Home » Rotary helps ease back-to-school burden

Rotary helps ease back-to-school burden

Daniel Bouwmeester January 26, 2024 2 min read

In a display of community spirit, the Rotary Club is stepping up to assist local families grappling with escalating costs of education.

The Greater Springfield Rotary Club teamed up to assist Westside Community Care with its “Back to School Pop-up Shop”, hosted on January 19 at the Camira Springfield Community Centre.

The Pop-up Shop offered an array of resources including stationery, second-hand laptops, and school booklists, as well as vouchers for stores such as Big W, Lowes, and Officeworks.

To help stock the shop, community minded locals attended a recent shopping event at Big W to purchase and donate additional school supplies like lunch boxes, USB sticks, headphones, and other essential items that contribute to a child’s academic success.

Officeworks demonstrated its support by generously donating stationery items worth $1,500. The items will benefit 250 students in their back-to-school preparations.

Greater Springfield Rotary Club president David Goss also pledged an additional $1,500 in cash and retail vouchers to ensure the program reaches as many families as possible.

^{Greater Springfield Rotary Club president David Goss, left, collected Officeworks stationery donations last month with Westside Community Care lead organisers Phil Cutcliffe, middle, and Nohblee Gottani, right.}

Commitment to welfare

The initiative comes as a response to the financial strain experienced by many families – ensuring that children are not left without the necessary tools to excel in their education.

The effort is a testament to the commitment to community welfare of both Westside Community Care and Greater Springfield Rotary Club, and highlights the collaborative efforts of our community organisations.

Phil Cutcliffe, lead organiser at Westside Community Care, expressed gratitude for the support.

“We thank the Rotary Club of Greater Springfield for recently helping us connect with Officeworks.

“Thank you for all that you do to help us show the community that ‘We Care!’,” Phil said, referring to Westside Community Care’s slogan.

The Rotary Club’s commitment is evident through its support of Domestic Violence programs, Drug and Alcohol Rehab initiatives, and local Special Schools needs, as well as many overseas aid programs.

– by Mark Whiteley

for the Greater Springfield Rotary Club

Greater Springfield Rotary Club is always on the lookout for more community minded individuals to help with these and other initiatives. Contact Robyn Shipton at robyn.shipton1@gmail.com for more information.

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Daniel Bouwmeester

Daniel was born in a mining town in New South Wales to Dutch and Welsh immigrants, before relocating to Logan City, where he attended Canterbury College for twelve years. He pursued his passion for music by completing a first-class honours degree at the University of Queensland (UQ), and later signed with a local record label. He has travelled the world from a young age, including a student exchange in rural France, a job working the ski lifts in Colorado, and visits to the islands of the South Pacific. After a six-year career in market research, Daniel returned to UQ to complete a Bachelor of Journalism and Arts dual degree, majoring in political science. His varied experiences at home and abroad have contributed to a passion for spreading good news while defending the truth buried inside complex societal paradigms.