to the effective and efficient administration of club business, the health and vitality of clubs and the well-being, education and engagement of Rotarians.
Many areas within this avenue of service have become stand-alone roles within clubs including; Bulletin, Website, Social Media, Fellowship, On to Conference and Program.
Club Service Directors help ensure these roles are undertaken in a cohesive and coordinated way to provide members with clear pathways to contribute to the club in a meaningful way.
They can offer advice, encourage innovation, provide resources, and thank and recognise the efforts of others.
Community Service
The Community Service Director role is to enhance knowledge and understanding of local needs and challengers, and seeks to implement club projects and activities to improve life in our local community.
International Service
The role of the International Service Director is to provide the club with projects that satisfy the International service requirements of Rotary International.
Activities include:
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The club is currently engaged in Operation Cleft Pallet.
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We support Donations in Kind (DIK) in Footscray to gain a better understanding of their operation in shipping containers to Rotary projects around the world.
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We are preparing a project to fund a new school building in Vanuatu.
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West Bali Waste Management and Eduction Program
Membership and Publicity
This portfolio covers two key areas for the club.
Firstly, Membership includes the recruitment and the retention of new and existing members. Our club looks to promote a welcoming inclusive culture and our members are drawn from all areas of the community. Membership gives everyone a voice not only in the running of the local club but also our involvement in regional and even global projects.
Membership fees are totally transparent with the majority of money going toward major global initiatives, such as the eradication of polio, with some being allocated to local administration. We also look to ensure that our members engage with the club and have the opportunity to make a contribution. There is no set formula for this and our members range from the very active all the way to those who only come along occasionally. We will look to ensure you get the opportunity to play whatever part works for you.
The Publicity aspect of the role encompasses all areas of club promotion. This includes our local media activity, the promotion of key events, our social media activity and even this web site. Rotary Woodend also produces and publishes the New Woodend Star, a local community paper, which appears monthly and is distributed to over 3,500 homes.
Rotary Foundation
The Rotary Foundation offers grants that support a wide variety of projects, scholarships and training undertaken by Rotary members around the world. It is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotary members and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.
For example, through applications to the Rotary Foundation, Woodend Rotary hopes to obtain funding for the exciting international project of building a new school in Vanuatu in association with the local community and its local Rotary Club.
Vocational Services
Vocational programs include conducting interview skills workshops for school students to help them undertake job search, mentoring programs, and programs where Rotarians can utilise their own vocation and work experience to support community activities.
Youth Services
Our club in Woodend supports youth in the following ways :
The Rotary Youth Leadership Award is an annual week-long experience for young adults. We sponsor one person each year.
The Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) is a Youth Leadership conference for young school students aged 15-17. The conference is a weekend-long camp designed at developing young people’s potential through a mixture of lecture-style sessions and adventure-based learning.
A mock United Nations Assembly is held each year for teams of two students from our local schools.
We award two prizes annually to Woodend Primary School and St Ambrose Primary School for Grade 6 students nominated by their teachers.
In partnership with our Gisborne Club, we host an inbound exchange student; in 2018 we had a student from Germany and Brazil, and this year we will be hosting a student from Germany. If you are interested in becoming a host family for international students when they arrive, please contact us.
We maintain relationships with sporting and community groups such as the Woodend-Hesket Football and Netball Clubs, and the Scouts.
In conjunction with our Vocational team, we support literacy and interview initiatives with young people in our secondary schools.
Each year we also support a Year 11 student to attend the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra.
As a club focused on service, we aim to serve youth in our local community and make a contribution to Rotary International programs supporting youth.
Our Major Projects and Commuity Events
The Rotary Club of Woodend has established, or is involved in, a number of major projects providing significant contribution to our fundraising efforts each year. These projects are:
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The New Woodend Star – community newspaper raising money for the community
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Community Halloween Party
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Operation Cleft
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Disaster Aid Australia
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Woodend Rotary Exercise Track
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Rotary Centenary contemplation installation on Five Mile Creek
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Solar Panels for Woodend Primary and Woodend Play Group
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School and water projects in Vanuatu