It was an email from District Secretary, Judith Eadon that set District Rotarians into action, heading off to a factory in Heidelberg West to collect boxes of toiletries. A shipment of toiletries had been donated to Rotary by a corporate supplier. The products were within “best by” dates and in perfect condition.
The provisos for collecting any of the products was that whole boxes be taken, that the products were not for sale, that they were intended to be donations to people being supported by Rotary and community groups, and that any appreciation expressed was to be to Rotary.
On Saturday, 10th August Rotarians from Districts 9800 and 9810, including Sandra and myself, on behalf of RC Monash, were like bees around a honey pot at the factory. After checking in and being given a list of goods each club had been allocated, we all buzzed around the various pallets to locate the individual boxes (oils, creams, moisturisers, etc.).
Sandra and I collected our allocated eight boxes. The beneficiary of our boxes was Impact for Women, an organisation that RC Monash supports.
(From their website (http://www.impactforwomen.org.au) Impact for Women notes that the organisation is a completely volunteer charity committed to making a difference to Victorian women and children fleeing extreme violence at home. The donated toiletries will be included in the “bags of love” which are provided to women for Mothers’ Day, and at Christmas. Further from the website: “We expect to be packing over 1500 Bags of Love to distribute to Victorian women in hiding due to family violence this Xmas - New Year's period.”)