Community Service Portfolio
The Community Service portfolio is responsible for all our projects within the local community. In Community Service this year, we commenced with a brain storming session giving all members the opportunity to identify new projects and those existing projects that we would like to continue. Individual Rotarians then nominated to champion a selected activity, knowing they had full club support and an approved budget.
The following projects showcase our Community activities for 2019-2020:
Walk a Mile in my boots - On a cold morning in August, Rotarians and friends registered and participated in the Hutt Street Centre fundraiser.
Walk a Mile in my boots - On a cold morning in August, Rotarians and friends registered and participated in the Hutt Street Centre fundraiser.
Catherine House – In 2017-18, we designed and completed a project to renovate a garden, complete with new pergola donated by Stratco, for Catherine House, a shelter for homeless women. The photo below shows the "opening" of the new garden in December 2018. This is an ongoing project for the Club with regular maintenance of the watering system and weeding carried out at the site of our original garden makeover. This year we also agreed to utilise existing funds to purchase plants and prepare garden beds and irrigation in the back gardens of other Catherine House facilities. The completion of the garden work was hampered by the Housing Trust needing to ascertain that they could install a drainage box and trench before we could commence. Once this was installed, Covid-19 put a halt to our clearing, planting and irrigation work but as soon as we are able to work on site the plants we have purchased will be planted and the project will be completed.
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President Rob (left) at the "opening" of the new garden at Catherine House, with the pergola generously donated by Stratco. |
Welcome to Adelaide - The club identified that we would like to work with international students or refugees to assist new residents to settle in Adelaide. After investigation it was felt that Welcome Australia might provide this conduit through community dinners and home hosted meals. Some of our members attended and enjoyed a Community Dinner at Goodwood in 2019. This particular project is still being assessed and worked through and hopefully will come to fruition in the coming Rotary year.
Meals from the Heart - This was a new initiative for our club, where six Rotarians prepared, cooked, and shared a meal in November with families staying at Ronald McDonald House. We had scheduled a second evening in April which was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Instead, the Club donated $300 to ensure that a frozen meal could be purchased by Ronald McDonald House and provided to families on our designated date.
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The Bread Run – This was begun a number of years ago by the late Bob Angove who did a great job organising rosters and running the show. We collect all the leftover bread from Baker's Delight in North Adelaide at the end of Sunday trading and deliver it to various charities around Adelaide, namely Ronald McDonald House, Moore Street Centre and Catherine House, as required. Unfortunately, this service had to be curtailed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, but we hope to reinstate it as soon as possible.
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David Rowe delivering our bread contribution to a grateful Ronald McDonald House. |
Share the Dignity – This activity was planned as an evening activity in 2020, when donated personal items and toiletries could be packed into donated handbags or backpacks and sent to the organisation for distribution to women in need. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 we have not been able to proceed with this activity.
Brain Rehabilitation PABLO system – The Rotary Club of Adelaide Parks asked our Club to assist them in raising monies to purchase a Multifunctional Rehabilitation System called PABLO for the SA Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service, Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre. Our club donated $2,500, which along with a $5,000 Rotary Foundation Grant and monies donated from other Clubs and donors enabled the equipment to be purchased.
Some Club members attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Adelaide Parks to learn about the benefits of the equipment. Members also attended a demonstration of the equipment at the Hampstead Centre once it was operational.
Donations - $1000 was donated to the Mayor's Bushfire Fund Kangaroo Island to assist those in our state affected by the devastating bushfires; Australian Rotary Health; and the District 9500 Bushfire Recovery Fund, respectively.
Community Dental Outreach Program - A project which we are all excited about has evolved through one of our members who alerted our Club to the Community Dental Outreach Program (part of 20th Century Housing Choices). The program operates through voluntary work carried out by dentists and dental students. The program has been providing care for some of Adelaide’s most marginalised and vulnerable residents since 2011 and requires assistance. It has been suggested that we might assist to set up the Centre with the equipment needed to support a second dental chair (a portable one). Funding could be obtained by applying for a $5,000 Foundation Grant, partnering with other Rotary Clubs, investigating grants and our own club fundraising. A sub-committee within our Club is being formed to look at this project and determine our fundraising capability to undertake this project in the 2020-2021 Rotary year.
Community Dental Outreach Program - A project which we are all excited about has evolved through one of our members who alerted our Club to the Community Dental Outreach Program (part of 20th Century Housing Choices). The program operates through voluntary work carried out by dentists and dental students. The program has been providing care for some of Adelaide’s most marginalised and vulnerable residents since 2011 and requires assistance. It has been suggested that we might assist to set up the Centre with the equipment needed to support a second dental chair (a portable one). Funding could be obtained by applying for a $5,000 Foundation Grant, partnering with other Rotary Clubs, investigating grants and our own club fundraising. A sub-committee within our Club is being formed to look at this project and determine our fundraising capability to undertake this project in the 2020-2021 Rotary year.
The following projects are regular on-going projects that have been undertaken for a number of years:
- The "Bread Run" - This was begun a number of years ago by the late Bob Angove who did a great job organising rosters and running the show. We collect all the leftover bread from Baker's Delight in North Adelaide at the end of Sunday trading and deliver it to various charities around Adelaide. The current beneficiaries are Ronald McDonald House in North Adelaide, the Moore Street Centre in the city and, for a time, Catherine House, a women's refuge in the city. Over a full year, an estimated $40,000 worth of bread is delivered.
| David Rowe delivering our bread contribution to a grateful Ronald McDonald House. |
- Christmas Cash for Cans - We collect $20 from each member. Rather than donating cans, the cash is handed over to Theo at the IGA Hutt Street who generously converts the cash into cans at cost price (and even adds a bit in himself). This adds more value to our donation. The goods are then donated and delivered to the Moore Street Centre.
- Christmas Toys - Until 2017, members donated (unwrapped) presents for boys and girls aged 7-14 and these were taken to the Salvation Army. From 2018, we collected $20 from each member and gave this to Second Chances, a charity that provides support for the children of families with a parent who is in prison. These children are 7 times more likely to end up in prison themselves, so providing support to these families is a great community service. The money is used to buy presents that the prisoners can then give to their children.
- Our club members regularly join in to "Walk a Mile in My Boots" for the Hutt Street Centre's homeless persons event.
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Members of the Club regularly attend the "Walk a Mile in my Boots", raising money for the Hutt Street Centre. |
In recent years, we have been involved in two further projects locally where we are working together with other Rotary Clubs based in the Adelaide CBD.
- For a number of years, we have undertaken working bees at Calperum Station near Renmark. This remarkably extensive property is being brought back from a cattle station to a revegetation site - many Rotary Clubs as well as other organisations and Universities undertake work and study on the property to introduce best practice methods of rehabilitation.
- In 2017-18, we designed and completed a project to renovate a garden, complete with new pergola donated by Stratco, for Catherine House, a shelter for homeless women. The photo below shows the "opening" of the new garden in December 2018. Through 2019-20, we are undertaking further projects with Catherine House, jointly with our "daughter" club, the Adelaide City Rotaract Club - these have been somewhat delayed by the COVID-19 crisis, but we hope to complete the next project by the end of 2020.
Last updated: 2 August 2020