It has been another busy month for all of us involved with the Rotary Club of Ashmore - and it is going to get even busier in the coming weeks as we sell raffle tickets at the Q Super Centre and then the Ashmore City Shopping Centre in the lead up to Christmas.
Our Rotary Foundation
Our major fundraiser - Christmas raffle
Our Christmas Raffle sales commence at Q Super Centre on Monday. This is our major fundraiser for the year and can only be successful if ALL members volunteer to help to sell these tickets. All funds are spent on local, national and international communities.
Please let Sue Plummer know when you are available to help with the ticket sales. It is always fun - good fellowship, good people watching and being out in the open talking to people about what Rotary is and what we as Rotarians are doing in the world.
If you want to purchase some tickets contact info@ashmorerotary.org and someone will get in touch with you.
November is Rotary Foundation month
November is designated Rotary Foundation Month - this year our Foundation is the charity of choice for our DG partner Robbi Harmon and she has encouraged all of us to consider donating to this very worthwhile cause.
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.
Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment and alleviating poverty.
Andre Booyez and Frans Huebner came to tell us about a PCYC initiative that is helping students (and others) to learn to drive safely. They are having great successes with helping the learner drivers to log their driving hours and learn how to drive properly in a safe environment.
PCYC Braking the Cycle (BTC) is our volunteer driver mentor program designed to support learner drivers without access to a supervisor or registered vehicle to complete their logbook hours. The aim of the program is to provide young people with increased employment opportunities, community connection and driver education.
Our new Youth Exchange Program (YEP) student Elizabeta is expected to arrive in Australia around Christmas and will be hosted by the Rotary Club of Ashmore for the first six months and then hosted by the Rotary Club of Coomera River.
She has been granted a scholarship from Trinity Lutheran College and starts there on the 22nd January.
We are seeking a 2nd host family for her from April to June, so if you are interested, please email us at info@shmorerotary.org.
Hello, my name is Elizabeth and I am 17 years old. I am studying at Kyiv Gymnasium №117. At school, I like to spend time with my friends and teachers, talking about literature, various interesting books and poetry, and the interesting lives of different authors. I also like biology and history classes and enjoy doing research.
Few times a week, I go to the studio to paint. There I can relax and take a break from everyday problems, which unfortunately are dominant in our lives after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. I am very interested in meeting different people and inspired by learning about others views and opinions. I often observe people, their behavior and appearance, and am interested in their story and what they might be thinking. This interest led me to research human psychology on my own, and a little later I found a psychology class. There I study psychology with a group and a lecturer who works as a psychotherapist. It helps me to explore and understand myself better. I would be very interested in meeting people from other countries and cultures.
Seresaini understands the demand for kava in Maururu and is hoping to secure a loan to help her expand her business and improve her home.
She is seeking a loan to buy a bale of kava roots, packaging bags, a new scale and storage containers, and other materials she needs to serve her customers efficiently.
Seresaini is keen to provide only the best service and plans to use the profits made to renovate her family home.
Erycah is a determined entrepreneur and single mother in Kisumu. At 29 years old, she is a shining example of strength and resilience. She manages her clothing shop, which provides essential support for her family and occasionally helps others in her community.
Despite the challenges of the business's fluctuating sales, Erycah remains determined to see her shop thrive. She plans to use an upcoming loan to expand her business, taking advantage of peak seasons to boost sales and lay a stronger foundation.
FUNDRAISING ... ANOTHER ONE OF THE WAYS WE ARE WORKING...
One of our ongoing fundraisers has been the collection of bottles and cans and receiving payment through Containers for Change. Last year we raised over $3,000 through this program. We encourage all members to assist us by bringing their empties to the Centre or dropping them at my home - 8 Mara Court, Ashmore - where they get collected and then turned into cash for us to spend on our many charities. This month we can now start to recycle wine bottles as well - so save them up and bring them along for us to cash in for Rotary funds.
We are also very grateful to Casa Brasil on Chevron Island who collect these items for us and thanks also to our Rotarian collectors (and their friends) who regularly go and collect them and bring them to our holding point. It is a small thing, but all together it helps us to have additional funds to use for our communities.
We can now recycle wine bottles too... each wine, champagne or spirit bottle is now worth 10c to us - bring them along so they can be collected and the funds paid direct into our Rotary account.
Our Christmas Party invitation - don't forget to book in before the 6th December.
Schools Future Fit Program
The Rotary Club of Ashmore is pleased to support the ‘Schools Future Fit Program’ which aims to educate disadvantaged year six students about diversity, social cohesion, the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through tennis and the values of camaraderie through the ANZAC legend.
I am proud to announce, in conjunction with Tennis Queensland and the Australian Tennis Foundation, Youth of Tomorrow will be holding the 3rd Schools Future Fit Program at Pat Rafter Arena on the 27th of November 2023.
Our club has donated $200 to the William Duncan School for them to provide a bus to take their students to this program.
15th November - All Rounders Awards - come and meet the young people who have been recognised by their schools as being a good "all round" student - not just academic or sporting. It is always great to hear from these young people.
29th November - Rotarian Col Lee is coming to visit with us to tell us how our donation of $10,000 helped them with the last lot of Lismore floods.
6th December - Parker Schatz & Mikyala Thorn our two outboung YEP students will be our guest speakers to tell us where they are going overseas and fill us in on what they hope to achieve during their year of Rotary exchange. This evening will also be our Clubs Annual General Meeting.
13th December - our Rotary Club of Ashmore Christmas Party - don't forget to book in with Marcia and pay before the night. This is always one of our highlights of the year and a very fitting social event for us to finish the year on a high note !!
