For the 101st New Zealand Open held in late February this year, the Rotary Club of Queenstown stepped up their involvement with the tournament to manage car parking across both Millbrook Resort and The Hills for all four days of the tournament.
In return, the tournament donated the proceeds from the Car Parking to the Rotary Club to distribute amongst the local community.
Tournament Chairman John Hart couldn’t be more pleased to see the money collected will be going to help locals in the Queenstown and Central Otago region.
“We love working with the Rotary Club of Queenstown, they are a great group of volunteers to donate their time to help others”
“We were more than happy to extend our relationship with the Rotary Club and give them an opportunity to raise funds for these local charities,” said Hart.
The Rotary Club of Queenstown has earmarked the funds raised from the 2020 New Zealand Open to be distributed between the Rural Education Activities Programme, Queenstown Harvest Gardens, Hospice Southland – Queenstown Palliative Nurse and the Wakatipu Youth Trust.
Chris Taylor, Club Secretary of the Rotary Club of Queenstown believes that the New Zealand Open is a huge asset to the local community and loves being apart of the international event.
“Apart from generating business locally, for both small and large business operators, it generates a significant sense of community spirit as evidenced by the large number of locals who give their time voluntarily to assist with the event’s success”
“Queenstown Rotary Club members make up only a small part of the tournaments volunteer army which help provide a significant opportunity to market Queenstown and its environment internationally,” said Taylor.
The Rotary International motto is “Service Above Self”. Its members gain satisfaction from serving their community in areas where it is needed most. In doing so, they develop a spirit of camaraderie and comradeship which permeates the club.
“The symbiotic relationship between the New Zealand Open and the Rotary Club of Queenstown provides the tournament with assistance while at the same time the Rotary Club is assisted in achieving its objectives in providing both financial and physical assistance to the community where it is most needed, “ said Taylor.
The intention is for funds raised at the 2020 New Zealand Open is to assist less advantaged individuals/groups in the local Wakatipu community. More information on the local charities who are set to benefit from this year’s tournament as well as the Rotary Club of Queenstown can be found below.
- Rotary Club of Queenstown: queenstownrotary.co.nz
- Rural Education Activities Programme: southernreap.co.nz
- Queenstown Harvest Gardens: harvestgardens.nz
- Hospice Southland – Queenstown Palliative Nurse: hospicesouthland.org.nz
- Wakatipu Youth Trust: wakatipuyouthtrust.co.nz
