One small group of young people have shown they are serious about supporting their local community.
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Established only 14 months ago, the Hastings Rotaract has attracted 16 members to form a Rotary partnership group specifically for 18-30 year olds.
A cheque presentation for $1,142 was made to Erin Denham, Cory and Meg Urqhart from the Make a Difference (M.A.D) Port Macquarie’s Orange Sky Laundry van appeal at their charter dinner.
The night was made even more special when Erin Denham was able to announce that as the M.A.D goal had been surpassed and as it approached $110,000, the Orange Sky Laundry van was ordered that day.
“This news was really exciting for us for it meant we had achieved our club’s first community goal,” explained Katie Hall, the inaugural president.
“A group of us attended a Rotaract conference in Brisbane last year and once we viewed the presentation by Orange Sky’s Nicholas Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, we knew we wanted to bring this concept to our area.
“Then we heard about another group trying to do the same, so we met with Erin Denham in January.
“From that meeting we embarked on adopting assisting the Make a Difference Organisation Port Macquarie with their $110,000 goal.”
The small group held two fundraising Zumba events with the support of Your Life Fitness, and a bubble soccer event, supported by The Ark Sports Centre.
A surcharge on the charter dinner costs brought the total donation to $1,142.
“The members of the newly chartered Hastings Rotaract have a lot to be proud of,” Christina Parkin, Rotary Adviser, said.
“Their hard work in establishing a stable foundation under the Rotary banner will allow them to continue to achieve great things in to their future, not only for the community in which they live, study and work in, but for themselves.
“Rotaract provides great personal and professional development, and many of the members have had a taste of that when their local Rotary clubs supported their attendance at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).
“We also have some Hastings Education Fund recipients keen to give back to the community who initially assisted with their studies.”
Hastings Rotaract meets weekly at the Charles Sturt University campus, but the membership is not confined to students.
“We welcome anyone who wants to make a difference in their local community to join us, learn with us and help us to meet future goals that we establish,” said Jack Wilson, secretary for Hastings Rotaract.
You can contact Hastings Rotaract via their Facebook page or email at hastingsrotaract@gmail.com.
