President’s Message

The Rotary Club of Blacktown City Inc. was chartered on the 16^th November 1961 and our membership of forty-six (46) consists of professional men and women from various vocations who volunteer in our community.

Our Club is very active in Blacktown as you can see from the many projects listed on our website under the different Avenues of Service; Club, Community, International, Vocational and Youth.

 Rotary, the world’s first service organisation was formed on 23^rd February 1905 and can be described in many ways.

 Functionally, Rotary is an association of local clubs gathered into a large organisation called ‘Rotary International’.  The individual Rotarian, the heart and soul of Rotary, is a member of a local Club; all Clubs are members of Rotary International, which has its headquarters in Evanston Illinois USA.

 Officially, Rotary is defined as ‘an organisation of business and professional persons united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world.’

 The Ideal of Service is exemplified in our motto ‘Service Above Self’.  This is the theme that runs throughout the Rotary world.  All Rotarians give time in service programs in their community and the underprivileged in the world.

 Home of the more recent programs that our Club has been involved in have been:

       ·        supporting financially a world-wide immunisation program, PolioPlus, aimed at eliminating polio in the world

·        helping to rebuild a school in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Tsunami

·        supplying artificial limbs to people in India that have lost limbs

 In our own local area of Blacktown we are involved with:

·        presenting TAFE Awards at Blacktown and Nirimba Colleges

·        organising the Police Officer of the Year Award for Officers serving at the Blacktown Local Area Command

·        the Public Speaking Competition for local High School students in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Porirua in New Zealand and the prize is a one-week holiday in Porirua

·        Supporting the Millennium Foundation at Westmead Hospital

·        Sending young people on a number of Rotary Youth programs

 To assist in financing these projects we regularly cater at various functions such as the Blacktown Show, Australia Day at The Rooty Hill and manning the gates at Eastern Creek for the Historic Sports and Racing Car association.

 If you’re interested in learning more about Rotary or joining our Rotary Club we would be happy to talk to you.  Please contact our Membership Chairman s Bob Bensley on 9871 8826 for more information.

 David Brown

 President 2007 - 2008