This coming Wednesday, 26th August, Rusty Lush will tell us all. (well, some of it anyway... ☺) His 'Rotarian Behind the Badge' presentation will take us out west to Goondiwindi, to South Australia, to Arizona, to Libya. Libya? Yes, at the time when Colonel Gaddafi was still active there!
If you are not closely involved in our Wheelchairs project, you may wonder where we source our "raw materials" for the "Rough Terrain" wheelchairs. Well, you name it, from individual donors to the recycling division of our council tips (run by the Endeavour Foundation). But the major points of collection are various high-rise apartment buildings on the Gold Coast. Recently, a trailer load of bikes were offered by Karina and Peter from Portia Meriton Apartments in Southport. Thank you! 
Last week, Sr Liz Kane and Mary Lepp from the Sacred Hearts Surfers Paradise Parish delivered another large donation of hand-woven, hand-knitted warm quilts and beanies to be included with some of our wheelchair shipments destined for cold climates, such as the hinterlands of South Africa. Thank you! 
August is Membership Development and Extention Month. Can you remember when you were inducted into Rotary? Have you considered why you were proposed by your sponsor? What made you to decide to join? Did you feel a sense of pride, of achievement, to be invited to join an organization of the highest international repute? Did you feel that your sponsor did “The right thing” by considering you to be potentially a good Rotarian? Did you feel a little bit overwhelmed, sort of “am I really up to this?” You did? “The more hands Rotary has, the better and more effectively the ideal of service will be achieved. Hence the importance of membership.” These words, spoken by one of Japans foremost Rotarians, Kanejiro Matsumoto put the point very straight. I put it even straighter: If we are to spread the workload of running this club, if we are to achieve our aims on the local scene (Youth Service, Vocational Service, Community Service), if we are to pull our weight on the International cart, we have an obligation to not only maintain, but increase membership. So, take a quiet moment and think of whom you could invite to one of our meetings. Then give them a call. They will enjoy the fellowship, but equally important is that Rotary provides an opportinity to give back to the community, local and internationally.
