My name is Leanne Byron, I am the current President of the Rotary Club of Greater Dandenong and Endeavour Hills, D9820, Victoria. I’d like to share the story of my Rotary journey so far.

Article by President Leanne Byron, Rotary Club of Greater Dandenong and Endeavour Hills

I have been a Rotarian for seven years and have been fortunate to hold the roles of Secretary for three years and Community Chair for three years, both roles provided me with valuable experiences prior to becoming President.

I had the opportunity to establish connections within the Community and Rotary along with planning my year as President well in advance, which is a huge advantage and a necessity for the year to be successful.

My vision was to create more awareness of Rotary, enhance our club’s culture and to really focus on the needs of our Community.

In order to do this, my Changeover was Community based. It was held in a local Church Hall and attended by Rotarians from our Club, other clubs, District Governor and Past District Governors, local Community and school leaders, Councilors, family and friends.

The night was a huge success which attracted five new members and many prospective members who are currently ‘Friends of Rotary’ but not quite ready to take the next step to become Rotarians.

I recently asked all our members to complete a survey and asked myself the question, are we just a ‘Dinner Club’ or a ‘Vibrant Club’?

The survey came back very positive and I’m pleased to report that we are in fact, a ‘Vibrant Club’.

I highly recommend all Presidents go to the My Rotary Learning Centre to do the ‘Be a Vibrant Club?’ course.

Our meetings over dinner provide fellowship, connection and engagement. It also keeps friendships alive and provides the opportunity for me to communicate with all members, keeping them up to date with all things Rotary.

We provide diversity at meetings, offering a variety of Guest Speakers from Rotary and the Community, we work together with other Clubs in our cluster and Community groups.

We serve the Community by providing meals, food packages, social morning teas and fellowship for the disadvantaged community, along with our ‘Sandwiches for Schools’ project.

A morning tea for the underprivileged and undervalued women in the local community on International Women’s Day.
The women loved the companionship and the ability to hear about Rotary and ideas where they could help.

We have a wide variety of Community projects and fundraising events.

We are also very involved with International Service; our major project is; Disaster Aid Australia, which is an International Humanitarian Aid Charity.

We provide Disaster Responses including provision of 'Shelter' and 'Safe Water' by providing SkyHydrant’ installations (SkyHydrant unit can produce 10,000 litres or more of clean water daily).

In conclusion, I am very honored and proud to be the President of our vibrant and active club.