CRC Bulletin March 30th. 2026

Have a happy and a peaceful Easter.

COOLAMON ROTARY CLUB MEETING 

Monday March 30th. 2026 

President Mary Potts welcomed 3 guests and 22 members to our meeting tonight.  The Rev. Jenni Bedding was our guest speaker tonight and the other guests were Marilyn Jennings and John Scott from the Coolamon Lions club and as a representative of the Can Assist Canola Way.  John was supporting Jenni tonight.

We conducted a fair amount of general business including:

• Henk read out a request for our club to consider supporting a RYLA student this year for the RYLA camp at Murrumbateman.  Details below.
  RYLA Murrumbateman 2026   
• We have been allocated Thursday May 15th for the Bottom Pub raffle starting at 5.30pm volunteers are needed.
• MHERV Van roster:

•  Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) will take place again this year at the Wagga Showground between the 5th to 8th May. This is a one day program for year 11 school students who are learning to drive.  We need volunteers on the day that the Coolamon Central School is going.
• We also need to look at the cost of hire of a bus for the CCS students which is $735.00
• The CRC Board meets in 2 weeks time on Monday May 13th.
• AUSKICK in Coolamon we are looking at providing a canteen voucher for the 14 weeks of Auskick two teams (rookie and Pros), will het one voucher each week or 20 vouchers @$20 per week a total donation of $280.00.
• May 16th Rotary South Pacific Epic Day.Picture the incredible power of every club in the South Pacific coming together, each taking on a project that ignites their passion, all on the same day! Imagine the energy as we unite to make a difference and reveal Rotary’s true impact within our communities.  Details bellow:
• Rotary South Pacific Epic Day Website
• Reminder that our S@Arms Dick is looking for 2-3 good jokes to help with the fines session.
• The recent netball carnival in Wagga raised $1,000 approx.. net well done to all those who volunteered.
• The Coolamon Community Chronicle will be printed this Thursday.

Guest Speaker.

The  Rev. Jenni Bedding, Parish Rector for the Coolamon and Ganmain Anglican Church.

Jenni was introduced by Ian Jennings and tonight as a tireless worker for the Can Assist Canola Way Branch that was formed in 2025.

Jenni is a client liaison officer for the area which includes:  Coolamon, Ganmain, Marrar, Matong, Rannock.  Jenni went on to describe how the Canola Way branch helps patients with cancer related problems and these included:

1. The Canola Way branch of Can Assist is a small group of people who feel that distance should not stop people from receiving care. The members work hard to ensure we can help lessen the financial burden of cancer for locals.
2. Canola Way is assisted by the Junee branch.  Canola Way is always looking for support either financial or to get involved as a volunteer.
3. They have several clients now including a young client who they provide fuel for travelling to Sydney for treatment.
4. They also cover the cost of expensive pharmaceuticals.
5. Canola Way also cover ongoing cancer assistance when required.

Jenni was passionate about her work in Can Assist and all present enjoyed her talk and I am sure that Jenni will get support from our club.

CANOLA WAY ABOUT US

Can Assist Canola Way was formed in 2025. The Canola Way is situated in the Riverina area of NSW. The Canola Way branch of Can Assist is a small group of people who feel that distance should not stop people from receiving care. The members work hard to ensure we can help lessen the financial burden of cancer for locals.

Areas Serviced: Coolamon, Ganmain, Marrar, Matong, Rannock.

The evening concluded with the raffle won tonight by Howard Atkinson.

S@Arms carried out a short fines session.

We finished the meeting at 8.30pm which left plenty of time for some fellowship and friendship.  Another good meeting with 22 members attending is a sign of a healthy club.

DIARY

N.B. You are always welcome to bring guests to most of our meetings, just advise Ian Jennings, 0428 492 157, if you want to bring a guest along when you respond to the weekly dinner roll call!

You can download the full programme here and note that it will change and that will be reflected in the weekly bulletin:  CRC Diary On-Line

 

 

All of the above photos were obtained from Facebook.  Credit to the owners.

 

ROTARY NEWS and ITEMS OF INTEREST

1.  ECO-FRIENDLY SERVICE PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD.

Through the years, Rotary has carried out thousands of projects to protect the environment. In just the last five years, we’ve allocated $18 million to projects that help our planet. Members have even more opportunities to focus on issues that are important to them, now that the environment is one of the causes we focus on.

Here are 11 ways Rotary members are already supporting the environment.

11 eco-friendly service projects around the world

Kenya Solar Lights.

In the remote villages of Ndandini and Kyaithani in eastern Kenya, families live on less than $1 per day, and their homes are not connected to any electrical grid. Most cannot afford kerosene or paraffin to light their homes, which means students cannot see to do their homework in the evenings. The Rotary clubs of Sunshine Coast-Sechelt, British Columbia, and Machakos, Kenya, learned about the problem while working in the area on other projects. In 2014, the Rotarians embarked on a project bring environmentally friendly solar power into homes and schools.

About 1,500 students attending local schools were each provided a solar light under a rent-to-own program; students pay $1 per month, less than the cost of paraffin, for eight months, after which they own the light. The proceeds are used to provide another student with a solar light the following year. Project partner Kenya Connect, noting that the time students spend reading has tripled with the introduction of the solar lights, described the program as “a game changer in our efforts to improve the quality of education for rural schools.”

The project also included the construction of computer labs at two schools and a solar system to provide enough power for the entire setup. More than 200 teachers received training on digital learning and ways to better make use of computers in their teaching.

India Water Diversion

Residents of two communities near Aurangabad, India, get their water from wells that are recharged annually by monsoon rains. But within a few months after the rains end, the wells run dry, and community members either must go further afield to fetch water or must buy it, which many cannot afford.

The Rotary clubs of Aurangabad East and Chatswood Roseville, Australia, collaborated on an eco-friendly solution using a simple, traditional technology: check dams. These small dams are constructed across gullies to control the rate of stormwater flow. They decrease erosion and increase the amount of water that percolates into the ground. More than 200,000 check dams have been built across India for this purpose; a check dam constructed in India in the second century is one of the world’s oldest water diversion structures still in use.

In Aurangabad, the monsoon rains flow via a channel across a government-owned sports training center toward the sewage-contaminated Kham River. Rotary members funded the construction of two concrete check dams on the campus. The increased percolation of the monsoon rains into the ground is expected to lengthen the period each year during which the area’s 20,000 residents can obtain water from their wells. The dams have an anticipated life span of 75 years and require little maintenance.

2. NEW HOPE FOR CAMBODIA

Rotarians from five Adelaide clubs travelled to Cambodia to build more than a house – they helped build hope. Through the Homes for Hope Cambodia project, volunteers worked alongside local families and New Hope Cambodia to create lasting change, one home at a time.

Check out the full story here: https://bit.ly/rdu-hope

P.S. INVITE A FRIEND TO A ROTARY MEETING.

APRIL IS ROTARY’S ENVIRONMENT MONTH

Image courtesy of Rotarian Debbie Vance from Canada.

 

ROTARY CLUB OF COOLAMON Inc. 2025-2026