THE Rotary Club of Allora recently welcomed the new district governor, Anne Egan, and Jeff Egan, both lawyers from Murwillumbah.
Anne introduced a new theme for Rotary – Be a Gift to the World. Anne acknowledged that Rotarians everywhere live this theme daily, but however added this will be the year when they promote that ethic more broadly among the community.
Anne outlined her history with Rotary and recounted the moment, 15 years ago, when she was introduced to Rotary by a local business leader.
She encouraged members to make the personal approaches to others in the community, but recognised that the Allora Club would always be small and intimate as a club – one of its defining characteristics.
Jeff encouraged Rotarians to support an Indigenous Health Scholarship Program, established in 2002 in South Australia and since expanded to all states and territories.
The program provides scholarships to assist in the education and training of Indigenous Australian doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. Current recipients of scholarships are studying medicine, nursing, social work, physiotherapy, exercise and sports science, nutrition and dietetics, dentistry, occupational therapy, psychology and health science.
For $2500, Rotary clubs can assist in offering a scholarship, with this monetary amount matched by State and Federal Governments.
Don’t chuck that old bike
Recently featured on ABC’s 7:30 report, the Surfers Sunrise Rotary Club on the Gold Coast sent out a container of 275 wheelchairs for disadvantaged kids in Sri Lanka. The wheelchairs are manufactured from old bicycles collected from many places around Queensland.
The design of this wheelchair is the brainchild of Des La Rance of the Surfers Sunrise Rotary Club. When holidaying in Fiji and seeing firsthand the plight of children suffering debilitating illnesses such as muscular dystrophy, Des came up with the idea of constructing a basic but low-cost wheelchair from old bicycle parts and other customised materials, which could withstand the rugged conditions of an undeveloped third world country.
The Rotary Club of Allora would like to support this project by relieving the community of their old bikes. Over the next month, take the old bike to the Allora Recycling Centre or the Yangan Recycling Centre, and from there bicycles will be trucked to the coast. If you can’t get the bike to the dump, email us on allorarotary@hotmail.com or ring or talk to any of our members. This project will close at the end of October.
