Donations in Kind is a major recycling operation run by volunteers who coordinate, assess and package materials to be sent free throughout the world to people in need. Thousands of voluntary hours are spent each year to run this operation. It is Rotary Australia’s largest ongoing project and the West Footscray Store is the largest in Victoria. Equipment that no longer meets Australian standards for a number of reasons is collected by Rotary and then shipped in containers overseas to where it is needed most.

For a number of years, Frankston North Rotary has been working in partnership with Peninsula Health to identify hospital equipment that is recyclable and in good working condition, to provide short-term storage and to coordinate the transport to the Donations in Kind store in Footscray. The equipment is then load into shipping containers and sent to the countries of need, such as Africa, Kenya, Nepal, Indonesia, Timor, Philippines and Sri Lanka, where it is received by a Rotary Club or other creditable agency for distribution.

Donations in Kind is really about the fact that in western countries we have a lot of equipment that becomes redundant, but such equipment doesn’t even exist in other countries because of their impoverished state. Frankston North Rotary will continue to support the Donations in Kind program, along with other cluster clubs. The club also sponsored racking in the store at a cost of $450.