Award Nomination for Local Recycling Scheme by Kenmore Rotary

A local community, who obtained a Containers for Change Scheme ID when the scheme  began in November 2018, has been nominated for a “Change Maker award Charity/Community Group.”



Kenmore Rotary Club was an early adopter in the movement to recycle plastic containers and the program, run by the members of the club, has evolved into a wide array of collection points across Kenmore through to Moggill.

Kenmore Rotary members Michael Fitzgerald and Ken Ryan have used their combined career knowledge to take the project to the next level since COVID put everything on hold.

Kenmore Rotary Pullenvale Container Recycling Station
Photo Credit: Supplied

“Our initial intention was for the recycling project to be one of our community projects that raised some revenue and reduced landfill,” says Michael Fitzgerald, a former Queensland Law Society President.

“As a club, we are always looking at assisting the community and raising revenue that can be used for the range of good causes our Rotary Club supports.”

Kenmore Rotary Containers for Change
Photo Credit: Supplied

Included in the plan was the engagement of schools in the local area, getting students to encourage parents to recycle containers through Kenmore Rotary’s collection network.

“Initially, we had two very large cages manufactured that were placed at E-Waste in Kenmore Hills and  Pullenvale Marketplace,” says former Town Planner, Ken Ryan.

Local State MP Christian Rowan played a role in helping Kenmore Rotary apply for a grant from the Department of the Environment. The grant application was successful and a trailer was purchased that enabled club members, some 30-strong volunteers, to run a roster emptying the cages and delivering the containers to a Coex depot where they were turned into a cash donation to the club.

Kenmore Rotary Containers for Change
Photo Credit: Supplied

This led to more donation points being arranged at:

The Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Kenmore
St Catherine’s Church  in Moggill
The Anglican Church in Kenmore
A member’s house in Aronia Street in Kenmore

Later three further collection points were added:

A cafe on Brookfield Road in Kenmore
A block of units in Merlin Terrace in Kenmore
A commercial property in Brookfield

With the scheme increasing to include wine and spirit bottles, the wider network became difficult for members to keep up with, and so Ken and Michael started to have conversations with Community Co Recycling Pty Ltd (the Coex operator the Club has been working with in relation to collections for several years). This led to the Club booking them to pick up from the various sites, freeing Kenmore Rotary members up to focus on other ways to raise revenue and support the range of local good causes as well as school children in PNG.

The project to date has stopped 537,085 containers being added to landfill and raised $153,708.50 distributed between Kenmore Rotary good causes and partners.

Kenmore Rotary’s current range of local good causes supported:

A Domestic Violence shelter, Domestic Violence support services, including Legal services;
Youth mentoring programs from STEM programs to Leadership programs;
Learner Driver programs;
Supporting children in desperate need and delivering Primary and Secondary school awards;
Community programs from running the annual Citizenship Ceremony, to ANZAC day, to the Brookfield Show, to a range of Christmas food donations to those in need;
A range of defibrillators bought and installed at the Brookfield Showgrounds, Pullenvale Marketplace and Kenmore Village Shopping Centre.

Kenmore Rotary’s range of overseas programs supported:

An Opthamologist’s Program in Nepal to help Nepali people in desperate need of eyesight help;
An Arts Centre in Port Moresby;
Various donations to PNG through “Donations in Kind.”
Kenmore Rotary Containers for Change
Photo Credit: Supplied

Kenmore Rotary has also been instrumental in raising funds for e-Waste which enables disabled youths to access work experience through the NDIS.



A humble group of 40 members donating their time and expertise in the Kenmore area can achieve great things. Tt’s no surprise they have been nominated for a Change Maker Award.

Published 6-Oct-2024

Kenmore Rotary Trailer Raffle Encounters New Challenge to Help Fund Good Causes

Kenmore shoppers have become well acquainted with the selling of Kenmore Rotary Raffle tickets over the last 20 years, both Kenmore Village Shopping Centre and Kenmore Plaza being the venues to exhibit the trailer and sell the tickets. However, the 2023 rendition will have a new challenge.



Due to the major renovation of Kenmore Village, Kenmore Rotary Club has decided to leave the Trailer and all its prizes there instead of the usual towing of it between the two centres.

Previously, Kenmore Village was the Friday and Saturday venue for the trailer and the selling effort and Kenmore Plaza hosted the trailer and sales effort on Sundays.

This year, the trailer will remain at Kenmore Village, as the sales campaign will run from November 2 to December 3.

The Trailer Raffle is the major fundraiser of the year for Kenmore Rotary. Here are the organisations that benefited from a donation from the Trailer raffle last year:

The Women’s Crisis Support Service

DV Support is considered a priority by Kenmore Rotary and the WCSS was made a beneficiary. Kenmore Rotary, in conjunction with Karana Bellbowrie Rotary, paid for a full mould cleaning of their facility; the construction of a Children’s Cubby House; the construction of a Children’s Sandbox with shade cover; and the landscaping of the children’s play area.

Mould before and after
Photo Credit: Kenmore Rotary
Cubbyhouse Kenmore
Photo Credit: Kenmore Rotary

Other areas of help offered to the refuge included the donation of new clothes for women and children, financial cover for a child’s emergency medical intervention

STEM

Kenmore Rotary offers a scholarship for a local Year 11 student to attend the 10-day National Youth Science Forum.

Kenmore Rotary runs the Solar Buddy program via several junior schools including those at St Peters Lutheran College, OLR, Kenmore State School, Ambrose Treacy and Chapel Hill State School.

The students construct a solar light and include a written message with each light, which are then sent to PNG to help combat the lack of electricity over there which means children cannot study after dark.

Solar buddy lights improve student reading & study time by 87% for the children that receive them. This also eliminates the use of kerosene lamps which have proven to be very dangerous for children.

Leadership

Kenmore Rotary has long focused on developing young leaders in our community, to that end it invests funds into 5 Leadership programs:

  • Aspiring Leaders Program mentoring Yr 11 students potential leaders at Kenmore State High School
  • RYPEN (14-16 year olds) Residential weekend-long program delivering leadership training
  • RYLA (18-26 years old) One-week residential program
  • RYTS (on graduating Yr 12) 7-day Life Skills program
  • RJCA (Junior Community Awards) Yr 6 students that get them involved in the community. This program runs at Chapel Hill School.

Young Driver Awareness Training

In an effort to cut down on young driver accidents, the RYDA program is run for Yr 11 students at Kenmore State High School.



“The Club is run by volunteers that dedicate their time to improving our community, we really appreciate the support every year for our Trailer Raffle, as our major fundraiser, and we are delighted once again to be able to offer the trailer and it’s full array of prizes, kindly donated by sponsors, to the lucky winner,” a spokesman for Kenmore Rotary said.

Published 18-Oct-2023

2017 Brookfield Show : Scary Weather Forecasts, Equine Flu Scare But The Show Was As Good As Ever

Congratulations to the Brookfield Show Committee

Another great rendition of the Brookfield Show is now behind us, the Show Committee once again organizing three days of action packed fun supported by great sponsors, stall holders, and with the assistance of Kenmore Rotary.

As far as major events go in the western suburbs of Brisbane, there is no bigger than the Brookfield Show.

This year’s event was as good as ever despite a terrible weather forecast, thank goodness proven incorrect!

Friday morning kicked the event off with a mixture of drizzle and heavy rain that left the Boscombe road vendor car park greasy but under management by Kenmore Rotary. The hiatus of school drop offs, coinciding with the arrival of show vendors, happened seamlessly. One Friday casualty due to the weather were the pony events, but the Rodeo went ahead in the evening and locals arrived en masse for a fun evening.

Saturday and Sunday brought glorious weather. The main car park was full by 11:00 a.m. though Boscombe Road had space for most of the day. The equestrian events displayed some great equine talent and riding over the weekend, whilst the gravity of the competition there contrasted with the hilarious pig racing in an adjoining ring.

The rides stayed busy during both days, many kids stretching their $45 all-day pass to the limits, with continual lines at the dodgems.

One concern which the Courier Mail has headlined today was the suspected Hendra virus case, though this was cleared up by a statement from the vet:

brookfield show statement

The Children’s art show was a great success, judged this year by Catherine Mactaggart of Sotheby’s Queensland.

Best in Show was won by Sophie Evans:
brookfield art best in show

Here are some of the other highly talented entrants:

See more entries here

The dog show results can be found here

Councillor Kate Richards reported watching the woodchopping:

A great event that families get wonderful value from every year, West Brisbane is lucky to have the Brookfield Show.

Photo Credit: Brookfield Show from Facebook.com/CrKateRichards