City Mission "Walk of Stars"
Papanui Rotary, along with 9 other Rotary clubs throughout Christchurch, each gave $ 500 to the Christchurch City Mission for the Walk of Stars fundraising campaign last December.
The total of $ 5k bought Rotary one of 10 large Gold Stars which were displayed on the footpath from Cashel Mall to High Street in the central shopping area of Christchurch. This bought Rotary the visual recognition through the star, the making of a video and the marketing of our Rotary logo on the City Mission social media site and our logo on marketing material for the month of December.
This gave the public the opportunity to see that Rotary supports the homeless and those afflicted with addictions in the city.
Liz Courtney, our Public Image Chair and Rotary PI Coordinator who organised the 10 clubs into action, made the video about our Rotary and our association with the City Mission which was posted on their social media site and was viewed by over 8 thousand of the public.
A fantastic way to showcase what Rotary does.
Our logo and theme of “Rotary Making a Difference” aligned perfectly with the theme of the City Mission. Nearly all Rotary Clubs in Christchurch contribute with food parcels, clothing, bedding, financial support and many other items throughout the year.
Geoff Haworth, a Rotarian with Papanui Rotary, has been commissioned to write the history of the City Mission in Christchurch and has been working in this for some time.We have had a long association as this quote from Geoff’s draft suggests; "At Christmas 1930, St Martin's House of Help (early name for the City Mission) gave Christmas hampers to 112 families, to add to the 900 hampers provided by Rotary, and over 50 provided by regular columnist "Lady Gay" of the Sun."
I should add that the City Mission was only just beginning its operations at this stage. But what a massive contribution made by Rotary!
At our club meeting on Thursday 25 January President Lois was presented with an award acknowledging our club's contribution to the Christchurch City Mission "Walk of Stars".