A Proud History

Our Beginning

 
Rotary Hawthorn was founded on 24 August 1953 with 25 Charter Members, under the Presidency of Ron Fowler and has earned a well-deserved reputation as an active, hardworking, and fun-loving Rotary club.
 
 We are proud to have had five District Governors over our 72-year history:
  • 1970-71        Geoff Stevens
  • 1977-78        Ray Chambers
  • 1994-95        David Rosback
  • 2006-07        Bernie Walshe
  • 2012-13        Dennis Shore
We now have eight Paul Harris Society members, and currently, count 32 Paul Harris Fellows amongst our membership.
 
 

Our Worthwhile Local Community Projects

Some of which include:
 
  • Formation of Hawthorn Community Chest
  • Lift the Lid for Mental Illness Lunch events – major fundraiser
  • Packing CARE Bags for Psychiatric Units at Royal Melbourne Hospital, St Vincents, Box Hill and Alfred Hospitals
  • Rotary Hawthorn has a Life Blood Team who donate blood annually
  • Doherty Institute Award of $5,000 annually for top PHD student
  • Annual Service to Senior’s Award
  • Rotary SAFE Families – Building a Culture of Peace
  • Sale of Christmas Hams, Puddings & Cakes
  • Annual Ron Carr Award for Enterprise, to a young person who has displayed initiative in successfully setting up a local business
  • Development of Fritsch Holtzer Park in Hawthorn, landscaping a disused brick quarry, using 12 unemployed youth in the project 
  • Raising of funds for the Neuro-Sciences Ward at the Royal Children’s Hospital
  • Refurbishment of Servants Community Housing as boarding accommodation for homeless people
  • Serving an annual Christmas lunch for socially isolated people in Boroondara
  • Helping rebuild flood and fire-affected communities
  • Supporting the Salvo Hawks Football team 

Our Youth Program include:

  • Annual International Youth Exchange program
  • Providing mentoring programs and career coaching for secondary school students 
  • Providing Public Speaking coaching at Swinburne University 
  • Providing scholarships for young people to attend the prestigious Science School, MUNA (Model United Nations Assembly), or one of the leadership or personal development camps run by District 9800

On the International Scene

We have worked mainly in the Pacific region in projects such as:

  • Supporting the Rotary SAFE Families – Building a Culture of Peace globally
  • Setting up the Hawthorn Kitchen in Phuket,Thailand 
  • Working bees at Donations In Kind (DIK) warehouse, to pack containers of much-needed school items for East Timor and medical equipment for hospitals in Cambodia
  • Providing disaster relief for people made homeless by natural disasters
  • Providing funds for the Grandmothers in Zambia for purchase of mattresses for their 75 orphaned grandchildren
  • Supply of materials and labour to rebuild the orphanage run by the Carmelite order near Dili
  • Collection and reconditioning of unwanted hand tools into 610 toolboxes for shipment to Timor
  • Setting up a Rotary Cricket Blood Bank in Gujranwala, Pakistan
  • Supporting education and community development programs for families in remote regions of East Timor and northern India …Lille Fro photo

Rotary Foundation Contributions

Or club contributes to one of the world’s largest charitable foundation, the Rotary Foundation, which in turn spends $60 million a year on international projects, such as these by Hawthorn:
  • Matching 3 H Grant (from Rotary Foundation) to set up a literacy project for Kurdish women in remote Turkey
  • Matching Grant to teach skills in chicken rearing, tailoring, and basic living to rural Zambians
  • Matching Grant to immunise 4000 children in the city of Mumbai, India against Hepatitis B
  • Matching Grant for the benefit of rural villagers in Zambia, training of villagers in basic hygiene, and the construction of pit latrines
  • Matching Grant for the purchase of a vehicle for use in Zambia, and shipment of a container of badly needed school requisites, clothing, children’s storybooks and toys, sports equipment 
 
 
 
Packing CARE Bags for Psychiatric Units at Box Hill, Royal Melbourne, St Vincents, and Alfred Hospitals
Rotary Hawthorn Life Blood Team Donating Blood
Development of Fritsch Holtzer Park in Hawthorn