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James Peterson is the dynamic and impressive CEO of a dynamic and impressive young charity called breakingFree which visits high schools throughout Australia, delivering a free mental health and personal development program, which consists of 2 presentations delivered on separate days to groups of grade 10, 11 and 12 students, teaching them practical ways to best look after their mental health.

The Rotary Club of Brisbane has been supporting breakingFree since 2019 and it was great to have James drop in at yesterday's meeting to give the club an update of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting both schools and his charity. James reported that the biggest problem COVID-19 brings for students is the sheer uncertainty. It is hard to manage your life when on top of a new kind of external assessment this year they need to worry about whether there will even be final exams and if there will be any opportunities for them to pursue in 2021. In many students this just increases the anxiety of an already anxious time.

2019-2020 Rotary Year - Disrupted but Still Effective

Projects ‘Interruptus yet Effective’ seems to have defined this Rotary year.

My diary tells me we were permitted just seven person-to-person meetings from December 16 until the close in the year. Notwithstanding, our Club was able to continue with its long heritage of participating and giving.

As a club we continued to punch well-above our numbers, participation levels, and average age. No matter ‘Projects Interruptus’ for the second half of the year, we strengthened projects from 2018 & 2019 (Kyeema, Outback Futures, Downs & West Community Outreach, Drought Appeals, Breaking Free, and Youngcare) with financial aid by standing on the shoulders of past RCoB Presidents and Members.

Donations in Kind needs your Old School Uniforms and Textbooks!

Congratulations to all the students who are graduating from Primary School into High School, like my own son is. Congrats to all the parents for surviving this far! I’m discovering school students just seem to get more expensive the older they get. But hey, we love them and just want the best education and experience for our kids.

I was recently contacted by a parent who asked me what should they do with the old uniforms and school books? Is there a way we can give these to disadvantaged kids, perhaps to third world countries? I reached out to our Rotary International club members and discovered ‘Donations in Kind (DIK)’ George and Mary Grant have been collecting goods for the last 5 years, and sending all sorts of things like hospital equipment and supplies, school furniture, books and school uniforms in shipping containers to places like Nauru, Solomon Islands, PNG, and other islands in the Pacific.

So, YES – you can send your goods to George and Mary Grant, who will be on site at 23 Mary St Kingston near Logan, from 8am - 12pm every Thursday from 9^th Jan forward in 2020, and they will collect, pack and ship your goods to kids in need. If you have any questions, please email me, President Elect, and together we’ll make a difference in the world. That’s the Rotary International reason for being. Merry Christmas

Rotary Peace Fellow Seminar Examines Everyday Peace

April 13th was the date of this year's annual Rotary Peace Fellow Seminar. The theme this year was "Everyday Peace: Processes, Perspectives and Potential".

Class XVI Peace Fellows in a celebratory mood after the 2019 Peace Symposium

The Peace Fellows Seminar is a vital component of the Fellow’s activities in the Rotary Centre – as it facilitates the building and maintenance of links between the Rotary Centre and Rotarians. The Seminar is a platform for our Fellows to share their experiences with Rotarians first hand, to hear about how their learning has progressed, and the journey they have embarked on both as scholars and practitioners. It is also the University’s way of thanking Rotary for its contributions, support and funding of the program and indeed for its enlightened decision some time ago to work towards world peace, justice and understanding. These values are jointly shared by the University of Queensland, and are reflected in our substantial commitment to the School’s teaching and research program in peace and conflict resolution.

It was heartening to see a full house at The Women's College auditorium again this year. About 140 Rotarians and other guests gathered to to hear the Class XVI Rotary Peace Fellows "Show and Tell" us about their focus in study and activities.

Rotarians Bend Backs for Donations in Kind

Donations in Kind is a program by which Rotary receives hospital and school equipment, books and much more that is being upgraded within our schools and hospitals and then sends them by container to our near neighbours in PNG, the Solomons and other Pacific Islands Timor L'este and sometimes as far as India. It is dependent on community-minded staff in schools, hospitals and other organisations who alert Rotarians to the fact that there is still-useful equipment that is to be sent to the dump. Rotarians then donate their time to collect and transport the material to the DIK warehouse in Kingston and later to pack it into containers to be sent to destinations that need it. Donations in Kind in Queensland was originally a project of the Rotary Club of Brisbane but has now expanded across the whole state and is managed under the umbrella of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).

The Rotary Club of Brisbane has appointed Rtn Paul Choy as their Donations In Kind convenor in recognition of the importance of the Donations In Kind Programme has in the activities of Rotary in Australia and the Rotary Club of Brisbane in particular. Paul has been in the job for barely 2 months and already we have been busy.

Paul Choy (far Right) and Keith Watts (back to camera) loading a container for PNG on 9th March.

RCoB Sponsors Educational Materials for Timor-Leste

Veteran's Care volunteers distribute kits 4 kids sponsored by the Rotary Club of Brisbane to students in Timor-Leste

A group of Australian veterans recently conducted an 11 day Veteran Health program distributing 2,000 Kits 4 Kids in remote rural areas of Timor Leste. The program also involved a range of physical activities involving daily walks, some cycling, stretching and discussions on a range of physical activity options suitable for veterans. It also included inputs on nutrition, nurture of the mind, the soul and relationships, as well as developing a future life purpose.

Kits 4 Kids is a collaboration between the Rotary Club of Townsville and the Veterans Care Association based in Brisbane. Old Army buddies Bruce Scott from Rotary in Townsville and Gary Stone from Veterans Care Association arranged for the participants in the Timor Awakening rehabilitation programme to pack and deliver, in person to each child, a small education kit . The kits themselves are organised by the Rotary Club of Townsville and the costs are covered by various sponsors. The Rotary Club of Brisbane is proud to be the sponsor of a delivery of 2000 kits in September 2018.

RCoB Sends Drought Aid to Longreach

Shoppers at the MacArthur Central shopping centre in the Brisbane CBD might have been a little surprised to see people wearing Rotary aprons and carrying collection tins on the 3 days from the 17th to the 19th of October. These normally mild-mannered and retiring Rotarians from the Brisbane Club were moved by the scale and severity of the drought across Queensland and NSW to ask shoppers for donations for the Western Queensland Drought Appeal.

John Smerdon and Cameron Gibson on the job at the booth.

Over the three days, in excess of $1150 was collected. This was added to cash donations from members and the total raised will be matched 2:1 from the Rotary Club of Brisbane's charitable foundation and donated to the Western Queensland Drought Appeal. Funds donated to the Western Queensland Drought Appeal are loaded onto pre-paid debit cards or vouchers and distributed directly to landholders in western Queensland, for them to spend on personal needs in their local communities. This keeps the money in the region, allows landholders to choose how they spend the money, and gives local businesses a boost with the extra trade. In this case funds will be distributed near Longreach, one of the many areas that has not had a break from the recent rains in eastern Queensland and NSW.

RCoB helps Red Frogs Help Students

Red Frogs is a support network for young people, aiming to provide safety responses, referrals to professional services, education and alternative event programming. Each year 24 tonne of ‘Allen’s Red Frogs’ (provided by Nestle), are used as an ice breaker to connect Red Frog volunteers with 1.43 million people (predominately youth & young adults) in environments such as Schoolies, Universities, Festivals, Schools, Skate Parks and Sports Events.

The Rotary Club Of Brisbane became a major partner of the Red Frogs program in September 2017 with a commitment of $50,000 across two Rotary years.

Rural Endoscopy Training Makes a Difference

Endoscopy training of rural GPs at the Princess Alexandra Hospital is already starting to make a difference to rural Queenslanders. The project was initially the brainchild of RCoB's Professor Gerald Holtmann who also happens to be the Director of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Dr Jennifer Wharton from Thursday Island at the PAH Rural Endoscopy Training Centre observed by Prof Gerald Holtmann, Director of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, PAH and Dr Derek Holroyd from Proserpine.

Gerald was concerned about the amount of travel required of rural patients who generally need to travel hundreds of km to regional centres for endoscopic examinations. This is not a problem that can be solved simply by spending money to locate equipment in far-flung locations. Trained personnel need to be on-hand to perform the procedures, and they just are not available in rural areas. Gerald brought a proposal for the training of rural generalists in endoscopic procedures to his Rotary Club, who agreed to seed-fund a start-up project to the tune of $20,000 in collaboration with the Princess Alexandra Foundation and Queensland Health.

Jennifer Jones, of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2022-23.

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