ROTARY

Busy times ahead for the Rotary Club of Aberdeen-Deeside

THE Rotary Club of Aberdeen-Deeside has raised its profile and has embarked on several projects in the local community for this year. President lan Connon says, "Looking at all the projects lined up, it is hard to believe that it was only a bit more than a year ago that our Club, the youngest in Scotland North, received its official Charter."

A new project for this year will be the "Message in a bottle"-scheme. Small plastic bottles will be available free of charge at various shops and health care centres in the Culter/Cults area. These bottle contains relevant information for emergency services (e.g. contact details of GP, next of kin etc.). The package comes with a sticker to be displayed on the front door, indicating the location of the bottle. The scheme potentially could save lives of people in danger and is part of UK-wide Rotary project.

Building on last year's success, the Clubis going to run the Primary Schools' Quiz again. Pupils from six Primary Schools in the area will be challenged on their general knowledge. Furthermore, eight Primary Schools have been approached to participate in the Rotary Shoebox scheme. The children at the participating schools are provided with a flat-packed shoebox and are requested to fill these with gifts & toys, meant for children in Eastern Europe . The local Rotary Club takes care of the collection and local storage, while the Rotary International organization takes care of the transport to Eastern Europe . Last year, the Deeside Rotary Club collected some 500 boxes as part of some 30,000 boxes collected throughout the UK . This year we are aiming to at least double that figure!!

The dual gender Club currently has 34 members (8 of whom are lady-members). Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders, united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 29,000 Rotary clubs.

The Rotary Club of Aberdeen-Deeside meets every Wednesday evening at the Cults Hotel. Interesting speakers are invited to address the Club on a regular basis. Rotarians come from all walks of life but are bound together by a common desire to help those less able to help themselves. If you would like to know more about joining the world of Rotary through the Club of Aberdeen-Deeside, please contact our Secretary Henk Jaap Kloosterman: henkjaap@kloosterman.fsnet.co.uk