Rotary Club of Mackay reignites decade-long support for Western Province, sending essential aid with support from Solomon Airlines
For over 10 years, the Rotary Club of Mackay North in Queensland, Australia, has been actively involved in raising funds and collecting essential supplies for the Western Province under their Solomon Islands Western Province Support Project.
After a temporary break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has resumed their efforts, returning to Munda with assistance from Solomon Airlines. This time, they transported a container load of school desks, chairs, boxes of books, and medical supplies for the Helena Goldie Hospital and schools in the Munda area, using both air and sea transport.
As part of its corporate social responsibility commitment, Solomon Airlines facilitated the transportation of around 240 kilograms of excess baggage, containing humanitarian supplies, on the Brisbane to Munda flight on Saturday, March 30.
“This is a wonderful international project for us, with members of our Mackay North Rotary Club this year also joined by Walkerston Rotary Club to bring this mission together,” said Rotary Mackay North member Mr Larry Slattery. “Many of our Rotary members, their wives and families have contributed as we gathered and stockpiled items, including over 100 desks which we disassembled and stacked for shipment. “One of our team is also a former librarian who carefully selected hundreds of books suitable for school children in the Solomon Islands,” he said. “Rotary Clubs like ours strive to fulfil needs we see within their our own local communities as well as those beyond our borders,” Mr Slattery said. “For over ten years, we have been very pleased to support the Solomon Islands Western Province community by providing medical equipment and supplies, reading books and school furniture which have been distributed to about 30 schools in that region,”
The Mackay North Rotary Club comprises 43 dedicated members who convene once weekly.
The City of Mackay, with a population of 75,000, commonly known as ‘the sugar capital’ for its substantial sugar production industry, is situated on the coast of Queensland, approximately 970 kilometers north of Brisbane.
The Rotary members who traveled to Munda first flew from Mackay to Brisbane to connect with Solomon Airlines’ weekly Saturday service, directly bound for Munda International Airport.
Source: Solomon Airlines
