What an impressive month we’ve had with a couple of great social functions. The crew at the Maroochy Botanical Gardens Café served up a delicious repast in lieu of our usual Friday meeting at Buderim Tavern, and, once again, the lady’s ditched the blokes for another lovely, monthly lunch, this time at Bli Bli Tavern. Believing wholeheartedly that there’s no such thing as too much socializing, we’re all looking forward to our Changeover Dinner this Friday night where we recap on the past year and welcome in the 2025/26 leadership team.
As yet another Rotary year draws to a close and we reflect on the Club’s year under the leadership of President Ken Grant, we can’t help but feel a tad chuffed. The following are just some of the beneficiaries of our work/fun this year: PolioPlus Polio Eradication Project; Motor Neuron Disease; Vanuatu Disaster Fund; Buderim Scouts; National Youth Science Forum; Story Dogs; Paraplegic Benefits Fund; Qld Farmers Flood Relief; Rotary & USC Scholarship Fund; Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre. For a small club with an ethos of ‘Making a Difference’, we have excelled!
Our Bunnings BBQ Community Club Support project has hit the ground running. The project will enable local clubs unable to take advantage of the generous Bunnings BBQ scheme to profit from the BBQs using the manpower and expertise of Buderim Rotary. So far, we have assisted Buderim Scouts, BWMCA this Monday, Buderim Guides and Buderim Private Hospital Auxiliary soon. Local groups unable to undertake these very profitable BBQs can go to our website and apply, or give us a call.
We were immensely proud to present Paul Harris Fellow Awards at a recent meeting to two very worthy, local recipients: Judith Bidstrop and Mark Stitt.
Judith has been quietly driving cancer patients from Bloomhill to their medical appointments for 18 years. On Sundays she volunteers at the Cotton Tree Markets, & she has been organizing the Brisbane Lion’s Sunshine Coast Supporters Group bus to The Gabba for over 10 years. Additionally, Judith organizes the Buderim Heart Foundation walking group, and for many years has been involved with the Rotary Bowel Screening program. Truly a ‘Quiet Achiever.’
Buderim Rotary is well known for ‘Working For Our Community’, however, not as widely recognized is the contributions the Club has made over the years to support communities overseas, whether it be for disaster recovery, or ongoing humanitarian aid. One such project we have been involved in for many years is the supply of water filtration devices to communities where the prevalence of waterborne disease is devastating. Local man, Mark Stitt, was at the helm of this project in Fiji, organizing for the water filtration devices, as well as other much-needed goods, to get to those areas where they are needed, often not an easy feat.
During his travels in Fiji in 2012, Mark became aware of the shocking effects of water contamination in regional Fiji. At the time, a child a week was dying from waterborne disease in the South Pacific region, prompting him to start a project where hundreds of water filtration devices were supplied to schools and communities, along with much-needed educational supplies. Through Mark’s efforts, schools have been able to remain open, children who treasure education have been able to thrive, & hundreds of lives have been saved by ensuring access to clean, disease-free drinking water. Truly a worthy recipient of a Paul Harris Fellow Award.
As we move into the new Rotary year, like most local volunteer organizations, one of our ‘NY Resolutions’ is to grow our membership to enable us to continue to add value to our community. If you have spare time once a week, once a fortnight or once a month and would like to spend it being involved in our local community and the wonderful events on the Buderim calendar, as well as developing great friendships, contact us for more details.