People join Rotary for a variety of reasons. For many of our members one of those reasons is to put something back into our community.Over the past 7 months members of the Rotary Club of Timaru have been involved in a number of projects including:
- Planting trees at the Otipua Wetlands: The Club purchased and planted trees in the Otipua Wetlands and ensured they were watered over the following weeks.
- Cataract Surgery for pacific islanders: The Club donated $5,000 to the Fred Hollows Foundation to fund cataract operations for 200 people in the South Pacific.
- Help at the Community Christmas Dinner: Several Club members collected and transported kitchen equipment, crockery, utensils and Christmas decorations from the club's storage container and after the dinner collected, returned and stacked the equipment back in the container.
Cleaning the concrete fence at the Roller skating on Caroline Bay: One of our members noticed the fence was in need of a clean so a group got together with water blasters and did the job.- Jacks Point Light House plaque: A group of cycling Rotarians saw the need for a plaque to inform the public of the history of the Jacks Point Light House. The club provided funds and the members arranged for the plaque to be prepared, and attached it to the lighthouse.
- Firewood project: The NRG team secured a supply of firewood which they gathered, split and delivered with the help of club members.
- Kindling wood for elderly citizens: On several occasions members broke up old pallets into kindling wood and delivered it to senior citizens.
- Support for the Plunket Horror Maze: Several members helped Plunked by providing manpower (can we say that?) for the parking area at the Horror Maze near Waimate.
Douglas Street fallen tree project: In this project lead by our NRG (Next Rotary Gerneration) group members cut up and cleared a fallen tree on a senior citizen's property. In return the NRG group was given funds to support one of its projects.- Food Bank Project: The Club is supporting Presbyterian Support South Canterbury in developing a food bank project to build up supplies prior to next Christmas.
- Blood pressure monitoring: several members staffed the blood pressure monitoring table at the Highfield supermarket.
- Home Show catering: Our NRG group, supported by other Club members, arranged catering at the Home Show.
- Jo Goodhew's Curtain Bank Project: The Club is supporting a project organised by Jo Goodhew to make pre-used curtains available to the needy in our community.
- Support for the Red Cross Book Sale: Willing helpers packed up the remaining books after the Red Cross Book Sale.
Rotary Hot Dog Van: The Club operates a Hot Dog van (hot dogs, chips and drinks) at the Alpine Energy stadium during rugby matches and at other local events such as the Rose Festival, Fairlie A&P Show and the Winchester Swap Meet. So far members have contributed over 355 volunteer hours and have raised thousands of dollars for projects.