Please consider a donation to Springs of Hope Foundation Through Global Giving as it will be matched 50% by Global Giving if you donate on the site between Australian time 23:00 Wednesday June 15th and tomorrow till 2pm. See details at Great News From Springs Of Hope Foundation and Global Giving Project Donation

President of the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City Michael Sargent presented the CEO and Director of Research of Wesley Medical Research (WMR) Professor David Paterson with a cheque for $2040 from the Club at WMR’s quarterly Advocates event last night.

The Club’s donation will be used to purchase a hot air dryer for the WMR’s Tissue Bank. The dryer will speed the preparation of slide samples of tissue for researchers and increase the quality of the fix of the samples to the slides.

Club Members Kathryn Draper and Collin Myers joined the evening’s activities which included a presentation on an important new addition to the Tissue Bank, the Australian Autism Biobank, the first such facility in Australia which is helping the study of biological causes of autism.

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom, the dynamic co-founder of the Springs of Hope Foundation which the club has been supporting, has sent us good news from Kenya. A recent US$10,000 grant from the Global Giving organization (more than US$10,000) will help greatly with the school that Springs of Hope are involved in building and running. Jennifer writes:

" We are absolutely thrilled as the grant will allow us to build our next class room in time for class 2 to move up at the beginning of next year.

So a huge thank you to all of you. YOU’RE MAKING AMAZING THINGS HAPPEN!

June 1st was Madaraka Day which commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule in 1963.

We took the opportunity on this public holiday to visit families in our surrounding community.

It’s always shocking and deeply disturbing to witness the living conditions of some of our neighbors who live in abject poverty. We found babies and young children suffering and in constant pain from a number of skin diseases such as scabies, others had open wounds and infections, whilst a number were suffering from ringworm.

This week we will start a program to educate parents on health and hygiene and how to recognize the conditions their children are suffering from.

We will involve the parents of the families whose lives have been positively changed as a result of our support through projects like the goat or rabbit program so that they may offer encouragement to these poor women who live without hope. We will assess the family's needs and work towards assisting them out of poverty with small income generating projects.

TIME TO ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES…WE HAVE A LOT MORE WORK TO DO!!!

Once again, thank you so much for making it possible for us to change the lives of so many children in rural Kenya."

Warmest blessings,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom

 

Once again, members of the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City gave up their Sunday morning to help The Salvation Army’s 2016 Red Shield Appeal.

Each year, students from Brisbane Boys’ College volunteer to door knock in Brisbane’s western suburbs as part of the national effort.  Rotarians gather at the college to integrate with the Salvos' well-oiled machine.

This year, on Sunday 29 May, Keith Carl was part of the early shift at BBC in setting up the collection.  Brett Cribb and Collin Myers joined the team of volunteer drivers who provided their own cars to transport the teams of students around their suburban collection territories.   Rod Thorburn and Michael Evans helped to receive the takings as the boys returned to the BBC base.

Other club members gave a couple of hours on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 to collect donations from office staff arriving to work at 140 Creek Street.  Well done to Ben Warren, Barry Schmidt, John Roberts, Rod Thorburn, Lisa Bateson, Melanie Liu and Neil Dickson, who collectively raised $997.25 for the Salvos' appeal.

The generous donations of householders contributed thousands of dollars to the national effort of the Red Shield Appeal to enable The Salvation Army to continue its work among the homeless and destitute and disadvantaged throughout Australia.

Clean Up Australia Day is reported to be Australia's biggest community participation event.  Last year, an estimated 550,300 volunteers removed 16,150 tonnes of rubbish at 7,341 sites right across the country - but we can do better!  So lend a hand on Sunday 6 March 2016 and help Clean Up Australia.

Clean Up Australia Day is a fantastic opportunity for the Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-City to be involved in a community service which has an immediate and lasting impact on our environment. It is a positive way of showing we care for our beautiful city.

WHEN: Sunday, 6 March 2016
WHERE: Orleigh Park, West End. Meet on the corner of Riverside Drive and Forbes Street.
TIME: Meet at 8:44am, clean up from 9:00am -11am.
WHO: Everyone is welcome – Rotarians, friends, family, work colleagues, potential members or anyone else you care to invite.
WHAT: Wear comfortable clothes, walking shoes, sunscreen and a hat. Gloves and garbage and recycling bags will be provided. (You might prefer your own protective gloves.)
SITE SUPERVISOR: See Tim Adikari to sign up for the clean-up team or register online at http://www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/Orleigh+Park

Clean Up Australia Day Facts

• Last year an estimated 550,300 volunteers removed 16,150 tonnes of rubbish at 7,341 sites right across the country.
• 80% of the rubbish collected on Clean Up Australia Day is recyclable.
• Cigarette butts make up the largest percentage of a single item collected on Clean Up Australia Day.
• Since the event started Australians have devoted more than 27 million hours towards caring for the environment through Clean Up Australia day and collected over 288,650 tonnes of rubbish.

 

"Simple, easy actions can protect the health of our water resources and help save drinking water supplies. There is not one individual who cannot help to make a difference to the health of the environment" - Ian Kiernan AO. Founder of Clean Up Australia Day

To register online: http://www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/Orleigh+Park
To view a map, please click here: Orleigh Park, West End.