Inspired to spread the ‘Dogoodery’ spirit, Rotary Ōtautahi Passport, Christchurch - NZ, members approached Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre (CRRRC) in mid-July 2022.

Article by PP Tony Heyward, Assistant Rotary Coordinator 

At that time, the not-for-profit organization had just moved to a new space in Phillipstown. After having some discussions with the organization’s staff, the Members realized that they shared many common grounds, doing the dogoodery for other community members. CRRRC was established in Christchurch in 2008. Between January 2016 to June 2023, the Centre has served 352 individual clients, supporting just over one-thousand people.

Rotary Ōtautahi Passport offered to help the Organization settle into their new premise, so `Ōtautahi Passport members agreed to help them clean out their front and backyard which was filled with overgrown trees and shrubs, not to mention rubbish dumped in the bushes in front of their office. The first working bee at the CRRRC was held on Saturday, 10th September 2022 with more than 20 Rotarians knee-deep in weeding, chopping trees, taking rubbish and green waste to the Eco-drop in Bromley, painting the deck and installing a brand-new swing set, courtesy of Mitre10. This was then followed up by tidying up the painting the railing at the front of Centre’s office, installing a bike rack and non-slip stripe on the steps in the backyard a few weeks later.

More initiatives grew from there. Rotary invited CRRRC’s staff to join the quiz night at Bailey’s Pub in November for a fundraising of the Breastmilk Bank. Another initiative that has helped the refugee and migrant communities are the flow of donations for household items from the Rotary network. Rotarians from different parts of Christchurch have donated good items since November 2022; bedding, kitchen ware, books, kids toys and the list goes on. Some of Rotary Ōtautahi Passport members also helped CRRRC staff sorted out the donated items in April 2023. This donation initiative that started out by Rotary is still done by CRRRC. Since last year, the donation initiative has reached 68 households of more than 120 people.

The latest project has seen 40 foam camp style mattresses donated to the refugees’ families that prefer sleeping on this style of mattress to our European style beds. Being a new club with little funds we reached out to other clubs to support us. We had a wonderful response and even had community members from one of our quiz night donate $200 to go towards the mattresses.

Another bonus for Rotary Ōtautahi Passport is that one the Centre’s staff has joined the club as of June 2023. The Club is committed to keep doing the dogoodery with the Centre. More work is being planned for the second semester of 2023.