Join

If you are interested in joining, you can contact the Club President (Karin Penttila) on (03) 9606 0339 AH/BH or 0447 470 360 mobile, or use our contact form to send us an email.

Here’s also a useful Rotary “Q and A” to assist give you more information about Rotary …

Rotary Q&A

Produced by the Rotary Club of Brunswick

What is Rotary?

Rotary is a network of approximately 34,000 clubs around the world that provide global community service: an international network of community volunteers. Rotary members are men and women of any adult age.

Our club proudly includes many “younger” Rotarians, in the age group of 30 to 40. Our youngest member is around 30 and our oldest current club member joined in 1970, so there’s quite a range of ages represented in the club!

Rotary clubs are nonreligious, nongovernmental, and open to every race, culture, and creed.

What Does Rotary Do?

Rotary club members contribute in their local community and worldwide. There are, and Rotary continues to grow every year since it was formed in 1905.

We carry out humanitarian projects both locally in Brunswick and overseas to address such issues as poverty, health, hunger, education, and the environment.

For instance, our club undertakes local projects such as volunteering at a local supported residential service, running the occasional BBQ at a community event, raising funds for community projects, giving local school kids opportunities to participate in science and leadership programs, providing funding for medical aids in special local cases, providing support for a local group supporting adults with disabilities and more. Further afield, we have a health/children’s project in the Philippines that we have been supporting since 1995. We participate in local community events such as the Volunteer Expo and Sydney Road Street Party. We also contribute to Rotary programs such as the END POLIO NOW campaign to finally eradicate polio from the world, as well as having Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars visit our club.

How Can I Contribute?

As a member of Rotary, there are opportunities to help with both local community projects, wider Rotary programs and international projects. If full membership is not for you, then we have a FRIENDS program to keep you updated with news and local projects (which you may volunteer to help with when you have time available).

When Does Rotary Meet?

Each Club meets weekly – in our case, it’s usually a Thursday lunchtime from 1pm to 2pm. The first Thursday of the month we currently meet for dinner, and occasionally we have special meetings at other venues (for example, in May 2010 we’re having a Past Members lunch at Windy Hill, and in June we’re meeting at Brunswick Industries for our annual visit and update on their activities and our night meeting on the 3rd is at Kurly’s — formerly Curly Joe’s).

Also, just to keep you on your toes, we generally have a BREAKFAST meeting the day before Good Friday, the last week before Christmas and during Melbourne Cup week (Oaks Day).

We currently meet at Bridie O’Reilly’s Irish Pub in Brunswick.

Am I Expected To Attend Each Meeting?

No. We understand that Rotary is not the only thing in your life! In our case, the priority is always “Family, Work, Rotary” – we welcome your membership even if you may only be able to join us every few weeks or so.

Of course, you get much more out of Rotary when you join in our regular fellowship, activities and meetings – so we encourage you to come along as often as you can.

What If That Day/Time Doesn’t Suit Me?

That’s okay – you’ll find there’s a Rotary Club not far away that meets on a day/time that suits you. Some clubs meet for Breakfast, some for Lunch and some for Dinner.

If you’d like to join, but our Thursday lunch time doesn’t suit you, then let us know and we can give you information about nearby clubs that may suit your needs better.

What Does It Cost To Be In Rotary?

Rotary membership is an annual fee set by each club (our current membership is $250 for most members, but $125 for your first year in our club, as well as in some other circumstances). As well, the weekly meetings for us are a lunch, which we currently pay $25 when we attend.

You might also need a couple of dollars for the weekly raffle, and a coin or two to contribute to our fun Rotary “fines” – interesting ways for our meeting Sergeant (the Rotarian who runs the meeting) to fine you in good nature for some good excuse (another little way we help raise funds).

How Do I Find Out More?

If you’re interested in becoming a member, the best thing to do is come along to one of our upcoming meetings as a guest of the club.

To arrange your invitation, please use our contact form to send us an email.