The Rotary Foundation has a unique funding cycle that utilises contributions for programs three years after they are received.
The three-year cycle gives Districts time for program planning and participant selections and allows The Rotary Foundation to invest the contributions. The earnings from those investments help pay for administration, program operations and fund development costs. Your contribution in Rotary year 2017-18 will be invested in Rotary year 2018-19, and projects will be selected in Rotary year 2019-20, with the funds actually spent in Rotary year 2020-21.
WITH PLENTY OF TIME TO BE INVOLVED IN HOW YOUR DONATION IS SPENT, PLEASE SUPPORT THE ROTARY FOUNDATION NOW AND GET INVOLVED IN PLANNING FUTURE PROJECTS!
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President Phil's Message
A tale of Two Efficacies
We would be unrealistic to expect the media to give us a balanced and unbiased view of the world. Media outlets are biased due to ownership, affiliations with political groups and are affected by the reasonable expectations by shareholders that they make profits.
So how does the media portray products that are claimed to improve our life? The treatments are poles apart.
Firstly, the promotions on TV of products that “May support wellness…”. I cringe every time I hear these weasel words that play on viewer’s frailties in order to extort money. Not only are these products ineffective, they may cause harm if used in excess doses or interact with prescription drugs to give unexpected side-effects. Yet we buy millions of dollars of these snake oil potions and pour our money down the drain. These products are not backed by scientific fact derived from peer reviewed scientific research. So why are they promoted on TV? The answer is simple, they generate massive profits for the manufacturers who can then buy TV time to snare gullible viewers.
Secondly, you regularly see an announcement set in a laboratory with white-coated scientists pouring coloured liquids into flasks or using a Bunsen burner to heat some goo. Having worked in research for 12 years, I know that almost NO chemicals of interest are coloured unless you are working with dyes. So why are we shown these misleading shots every time a new breakthrough in science is announced? The answer is simple. Science is a laborious, methodical, tedious job that is hard to convey in a 30 second grab. The results of this rigour turn up without fanfare as treatments in hospitals or prescribed drugs that really do improve our lives.
The treatment of bladder cancer by BCG treatment is a good example of the time and rigour required to develop treatments that really work. Two French scientists developed BCG to treat tuberculosis in 1921. Autopsies in 1929 showed that TB sufferers had a lower occurrence of cancer than the general population. Animal studies in the 1950s showed that BCG had a positive effect on cancer. It was not until 1976 that the use of BCG in the bladder was shown to reduce cancer. The modern BCG treatment is based on this long-term research.
I am eternally grateful to those white-coated scientists who laboured unrecognised over the past century to develop this treatment. They have saved my life. As for wellness products? Put your money into research funded by Australian Rotary Health instead. There is an infinitely greater chance of your money making a difference to the lives of people with real ailments.
Our newest member Rob Jackson, told us about himself, his family and his vocation.
Rob grew up in Yea and went to boarding school at Melbourne Grammar. Rob admits that he did not excel academically or on the sporting field but he did well enough to enter the University of Melbourne to study Electrical Engineering. It was at Melbourne that he met his wife Judy. Rob has lived in Nunawading for over 40 years and has 4 adult children.
Rob started his career at the State Electricity Commission (SECV) in their distribution network. He has remained in the industry with a variety of roles including energy trader, lobbyist and consultant. He is looking forward to officially retiring on June 30 to spend more time travelling.
Get your Entertainment Membership NOW to help Rotary Club of Nunawading raise much needed funds!
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Talk to Rusel Warmington about getting extra copies for families and friends.
Accurate statistics on the frequency and cause of spinal cord injury (SCI) in Australia are hard to collate, but a summary of the latest report available shows that 347 new cases were reported to the Australian Spinal Cord Injury Register (ASCIR) during 2013-14. So almost every day someone, somewhere in Australia, is impacted by this devastating injury. The vast majority of these new cases are traumatic injuries with the leading cause being land transport crashes (45%), followed by falls (32%).
At PBF we want to see fewer Australians becoming permanently paralysed each year through accidents at home, work or play. We are also committed to offering employment to those impacted by SCI, so each of our award winning injury prevention programs is delivered by one of our team who are living with permanent injury.
In 2017 PBF Australia delivered a staggering 897 injury prevention presentations, reaching over 47,000 Australians. These covered our 4 key focus areas emphasising safe practices and the consequences of making unsafe choices on the road, within the workplace, around drugs and alcohol and in the water:
Road: 571 road safety presentations were conducted at schools, including programs with our partners RAC WA, RSE and TORP;
Workplace: 216 workplace presentations were conducted for some of Australia’s leading businesses;
Youth: 94 drug and alcohol prevention presentations were conducted in our local communities through the participating hospital’s P.A.R.T.Y programs;
Aqua: 16 life-saving aqua presentations were delivered.
Every private and corporate member of PBF should be incredibly proud of this achievement. With your help we are able to offer employment opportunities to those living with SCI and deliver our injury prevention programs throughout Australia.
Please continue to support PBF through your membership, so we can continue to reduce the impact and incidence of spinal cord injury in Australia during 2018.
Please email the names of your nominated guests to Neil Ibbott so that Neil can send personalised invitation letters to them. The organisers have requested that Rotarian only attend the Forum if they are accompanying guests. Because we have cancelled our meeting at Bucatini, we will be arranging a social evening for those not attending the Forum.
As an sample of our Rotary projects, Rotarians are asked to bring non-perishable food items.
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