The Eradication of Polio
Toowong Rotary contributes generously to Rotary’s global Polio Plus program – a one billion dollar project in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – via annual donations to Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. Polio Plus aims to eradicate polio worldwide, the last frontiers being Pakistan and Afghanistan – and the good news is we are almost there!
ThisClose :60 EN (2013) from Rotary International on Vimeo.
Cancer Research
Each year, through Australian Rotary Health we sponsor PhD Scholarship for Cancer Research.
Drug Arm Outreach Service
Since 2002, the club has helped sponsored the Drug Arm Outreach Van service, contributing over $600,000.
Brisbane West Senior Citizen’s Centre
We built and opened, debt-free, the Senior Citizen’s Centre at Paddington.
Encouraging Youth Excellence
Each year we sponsor exceptional young people to participate in leadership programs, the National Youth Science Forum and Rotary Youth Exchange and Awards evenings at local primary and secondary schools.
Encouraging Disadvantaged Youth
Each year we extend several bursaries and other assistance to local students, as well as conducting a fund-raising movie festival for disadvantaged children. We also support Vitae Challenge, a leadership program for youth at risk (a program that was also supported by the former Rotary Club of Indooroopilly).
International House, University of Queensland
Since the establishment of International House at The University of Queenand over fifty years ago, Toowong Rotary has supported this diverse and multicultural student body through operational support and financial contributions. .
Wesley Rotary Lodge
Toowong Rotary co-led the financial sponsoring of all rooms at Wesley Rotary Lodge to assist families from outside Brisbane to be near their love ones while they receive treatment at the Wesley Hospital in Auchenflower.
St Mary’s Home, Toowong
The Club constructed a playground and renovated this much-needed women’s refuge facility, including the furnishing of meeting and relaxation rooms.
International Development Projects
The club has sponsored many international development projects including:
- An Integrated Farming Development Project in Mymensingh, Bangladesh,
- A project to identify and treat Arsenic Contamination in water wells in Bangladesh ,
- Sending volunteers to participate in literacy projects in Thailand,
- Volunteers to build medical centres in Papua New Guinea,
- Build and improve water supply to several villages in Papua New Guinea.
Feros Medical and Nursing Student Grants Program
A multi-Club and District endorsed Program which every year sends four UQ first year medical students to neighbouring countries in the Pacific region or to remote Australia. The Program provides students with an excellent opportunity to expand their skill base, to learn from experienced practitioners and to transfer their knowledge to their host institutions.
The Program also sends final year nursing students to remote areas of Australia (e.g. Weipa in North-West QLD) where they actively engage in a remote-area medical practices, hone their skill base and share up-to-date nursing theory and practices with their professional colleagues in the area.
Opera in the Gardens
A multi-club project involving the organisation of a professional opera and popera performance every year for opera lovers in Brisbane. The event presents a diverse selection of Opera, Operetta and Popera favourites featuring leading Queensland and national artists, performed in a parkland setting. The proceeds go to DrugArm, a Brisbane-based support program that assists young people to overcome the devastation of addiction.
Awarded Best Rotary Club in District 9600 (2015-16)
Adding to the Club’s many other Awards, in 2016 the Rotary Club of Toowong was voted the Best Rotary Club in District 9600, with special reference to gender and ethnic diversity.
