Rotary Australia World Community Service was formed to enable Australian Rotarians, Rotary districts and Rotary clubs to assist disadvantaged communities and individuals through humanitarian aid projects.
RAWCS facilitates and empowers Rotary projects to do good in the world. Rotary backs doing good and is made up of people of action.
Last year’s flood events in Victoria, NSW and Queensland were declared a disaster by Rotary International and became eligible for RAWCS assistance.
Rotary International released $1 million to assist people impacted by floods in those regions.
Individuals who had been flood-affected in Mitchell Shire were identified by shire community recovery co-ordinator Vicky Gommers and flood recovery manager Kellie Massouras.
The assistance came in the form of one $500 debit card per household. A total of 55 cards were released locally.
Rotary Club of Seymour’s Catriona Jarman was involved in the project. Her role was to receive the applications from the shire, approve them and then forward them on to RAWCS headquarters at Rotary International in NSW.
The cards were then sent to the recipients via registered mail.
An additional benefit of the card distribution was also a recovery initiative for regional businesses as the recipients were encouraged to use their cards in their local communities.
The demand for the cards across flood-affected regions of Australia was greater than expected and the provision of cards has now been suspended due to the depletion of funds.
However, Rotary will continue to have a presence in Mitchell Shire throughout the flood recovery period.
Ms Gommers and Ms Massouras recently welcomed Rotary Club of Seymour members and guests for a vocational visit at the flood recovery hub.
They explained how the hub was set up to assist the region in moving on from last October’s flood event.
The hub is at 4 Guild St, Seymour. It is open from 9am to 5pm on weekdays.
If you would like to get in contact with the Rotary Club of Seymour, write to PO Box 80, Seymour, 3661, visit the Facebook page or email Seymour@rotary9790.org.au