Projects for Clubs

Webinar: Projects that Rotary Clubs can deliver during Isolation (6th May 2020)

 

Facilitators: Tim Moore, Adrian Roach and Barbara Mifsud
 

Jasmin Dhillon - Rotary Club of Southbank “Face-Mask Making Project”

 
The Czech Republic’s Government encouraged face-mask wearing. The Club did due diligence, by researching the best materials and the place to have them made. Jasmin is a lawyer and there was a disclaimer stating that the masks are not medical grade.
The face-masks were for people in need, for example, the homeless, where there is likely to be a greater concentration of people. “Launch Housing” in St. Kilda was the partner of choice and the masks were distributed through their office.
Zara Lim makes the masks professionally.  Facemasks make people more aware of social distancing, stop people from touching their faces and are an asset because when sufferers are asymptomatic, they are the most contagious.
The project has created more engagement, and the members have learnt a new skill. No prior learning is required, the masks are hand sewn and can be done from home. Once restrictions are lifted, face-masks will be required to be worn for awhile yet.
 
 
 
 
FACE MASK MAKING   Click here or on image   WEBINAR VIDEO
 
David Hanlon - Rotary Club of Frankston North
 
The Club was an early adopter of Zoom, as they started training in January. They started to look at how they could engage with their community. Because of the variety of skills within the Club, they developed community Zoom sessions. They put out a flyer, “Connect together, Educate with fun, Care for Community”. This was to help with Home Schooling, and they raised a bit of money for premature babies in the Frankston hospital. They advertised on their Club and District Facebook pages, and it was listed as an event in Eventbrite.
The Club will be running an online Trivia Night along the lines of “Millionaire Hotseat” in late May. David will share with everyone when it’s up and running. They want social interaction with the people involved, so may use Kahoot. Rajeev Wadhwa will send the details of how to use Kahoot, but said you use two devices, one operating Kahoot and another computer running the Zoom meeting.
With their professional license, the Club can have 100 people per session. It will be $5 a household, with all proceeds going to the Kangaroo chairs. (for new mothers and prem babies)
 

Lenard - Rotaract Club of Adelaide University

 
The Club ran a “Rotaract Cooking Class” on Zoom in collaboration with “Successful Communities”. The Club’s members are mainly international students, so one student demonstrated how to make a Nepalese dish. Lenard cooked his mother’s “Broccoli pasta” and a Sicilian Pasta. The aim of the classes was to build intercultural understanding and to foster mental health by taking a break from the COVID doom and gloom. You have to have a balance.
The next cooking class will be 12pm. Adelaide time/11.30am. Melbourne time on the 16th of May. You can find it on Facebook. Some Rotarians joined the Zoom class last time. The Rotaractors are happy to have new faces, and cooking and food bring people together. It’s just for fun, there’s no charge, it’s a Professional Development sort of thing.
Lenard has started his own little cookbook, and so far he has 249 recipes. Maybe he will publish it, and it will be the first Rotaract cookbook.
 

Rajeev Wadhwa - Rotary Club of Rowville Lysterfield and Neill Sheldon -Bayswater

 
The Bayswater Club holds the Knox Art Show annually and it’s an important community event. It provides opportunities for local artists and schools. Paintings are registered online using the Gallery 247 Website facility. Once approved, artists bring their paintings along. They pay to enter, and a commission on any paintings sold. Between 500 and 1,000 people attend on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Dignitaries are invited etc. It is funded from the City of Knox, and the funds raised go to three charities, Bushfire Relief, the Homeless and PolioPlus. The show requires a lot of publicity.
The lockdown due to COVID19 meant that there couldn’t be a physical show. So the Knox 2020 Art Show became a virtual art show. The Knox Council sponsored it. Sponsors gain 365 days’ exposure. The Clubs used Gallery 247’s developers to help the Art Show happen. If you Google Gallery 247, you’ll find it. The Clubs updated the Websites and advised the artists and sponsors of the change. They took one week to transition the show to online. There were more than 300 artists and more than 15 sponsors participating. They saved $2,000 and gave away $5,000 worth of prizes as planned.
The Virtual Art Show lasted 2 weeks instead of 3 days, with the profit only being down by a third. Rajeev said that they will be able to do so much better for next time.
Next year they plan to do both a physical and a virtual show. It will be a better event with a stronger reach. The Clubs found an opportunity from adversity; “When life throws lemons at you, make lemonade”.
 

Georgina Richards is a member of a Satellite Club of Gulf Harbour/Army Bay in New Zealand.

Their project is Gulf Harbour/Army Bay United Against COVID19.They offered the Rotary branding, which they adopted very quickly, to the volunteers. Georgina and her husband were the points of contact to facilitate the running of errands, picking up prescriptions etc. They started with 12 volunteers initially, and after 24 hours they had 60. So they had to contact the two people who organised the first meeting. They decided to form a committee, the roles within the committee were worked out and Job Descriptions were written. Five team leaders were appointed with volunteers under each of the team leaders. A counsellor mentored the team leaders, and information filtered down to the volunteers through them. Letter drops with the flyers were made. Within 3 days, badges with the Rotary logo had been made so that the volunteers could be identified.
The volunteers observed the two metre distancing rule, and signed for the shopping at the supermarket. They left the shopping with the receipt in the bag at the front-door, and then invoiced them. They did one to two shops a day.
It is a great project, which any Rotarian can do. Georgina and her husband delegated responsibility out. The project supports the local Health Board and the emergency response teams for those who can’t afford the shopping. They hope to start another Satellite Club with the volunteers. They received $2,000 in donations, which they are going to give back to the volunteers. They received lots of phone calls saying thanks. Georgina said that, “It has been a privilege to be a Rotarian”. Because there are three clubs in their area, they promoted all Rotarians and Rotary. They hope to establish a “Rotary Community Core” also.
 

From the Q and A:

  • A Rotary Club in NSW is delivering “Meals on Wheels”.
  • The Rotary Club of Essendon and Keilor East made $12,000 with their Art Show.