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Club Activities: 2003-2004
Money raised by the Rotary Club of Unley provides and supports a wide
range of humanitarian and community services in Australia and overseas.
The projects the Club has been involved in during 2003 - 2004 are outlined
below under the four avenues of service:
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Community
Service Activities 2003-2004
The Community Service Committee was again actively "Lending
a Hand" in the local community this year with a very busy
program.
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Carols in the Rotunda: Having
assisted the Unley Council last year to organise this festival,
it fell to the Rotary Club of Unley to take responsibility
for the event this year. A lot of organisation and work was
involved in this, and it was disappointing that the crowd
was not much larger than last year.Entertainment was provided
by: |
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- The Funkees
- Australian Girls Choir
- Guest Soloists
- Unley Concert Band
- Goodwood Primary School Choir |
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Of course Father Christmas turned up and was a great hit
with the children.
A Paint Your Heart Out project was arranged at 'Aldridge
Court', a shelter for men in Parkside.
The Unley Way to Go - the Village Fair at the Unley
Oval: The Thrift Shop Committee, and Community Service Committee
combined to set up a stall which sold some goods from the
shop. The aim of the event was to provide more exposure
for the Thrift Shop, and so Unley Rotary could be seen as
an active part of the Unley community. Associated with our
stall was a group of 'Face Painters' who drew lots of children
to the stall, mostly with their parents, some of whom made
purchases of our goods.
Teen Challenge: A donation of $1,000 was made.
Trees for Life: The Club continued the Wellington
project of planting seedlings grown by members.
Unley Way to Go Village Fair at the Unley Oval:
The Thrift Shop and Community Service Committees combined
to set up a stall which sold representative goods from the
Thrift Shop. The objectives of the event were to raise the
public profile of the Thrift Shop and to show Unley Rotary
as an active part of the Unley community. Associated with
our stall was a group of 'Face Painters' which drew lots
of children to the stall, mostly with their parents, some
of whom made purchases of our goods.
Trees for Life: The Club continued the Wellington
project of planting seedlings grown by members.
Salvation Army: Christmas gifts of food were distributed
to needy families by the Salvation Army.
Christmas Cakes for Seniors donated by the Club
were distributed by Meals-on-Wheels.
Seniors Concert: Transport to and from the Unley
Citizens Centre for some of attendees was arranged by our
Members, as was the afternoon tea.
Unley Library: A painting by local artist Ric Maurovic
was presented to mark the opening the refurbished Unley
Library. this watercolour of the intersection of Unley road
and Arthur Street is valued at $1,500.
Donations of money were made to the following organisations:
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Teen Challenge |
$1,000 |
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Australian Rotary Health Research Foundation |
$2,000 |
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Christmas Hampers |
$1,000 |
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Guide Dogs for the Blind |
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Sophia English classes for Women |
$400 |
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Unley Citizens Centre |
$1,000 |
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Indigenous Health Scholarships |
$2,500 |
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Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal |
$650 |
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Peter Nelson Leukemia Fund |
$2,000 |
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Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund |
$810 |
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Rotary Club of Murray Bridge - Skate Park |
$500 |
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Sunday Mail Blanket Appeal |
$500 |
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ARHRF - Polio Plus |
$1,600 |
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Vocational
& Youth Service Activities 2003-2004
This committee has been one of the most active during the year.
Thanks are due to its hardworking Chair, Wayne Ross, to Bob Mills
for his experience and competence in handling the Police Officer
of The Year award again, and to the whole committee.
The Rotary Club of Unley has been presenting The Police Officer
of The Year award each year since 1978. This year it was won by
Sergeant Andrew Minnis, who is based at Aldinga. He received a
lot of support from his local community, and I believe he is a
very worthy recipient.
We had two Vocational Visits during the year to:
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Darroch House, the operational base of Bowen Family
Funerals.
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The Al-Khalil Mosque, at Woodville North
. We had an interesting talk from Sheik Solaiman, after which
we were encouraged to ask questions. We were taken on a tour
of the Mosque and associated facilities, and received a very
tasty meal provided by the Muslim community. In these difficult
times, it was very refreshing to understand that the people
we met were Australians, and that we all have much in common. |
The Employment & Internet Program at the Unley Library
continued, as some of the funding from the $1,000-00 sponsorship,
made in Feb. 2003 was still available.
Many youth support projects were assisted, including:
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EDS Rotary I.T. Careers Forum |
No cost |
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Guides SA |
$115 |
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National Youth Science Forum |
$788 |
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Plain English Speaking Award |
No cost |
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Siemens Science Experience |
$90 |
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Oodnadatta Aboriginal School Snow Camp |
$500 |
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Toc-H Victor Harbor Camp for young people with
major physical disabilities. We sponsored 5 children and 2
leaders. |
$483 |
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YMCA Kangaroo Island Summer Camp targeted disadvantaged
children or those at risk. We sponsored 2 children. |
$510 |
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Edna Ayes Camp for children with disabilities |
$100 |
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RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) Seminar |
$115 |
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RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Seminar |
$350 |
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Pan Pacific Piano Performance Camp, Sydney |
TBA |
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International
Service 2003-2004
This year we have had an exchange student from Jyvaskyla in Finland,
and will soon have an incoming student from Helsingborg in Sweden.
An outbound student is currently in Brazil.
Support was given to the following causes:
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ASEAN Wheelchair Basketball Championships: $2,300 was given
to assist wheelchair basketballers from poorer countries
such as Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, to attend the first
championships in Singapore in October 2003.
After hearing a talk by Helen Sara, it was decided to give
$500 to the 'Go Go Grannies' who look after children in
West Africa who have been orphaned by AIDS.
Once again there was involvement in Rotary's 'Donations
in Kind' project with over 30 cases of books being collected
from a local school for forwarding on to schools north of
our shores.
City of Bam, Iran - Earthquake Appeal: $200.
Rotary Foundation :Polio-Plus: $3,000.
OSSAA - Purchase of Comprimeter Torniquet for use in Timor:
$700.
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Earlier this year our Club volunteered to assist in looking after
a young patient ('Bertha') from East Timor and her English-speaking
Carer ('Dorothea'). 'Bertha' was in Adelaide for plastic and reconstuctive
surgery carried out under the ROMAC program. A Caring Team from
our Club, along with the local East Timorise community, looked
after Bertha and Dorothea during their time in Adelaide.
This work in looking after Bertha focused the committee's attention
on East Timor, which is of course, one of the poorest nations
in the world. The following action was taken:
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A one-off donation of US$150-00 was sent on to Bertha's
village.
$2,400 was sent to the Maryknoll Sisters in Aileu, a town
in the hills near Dili. This donation is to be used by the
Sisters as they see fit to further the education of local
children. (It is interesting to note that there is considerable
cooperation between the Maryknoll Sisters, and the OSSAA
Surgical teams that visit East Timor) + $200 to hire a Teacher.
A Monster Book Sale is being arranged for September 2004
to provide further funding for this worthy cause, and it
is planned for this to become an annual event.
Blocks of superb East Timorese coffee are being sold to
Club Members, with the proceeds going towards the employment
of a school teacher. It is proving a very effective way
to transfer money direct to a nominated cause.
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A bus that our club assisted the Rotary Club of Norwich-St. Edmund,
UK, to purchase to help transport under-privileged children in
India is is reported to be proving very effective.
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Club
Service Activities 2003-2004
The job of the Club Service Committee is, in general terms, to
ensure the smooth running of the Club. The various functions of
the Club Services Committee were:
Specific major activities in the Club Service area were:
Major Projects:
The Major Projects Committee was set up to recommend suitable
projects to celebrate Rotary's 100 year anniversary, and the Rotary
Club of Unley's 70th anniversary. The committee decided that the
projects selected should provide a balance between support for
an International project and locally based youth initiatives,
plus a special celebratory event.
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The Celebratory Event to mark Unley Rotary's 70th Anniversary
is to be held at the Hilton Hotel on Saturday 9th. April
2005. It will be a fund-raising event to which Mother, Daughter,
and Grand-daughter Clubs will be invited. Funds raised will
be used to improve facilities at the Unley Citizens Centre.
Detailed planning for this event is to start shortly.
$5,000 per year for the years 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07
is to be provided to OSSAA, an organisation which Unley
Rotary was instrumental in setting up. OSSAA sends Surgical
Teams regularly to East Timor and the eastern parts of Indonesia,
to provide reconstructive surgery. Team members donate their
time and costs are born by OSSAA. The Rotary Club of Norwich-St.
Edmunds was approached with a request to donate some money
to this cause, and have indicated that they would be happy
to do this. An application has been made for a Rotary Foundation
Grant of US$2,00 to help fund a skin graft mesh machine
for OSSAA to be used where needed.
RYLA: The Rotary Club of Unley has written to the District
RYLA Committee, offering to support six RYLA attendees each
year for 3 years and for Unley to host the July 2005 course.
RYWELL: The Committee and the Board have agreed with the
District RYWELL committee, a proposal for Unley to support
a course over 10 weeks designed to build self confidence
and reduce aggression in youths at risk of serious offending.
This would involve training and supervision by trained personnel
supplied by Dept. of Family and Youth Services and Unley
funding a weekend camp at the end of the course for attendees
who had successfully completed the course. The cost to our
Club will be $3,000.
A project to assist aboriginal youth looks like being supported
at inter-District level, following positive arguments put
forward by Chandra Sluggett
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Unley Rotary Thrift Shop & Fund Raising:
Our club continues to be the envy of all other Rotary Clubs in
our District, because of the Thrift Shop. The shop will clear
in the region of $45,000 again this year.
The success of the shop is almost entirely dependant on our many
Volunteers who are not members of Rotary, and has been for the
30 years of the shop's existence.
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