Peter Chittick said Rotary’s annual Easter Street Stall was going when he joined the club 30 years ago, and the latest installment is happening in Rouse Street on the Thursday before Easter, March 29.
Back in those days the stall was by far the club’s biggest fundraiser. That honour has been superseded by the biennial Beerfest and the more-recent Jazzy Garden Party.
Raising around $1500 a year, however, the street stall continues to play an important role particularly with proceeds going towards Rotary’s bid to eradicate polio.
The disease which once paralysed hundreds of thousands of children each year is almost under control, with only 22 confirmed cases in 2017 and one so far this year. Rotary is giving $53.5 million in grants to support immunisation and monitoring activities, more than half of which will go to Afghanistan and Pakistan where the disease remains endemic.
Further funding will support efforts to keep another 10 vulnerable countries polio-free, as polio remains a threat in hard-to-reach and underserved areas and conflict zones. The Rotary organisation is committed to raising $150 million over the next three years, which will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for polio eradication activities.
To contribute to that effort, Rotary members are busy growing, cooking, pickling and crafting to stock the stall with its usual array of goodies, and anyone else who can contribute is more than welcome to bring it along on the day.
The Chitticks have been busy creating green tomato pickles and relish at home in time for the stall.
“I smell like a pickle,” Mr Chittick said.
For those feeling the seasonal change there also will be a large, two-tonne load of firewood raffled on the day.
Pickles and relishes along with plants, craft, home baking and other preserves will be available, but Mr Chittick’s advice is to get in early. The stall will be operating from 8am.
