Posted on Jul 16, 2018
Project Origination: Club Service Director, Noel Halford, had a vision of a project that would benefit remote aboriginal communities. Noel arranged a Skype meeting last year with the then CEO of Boab Health services Margie Ware, and it was determined that the greatest unfunded need is for podiatry footcare packs.
 
Late last year, the Club had started an alternate meeting time of  once a month on Thursday evenings. It was decided that this project would be perfect for this group of people.
 
Project Benefits: Treatment of chronic footwear conditions does not currently have Government funding, and supports best practice in the management of foot wounds and ulcers with the aim of preventing unnecessary hospitalisation and loss of limbs. 
 
The delivery of the Project involved liaising with Boab Health care to verify and determine needs. Products were obtained from various suppliers, including a significant donation from Rotary  Donations-in-Kind.
A fundraising event was held in the form of a Trivia night, attended by members, partners and friends as well as prospective members, and on 26th April there was a presentation by Margie Ware to our members. This presentation was an important step to engage members in the project and to understand the challenges of the area. Following the presentation, the group worked together to pack the 40 podiatry kits, and we shared the final task of arranging transport to Broome at a subsidised rate.
Via a contact of one of our newest members, Coles agreed to add our boxes of footcare kits to their regular delivery to Broome for nil cost to the Club, with no other conditions other than we needed to deliver the packs to Coles Distribution centre in Melbourne and then collect them in Broome (arranged by Boab health). 
The Project had the following attributes:
  • It had a clear objective in fulfilling a health need in a remote indigenous area, 
  • The collaboration with Boab Health Services was critical 
  • It was a manageable project for our project in terms of time required.
  • The project had a clear endpoint and the opportunity to repeat in future years. 
  • We were able to engage and involve members and prospective members in the Project.
We subsequently inducted four new members, and also solidified the relationship with two of our newest members. Everyone involved expressed satisfaction in being part of the project.