The Rotary year kicked off with blankets galore being handed out to organisations which support the needy. Here club president Rudy Dupont hands over blankets to Helga Williams-Harris of the Butterfly House children’s centre in Paarl. But that is not all...
So far the Rotary Year has passed like a rollercoaster. Induction was on June 26th and the next Monday the year starts.One looks at 43 lunches and 10 board meetings of which 25 % are already past. But besides these meetings there are numerous team meetings, whatsapps, e-mails, phone calls, etc. … to get things done and organised.Essential in all this: Can we as Rotarians continue to commit ourselves to our community without any personal gain? After the last three months I believe: yes, we can and we gain much personal satisfaction.
Let us recall what happened.
We distributed 200 blankets in the community. We made and delivered an urgent food donation to Rusthof Retirement Home and its 104 habitants together with our DG. We granted an amount to Work4aliving and a similar amount for the Masezane soup kitchen. We supported RC Riebeek Kasteel for the victims of the dam wall damage in Malmesbury. An extra amount was given for the building that collapsed in George. The Pebble Project also received an extra amount. We sponsored a bus for Age in Action. New parts were purchased for wheelchairs. Paarl Eisteddfod received a contribution from an amount raised by the Art Auction.
We welcomed 2 STEP students and 3 High school scholars participated in the Adventure into Citizenship Camp. We have 5 scholars who attended the second RYLA Camp soon. On 12 September we celebrated the launch of our first Early Act Club at Clift College; again an important step launching a new club in our community. We have had discussions with regards to creating a Rotaract Club as a key to our future.
The Eye Care team is working hard to overcome all the hurdles to allow the doctors to arrive in the second half of October and operate on 260 cataract patients and 260 patients to have their eyes examined in Vredendal, Klapmuts and Paarl. This event has been postponed to next year due to administrative red tape.
The wine auction team is in the process of collecting a rich harvest of top wines, hospitality vouchers and various other hamper donations. A discovery tour of the Rotary projects of the past was a real motivational rally for our new members.
We look around and see it was good.
Rudy Dupont
MANDELA DAY. Following an appeal from the Rusthof old age home in Paarl East, members of the Rotary Club of Paarl collected a large amount of groceries which were presented to Rusthof to celebrate Mandela Day. Here matron Alvira Kleynhans (right) receives the groceries from Rotarians (from left) Gerald Truter, Stephen Young (district governor) and Rudy Dupont (club president).
Members of the club recently visited some of our beneficiaries. At the Norsa youth centre are (from left) Patrick Klaasen, Rudy Dupont, June Kroukamp, Maritjie Bezuidenhout (founder of Norsa), Elsabé Koch, Marlo Laubser, Brenda Wynne, Genevea Philander (Norsa) and Darron Moore.