December Projects

Christmas with Rotary

 This function was organised for some 140 senior citizens from local retirement homes with the help of the Rotary Club of Winston Hills and other volunteers.

 This involved transporting the seniors from the homes to the Harvey Lowe pavilion at Castle Hill Showground, where they were entertained by young people from local schools. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved with both old and young joining in the singing of Christmas carols.  After the entertainment refreshments were served, before the senior citizens were transported back to their retirement villages.

 This function has been held for a number of years and would simply not be possible without the generosity of  Comfort Delgro (Hillsbus) who provide  4 buses at no charge, the drivers who volunteer their time,  the schools and young musicians and of course the Rotary members, partners and friends who work so hard behind the scenes.

A BIG Thank you to all of you!! 

 Christmas Tree Sales

Our annual Christmas tree sales  were another resounding success. The sales took place over the weekends of the 8^th, 9^Th and 15^th, 16^th of December.   About 500 trees were sold at the two venues in the car parks of the Bull and Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills and the Ettamogah Hotel, Kellyville Ridge.

 Thanks to the generosity of our customers we were able to raise a significant sum which will all be used for our Rotary projects both locally and overseas.

 This project could not succeed with the support of many people and we would particularly like to thank Royal Wolf Containers and BCQ Logistics for providing and transporting the shipping containers that stored the trees free of charge, the Management of the two hotels for allowing the use of their car-parks and the neighbours who allowed the use of their water to freshen the trees. Lastly of course a big thanks to all our  members and friends who helped on the two weekends.  

 Giving Tree Stockland Mall, Baulkham Hills

In partnership with Stockland Mall, a Giving Tree was again organised in December.  This allowed customers and visitors to the centre to place gifts on the Christmas Tree in the Mall in the knowledge that the gifts would be distributed to disadvantaged children.

 This initiative was the most successful one to date with over 140 gifts being donated which were passed on by Rotary to be distributed by St Michael’s Family Centre, Wesley-Dalmar and the Salvation Army to the families in their care.  As most gifts were wrapped it is not possible to put a monetary value on the project, but we do know that it made many kids happier.

Annual Presentation of Pride of Workmanship and Community Service Awards

The Annual Awards Night for The Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville was held at the Castle Hill Tavern on Monday 6^th May, and was a roaring success. Special guests included DG John Dodd and Janelle; the local member for Baulkham Hills, David Elliott and the Hills Shire Mayor, Michelle Byrnes.  Keynote speaker Chris Rehn from the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC), inspired the audience whilst speaking about their work, and the volunteers who support their organisation.

Six awards were made, three for Pride of Workmanship and three for Community Service. The Pride of Workmanship awards went to Trent Burnett for his fine work as a horticulturist at Dunrath, one of the beautiful gardens that is opened each year to raise funds for Rotary; Brooke Dempsey, who is completing her hairdressers apprenticeship at Christiane’s Hair Salon in Cherrybrook; and Dr Stephen Pak for his fine dentistry.

The Community Service awards were made to Paul and Jennifer Leone, who last year opened up their beautiful garden, The Garden of Secrets at Castle Hill, to the public to assist Rotary to raise over $20,000 for RIDBC; to Oliver Gadista a singer / songwriter who has written and recorded music to raise monies to fund support for a wide range of disaster situations including the typhoon in the Philippines and floods in Queensland; and Yanik Fernando a year 12 student at William Clarke College, who has a great love of Community and last year co-ordinated a project that resulted in 8 large cartons of Winter clothing being sent to the hills people of Sri Lanka.

The Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville are proud to support these outstanding people in their local community and congratulate all recipients of these prestigious awards.

Pictured (L to R) Standing: Oliver Gadista, Brooke Dempsey, Ian Pearce, President Bobby Redman, Dr Stephen Pak,  Jennifer and Paul Leone, Chris Rehn.  Front: Trent Burnett, Yanik Fernando.