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A Story of Rotary in Action
After an early morning start to attend the Orange Daybreak Meeting yesterday via Zoom, I headed off to Molong with my wife Paula. Molong is about 100km NW of Bathurst. I was invited to attend a special Drought Support Celebration Evening which was organised by Molong Rotary (11 members). The event was to thank the members of Rotary Club of North Sydney Sunrise as well as Cabonne Shire Council for contributing to a fundraising project for drought affected people around Molong and surrounding area.
North Sydney Sunrise President, Allan Coates visited Stuart Town near Molong in spring last year to deliver books to the Stuart Town Public School as part of their Club’s “Books in Homes” program. He was taken aback by how much the drought had changed the landscape. He contacted Molong Rotary President Janis Glasson to ask about the drought situation. Janis invited North Sydney Sunrise (a club of 20 members) to attend a forum in Molong last December in which she had organised several local farmers and townspeople to talk about their own experiences on how the drought was affecting them personally and their families.
Apparently, the Sydney Rotarians had no idea how bad the drought was with some of the stories bringing tears to their eyes. They returned to Sydney and immediately started fund raising to support the project.
All up, around $18000 was raised with the contributions from Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) and Cabonne Shire Council. The funds will be used to support children in Molong Schools attend excursions. Excursions were put on hold as parents used all their available funds to support their families, farms and livestock. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a stop to school excursions in 2020.
Janis mentioned in her talk that despite the green tinge appearing in the countryside now, we must not forget that parts of NSW are still suffering severe drought conditions.
So, from a landscape of steel, concrete and bitumen (with water views!) to a landscape of dust and decimated livestock with no water at all, two Rotary Clubs worked to together to bring hope and joy to some young Australians in a time of need. Once again Rotary – doing good in the world!
Figure 1 Janis Glasson and Margaret Dean of Molong Rotary with Doug Kinlyside
Doug Kinlyside
Rotary District 9705 Area Governor (Area 1)