Supporting Community Services #1 Christmas Food Hampers
We recently collected donations of goodies for Christmas food hampers for our partner Community Services #1, who do a great job supporting those less fortunate in our community. Demand for their services is very high this year, and we are working hard to make a difference.
Lid sorting event for Lids4Kids. In October we held a day long event sorting lids. Lids4Kids Australia is a grass-roots 100% volunteer project which rescues plastic bottle lids from landfill to benefit the environment and repurposes them into sustainable recycled plastic products to benefit kids. More information on Lids4Kids is available at https://www.facebook.com/Lids4KidsAU/.
Helping Restocking of Community Services #1 Food Pantry
After receiving advice from Community Services #1 that their food pantry was in very high demand resulting from a range of factors including the ACT lockdown and in need of additional supplies. It has been great to be able to mobilise our team very quickly to support those in need in our community.
An initial delivery of non-perishables from club members and friends was delivered to CS#1 on 17th August, one day following the request for support! Further deliveries of a car boot full of non-perishables has been provided to CS#1 on 19th August, 24th August and 27th August. All up our members and friends have contributed close to $1,000 of food pantry items to our local friends in need. Well done team!!
CS#1 has recognised our support in a recent interview by CEO (Amanda Tobler) on 2CC and also on their Facebook page. Amanda was also our club's guest speaker at our virtual meeting on 21st September. Her motivating presentation encouraged the club to dig deep and to provide further support to the CS#1 food pantry, with an initial huge delivery made on 27th September.
Thanks to everyone that has supported this appeal. The response has been terrific and we will continue to support the pantry while donations still come in. Contact us if you would like to donate or CS#1 (reception 1800960938) to arrange a drop-off of items directly to the pantry).
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Cooked Meals Distribution Support to Canberran's in Need
A number of members have responded to a call for Rotarians to assist in distributing about 1,000 cooked meals per day to locals in need. Typically each volunteer spent around 2-3 hours delivering packaged meals in one or more adjacent suburbs - all over the Canberra region - all done in a COVID-safe manner. The meals are prepared by the 'Ken Behrens' Helping Hands group who have been preparing meals for those in need for quite some time. Thanks to all members who have been able to support this very worthwhile activity!
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Installation of Swing Seats for Oaks Estate Residents
A number of club members and friends came together at the end of July to support @VinniesACT and the residents of Oaks Estate. We installed 3-seat swing seats outside three of the resident blocks. We enjoyed the work and interaction with residents, and hope that these seats will help the community.
The swing seats were purchased through a Stronger Communities Grant that was awarded to Vinnies (read more about the program at https://business.gov.au/.../stronger-communities-programme). “This program seeks to encourage and support participation in local projects, improve local community participation and contribute to vibrant and viable communities.”
Vinnies spent the grant money on a combination of projects to beautify Oaks Estate (planting 1000 tulip bulbs), increasing community participation and leadership roles (through residents taking responsibility for garden beds and fruit trees), increasing healthy lifestyles and providing focal points for social activities (such as the swing sets).
Feedback from the Vinnies team was very positive:
"A BIG Thankyou to you and to your team. We are exceptionally happy with the work of the swing seat installations.
We will certainly keep you in mind for future projects as I can highly recommend the work of your team and the calibre of the people, thankyou"