Local Rotary club supports the forgotten section.
Welcome to our newest Community Support Program, resulting directly from the COVID -19 pandemic that is currently griping Australia.The Federal and Queensland State Governments are doing a great job at most levels, but incredibly early into this crisis our members identified one section of our community that had slipped through the net.
At our recent weekly online meeting, it was brought to the members attention that the participants in one of Australia’s largest exports were being forgotten.
That group is the Overseas Students studying at our Universities and Colleges. Students who pay full tuition to study for their degrees as well as rent, travel, food, and other necessities of life. While studying, these students would normally hold down jobs serving tables in your restaurants, serving drinks in your favourite hotel and many other vocations.
Unfortunately, for them they seem to be the only section of our society that are not entitled to any relief from either the Federal of State Governments.
The Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge based in Corinda have decided to support these students with the introduction of out “International Student Food Relief Project”.
Members will start packing the BOXES today (20/4/20) at Cilantro Fresh, ready for distribution through “Together We Are Stronger”, hopefully from tomorrow.
A huge thanks to Cilantro Fresh in Oxley Road, Corinda for both letting us use her premises, but also donating 100kg of rice and helping us order the non-perishable good such asbeans, pasta, tinned tomatoes, long-life milk, and cooking oil.
In the boxes we will also be providing staples of fruit and vegetables such as potatoes, onions, garlic, pumpkin, carrots, green beans, apples and oranges.A huge thank you to Ben Bartlett and his team from of JH Leavy, who is helping us source the fruit and vegetables through their Darling Group. Ben has not only arranged access to wholesale prices, but he has also donated a large delivery for our first boxes, and he is incredibly supportive of the project.
In addition to the food, some BOXES will include Hygiene Care Packs sourced from the Rotary Club of Brisbane International, to help with mental as well as physical health.
We also have 20 only, $20 Essentials cards to be distributed to the recipients identified as most needy. These cards were made available by our Rotary Club purchasing 10,and one of our members, Fernanda, and her husband Ross donating the other 10.