The Rotary Club of Mt Druitt Projects

In July through to September, 1969, interest meetings were held at the Minchinbury Winery where the President of St Marys, Tod Combet, was the manager and live on the premises (his son Greg, you see on TV often was secretary of the ACTU). The Winery - now heritaged but derelict - had extensive tunnels under the hill and specialised in sparkling Burgundy and Champagne, and so these social and tennis afternoons established in our very formative stage, the love a good drop and the fellowship that went with it.

Our Charter was presented to President Al Kemp, Principal of Whalan High School, on 24th September, 1969 with 24 Charter members and by 1971 we had 28 members, 17 of whom had non-Australian backgrounds about which Secretary Len Garrod had an article published in RDU.

Since then we have had 125 members come and go of which, sadly, at least 21 have been called to Higher Service.

Early years saw most of the kid's playgrounds in our area equipped on a $ for $ basis with Blacktown Council and many working bees led by Wally Friend did the installations.

1970/71 John Van Megen initiated Youth exchange and raised funds by organised Cabaret Nights and a Princess Ball as well as the first of our raffles.

Community-wide collection of unwanted medicines, led by Ross Trewin and Ian Anderson, resulted in a ton of usable medicines (about $20,000 worth) being shipped to the flood victims in Pakistan.

Mt Druitt Rotary raised a 5,000 name petition to Blacktown Council for a swimming pool in the area which resulted in Emerton Pool.

Over the years we've had an ongoing Christmas party for the senior citizens, funded in part by Annual Raffles, which incidentally, have generated some $300,000, all of which has been used mainly on community youth and some internal projects.

Pro-rata, we are among the top clubs in funding the World-wide Polio-free Projects and have supported Rotary Foundation by awarding 30 Paul Harris Fellowships, valued at $30,000. Special fundraisers have benefited many, especially Westmead Children's Cancer Ward, Spina Bifida Association and Careflight.

There has rarely been a year when we missed having an Exchange Student going away and one inward bound from all parts of the world and we are richer for the experience and similarly young people to youth leadership camps and seminars.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 167 countries.

Throughout its history, Rotary International has collaborated with many civic and humanitarian organizations as well as government agencies in its efforts to improve the human condition. An excellent example of what these partnerships can accomplish can be found in Rotary's ambitious PolioPlus program. Launched in 1985 in concert with the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and UNICEF, Rotary's goal is to immunize every child in the world against polio by the year 2005. Rotary brought to the effort millions of volunteers to assist in vaccine delivery, social mobilization, and logistical help at the local, national, regional, and international levels.

Rotary International's External Relations Department was developed to help maintain and improve collaboration between Rotary International and other nongovernmental organizations. External Relations focuses on extending Rotary's outreach to the international community through:

*Support of Rotary's Representative Network with the United Nations and other organizations.

*Promotion of Rotary programs and activities by organizing keynote speeches, panel presentations, and exhibits at major international events.

*Education to the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) about community level partnership opportunities with Rotary.

You can visit Rotary International at www.rotary.org