Photos from Rotary Down Under's post

Small in numbers, big in effort The Rotary Club of Tamar Sunrise, Tas, took a chance five years ago, when they volunteered to organise the annual Carols by Candlelight concert. The event faced an uncertain future when the local Lions club pulled out after running it for 40 years. Though small in numbers, the club maximised their networks and collaborated with the community to create a “not to be missed” concert, drawing a crowd of 7500. Member and project leader Danny Gibson’s connection with the arts community in Launceston enabled the club to attract an extensive cast of performers, volunteering at no charge. For many singers and musicians, it was an opportunity to gain experience performing before a crowd of thousands. This year, the club donated over $15,000 to The Examiner Empty Stocking Appeal from the proceeds of the concert. The funds are shared between the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, City Mission and the Benevolent Society.

Rotary Club of Kiama

Did your club participate for Clean up Australia?

Willetton Rotary Club gives $5500 to Willetton SHS for autism program | Community News Group

The Willetton Rotary Club bequeathed $5500 to the Autism Academy for Software Quality Assurance to support an outreach program for students with autism at Willetton Senior High School. It is the second year Rotary has fundraised for the program, after seed funding that enabled the Academy to begin the first pilot CoderDojo at Willetton Senior High School where five students, nicknamed ninjas, participated. This year 40 students are expected to join the program.

Timeline Photos

Buddy Bench' program launches to tackle mental health in Mount Isa schools. A Rotary Club in Mount Isa, northwest Queensland, has donated specialised benches aimed at tackling mental health to almost every school in the town. Thirteen 'Buddy Benches' have found homes in schools playgrounds — something the Rotary Club of Mount Isa hope will tackle the suicide rate.

Timeline Photos

Not just a blazer! I recently did the yearly-ish cleanse of my wardrobe of clothes I no longer want or need. I ummed and ahhed over many things, until I came to this rarely worn item. There was never any hesitation in my mind about parting with this treasure; I took it out of its hanging bag and had a look at the various pins and objects stuck to it, and then placed it back carefully. This blazer represents the most life-changing journey I took. In a few weeks, it will be 10 years since I got on the plane to spend a year in Sweden as a Rotary International exchange student. I remember being scared, anxious, a little overwhelmed and excited. It was a challenging, but rewarding year that taught me so much about myself and fuelled the adventure bug for me. The things I have achieved since would not have happened without it, and I'm so glad for the people I met and the experiences they shared. It truly changed my life. Robyn Speck 2007 Youth Exchange student from District 9820

Timeline Photos

The March edition of Rotary Down Under magazine is out now! Inside this month read about Earth Hour, the Aussie success story that became a global phenomenon.

Rotary International

Timeline Photos

New attraction in the Blue Mountains With the assistance of Tom Colless OAM and his company Colless Foods, Katoomba, the Rotary Club of Central Blue Mountains, NSW, has established what might be a “first” in Australia – a mobile billboard that promotes Rotary and urges people to join our community of leaders and take action at home and around the world. The massive signage on each side of the truck is 30 feet long and nine feet tall – it can’t be missed! The truck travels the Great Western Highway and into Greater Sydney four days a week. It’s estimated life span is 10 years. Give the driver a wave next time you see it!

Gerringong Rotary

Here is a great example of Rotary and Lions working together.

Photos from Rotary Down Under's post

Aussies aid Hurricane Matthew recovery Despite civil protection officials taking to the streets to warn people, many on Haiti’s southern peninsula were unaware of the approach of Hurricane Matthew. It caused the greatest loss of life (1600) of any Atlantic hurricane in 11 years. ShelterBox is still there helping Haitians to pick up the pieces. As soon as the airports re-opened, a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) from the UK, US, Germany and Canada arrived in Haiti, some of who had experience of the 2010 earthquake response. The team’s emphasis was on the distribution of thousands of shelter kits, allowing the weatherproofing and repair of damaged homes. ShelterBox tents were found to be ideal for use as clinical space, to provide shelter and privacy for patients of the overstretched health care facilities. ShelterBox also provided solar lighting for families where power was down and mosquito nets via its Rotary contacts. Water filters were used to guard against the spread of waterborne disease. Within days of Matthew, as after the quake of 2010, Haiti was once again in the grip of a cholera outbreak. Three Australian SRT members were deployed to assist the Response Team in Haiti. Central Coast SRT member, Peita Berzins, Tasmanian Art Shrimpton and South Australian Lucy Dodd (on her first deployment) were heavily involved in the logistics of getting aid through customs in Port au Prince and the preparation of non-food item kits to accompany shelter kits. These kits included essentials like water filters, mosquito nets and solar lights. Many towns had a high proportion of destroyed and damaged buildings and infrastructure, but in sharp contrast to the 2010 quake, the Haitian Government coordinated efforts to clear, repair and rebuild, and took a lead on allocating specific tasks to groups of aid agencies. The thousands of shelter kits and non-food items helped families to cope in the interim. ShelterBox's Response Team was based in Les Cayes and Port au Prince, as they worked to find ways to help Haitian people recover, rebuild and re-energise. The Rotary Club of Les Cayes helped to identify what kind of aid was needed, and where. A long-established alliance with major humanitarian player Handicap International also strengthened ShelterBox’s arm. ShelterBox has been touched by the resilience and compassion of the Haitian people and their pride in helping one another. ShelterBox is Rotary International’s project partner for the delivery of disaster aid. For more information visit www.shelterboxaustralia.com.au or www.shelterbox.org.nz.

Bill Gates

Timeline Photos

Clean hands save lives Rotary is proud to be working with Soap Aid and hotels around Australia and New Zealand to improve hygiene and save lives. Soap Aid collects, sorts, cleans and reprocesses discarded hotel soap and produces fresh, hygienic bars of soap for re-distribution in poor communities around the world. Every year, hotels around Australia send thousands of bars of partially used soap into overflowing landfill. Five years ago, witnessing the waste in the hospitality industry, CEO and founder of Soap Aid, Mike Matulick, had a vision to develop a clever and sustainable solution for hotel waste soap and save children’s lives through improved hygiene. Soap Aid is the only not-for-profit in Australia undertaking these humanitarian and environmental efforts reaching local and overseas communities. It is governed by a board of professional volunteers focused on life-saving missions. While hotels were very receptive to supporting Soap Aid by donating their discarded hotel soap, the collection of the used soap was a challenge. Through the important efforts of Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Chelsea, Vic, a pilot program was implemented. Hotel soap from Melbourne CBD hotels was collected and delivered to the Soap Aid re-processing facility in Braeside. Rotary’s collection involvement has now expanded to all over Australia, as well as Queenstown, NZ. Soap Aid has produced more than 470,000 recycled bars of soap and has distributed them to communities in India, Cambodia, Philippines, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia, as well as 50,000 soap bars to Fiji to support relief efforts after Tropical Cyclone Winston in early 2016. This year, Soap Aid has partnered with WA Country Health Service in its “Squeaky Clean Kids” program, to reduce the incidence of infectious diseases in remote communities. The Rotarians’ continued commitment in making regular collections provides a continuous supply of used soap for recycling; ultimately improving the lives of thousands of less privileged families. For more information, contact Rotary’s Soap Aid director Richard Garner via richard.f.garner@gmail.com.