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Our parent club, the Rotary Club of Turramurra sponsored the Rotary Club of Wahroonga which was chartered on the 25th November 1975. Our club has a President and a board of directors elected annually from its members.
Our contributions range from:
- Bringing to Sydney children from East Timor and Mongolia for life-saving heart operations.
- Continuing assistance to the children with special needs at St Lucy’s and St Edmund's schools and Operation Hope at Vision Valley for underprivileged and at-risk children.
- Support for many charities and raising funds for medical research through the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.
- Assisting the Salvation Army on Red Shield Day and sponsoring attendees at Rotary organised events for young people such as national and state science summer schools.
During each year we raise considerable funds for charitable causes and we ensure that 100% of all donations received go to the relevant cause. To do this we have a dedicated bank account for contributed funds that is only used for projects. This ensures that 100% of all donations go to the relevant cause. We do not keep a % for administration.
To run the club itself we keep a separate account for club operations that is fully funded by our membership contributions and any other monies donated by members for that purpose.
All Rotary clubs are independent but are linked through the global organisation Rotary International that operates out of Chicago. Our club is in District 9680 which stretches from Sydney Harbour northwards to Toukley on the Central Coast. The District has a governor who is elected and serves for a one year term. In 2009-10 one of our club members, John Cameron, was District Governor and the club supported him during his term in office by helping with the administration of the District and organising the annual District Conference that was held in Port Macquarie.
As one of the largest clubs in the District we are active in supporting a wide range of service programs. Our members are involved in activities such as building a school in Nepal to funding activities with the Hornsby Police and Citizens Youth Centre. With 60 plus members we are active in fields stretching from international projects to the local community.
As an example of what we do consider this example:
It was late in the 1994-95 Rotary year, when Sean Hinton, son of Wahroonga's member Phil, was in Mongolia running a tour company and joining the new Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar.
Sean came across the local policeman, Enkbaht who had a two-year-old Mongolian girl, Hishigzul, who would soon die without heart surgery. She was thought to have a hole in the heart and complications.
Then President Rob Quodling took the project onboard and Dr Alan Gale (Northbridge) volunteered to do the surgery.
Hishigzul then two years and three months, and Enkhbat were brought to Sydney for her to have a life-saving heart operation.
Although a Wahroonga project, DG Ivan Skellett pushed it hard in the District and many D9680 Clubs contributed greatly. The Ba'hai faith (through Phillip Hinton), the NSW Police Officers Union, the Sydney Adventist Hospital and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) all joined in. Sufficient was raised to also fund a Mongolian cardiac surgeon to accompany Hishigzul and Enkbaht to Sydney.
When Hishigzul was examined in Sydney, it was found her situation was far worse than ever expected. Professor Tim Cartmill, the pre-eminent neonatal cardiac surgeon in Sydney was enlisted to take over the case. After a very tense few days, post-operatively, Hishigzul survived.
Hishigzul 15 years on (at the right of the picture)
Hishigzul is learning English and Enkhbat was really keen as you can imagine for her to have some chance to improve her English and visit Australia one day."
Footnote
Alan Gale then organised a number of ADRA /SAN hospital teams to go to Ulaanbaartar to do cardiac surgery and help the local medicos. A dental team went with one of the medical teams. A Wahroonga Rotarian generally went as the administrative assistant.
The wife of one of these Rotarians, Joan Giacometti, also went with one team. In Ulaanbaatar, Joan met an Australian girl, Didi, who had set up school for local orphans. Joan was impressed with her efforts and, on her return to Sydney, organised a bridge day to raise money to help Didi. The (recent) 10th Annual Didi Bridge Day, organised by Joan and the Wahroonga lady members, wives and partners raised nearly $20,000. Joan and some of the ladies have made two subsequent visits to ensure the money is being well spent and to assist for a couple of weeks.
When the SAN hospital replaced its cardiac operating theatre equipment, the hospital offered the replaced equipment to the Ulaanbaatar Hospital, provided Wahroonga Rotary organised and paid for its transportation to Mongolia. A Carl F Millar Grant was obtained from the Rotary Foundation to send a team (under the auspices of FAIM) to Mongolia to determine if it was practical - medically, operationally and physically - for the equipment to go there. Another crucial fund raising effort, supported by Paul Cave (BridgeClimb founder) and some Australian mining companies operating in Mongolia, enabled the equipment to be sent. It was then installed by a FAIM team. Subsequently, another Sydney hospital replaced its identical equipment, so FAIM was able to send to Ulaanbaatar selected parts of this, for spares.
A synopsis of the Cath Lab Project is included here for Members Interest --provided by John Welch
Wahroonga Rotary continues to support many projects - see our International, Community, Vocational and New Generations pages for examples.