Emerald Ritchie’s IGA manager Peter Van Enk welcomes Emerald Rotary’s Russell Nielson to the community benefits scheme.
By Tania Martin
EMERALD Rotary Club is calling on hills residents to help provide wheelchairs for sick kids in third world countries.
It’s simple, all they have to do is shop at the town’s Ritchie’s IGA supermarket.
Since November the club has been collecting donations as part of the Wheelchair for Kids project.
Emerald Rotary Club has joined IGA’s Community Benefit Scheme to raise much needed cash for the project.
The scheme donates one per cent of customers’ bills towards the charity of their choice.
All customers have to do is fill in a form to join and say what they want to donate to.
Then each time a customer shops at Ritchie’s IGA they swipe their benefit card or key-chain and the proceeds will go towards their charity.
Each wheelchair costs $100 and can help a child who can’t walk, or is sick or injured.
All work on the project is voluntary so every dollar donated to the benefit fund would go towards building the chairs.
Since the project started in 1998, more than 16,575 wheelchairs have been distributed to sick children in war torn areas such as Afghanistan, East Timor and Ethiopia.
Emerald Rotary Club will be collecting cash for the project until June.
President Ken Miller said it was made possible with the help of IGA and generous hills people supporting the project.
