Rotary a rite of passage for Mulraney family
The Mulraney family and Rotary are deeply intertwined.
Past president and current secretary of the Rotary Club of Beenleigh, and Logan’s 2023 Volunteer of the Year, John Mulraney has been involved with Rotary for almost 30 years, influenced by his dad’s involvement. His wife also volunteers with Rotary Loganholme and, now, his daughter is about to become president of the Beenleigh branch.
‘Knowing dad was a Rotarian is why I joined, and I stuck around because I see the real difference we can make,’ John says.
‘Supporting people and helping them get a little bit extra out of life, working with kids who are struggling, with people who are homeless, and with people who are elderly and isolated – there is so much to be done.’
Despite his hard work for the community he loves, he says it was a ‘total surprise’ to win Volunteer of the Year at the Recent Logan volunteer Awards. He shared the win with Carole Willson of Logan East Community Neighbourhood Association.
‘Seeing the calibre of the other nominees I can see why the judges said it was a hard decision. It was a category filled with excellent people,’ he says.
‘Of course, the award is nice, but what is really great is the event itself – getting together to celebrate the 400 volunteers, seeing the support from the Councillors in the room is excellent.’
John says the cost of living crisis has increased the need for volunteer-run organisations like Rotary in the community.
‘People are really doing it tough, and charities need as much help as possible,’ he says.
John coordinated the Rotary Club’s response to the floods in 2011, 2017 and 2018, as well as the youth programs.
Recently, he’s been involved with drives as diverse as sourcing towels to donate to organisations helping the homeless, vets and animal shelters and providing ’companion pets’ to nursing homes – lifelike animals giving comfort to the elderly.
The group also works with The Mini Farm Project, which aims to grow food to help ease hunger in Logan, which was its charity of choice for this year’s Beenleigh Cane Parade & Gala Ball.
‘We will often get approached for various things, or an idea will come from a member – we are a diverse group and hear about a lot of the things going on,’ John says.
‘Anyone can volunteer with us. There is no charge and you don’t have to be a member of Rotary, although we always welcome new members too.
‘We have 33 members now – that’s a good number, but I would like to get to 40 in the next 12 to 18 months.’
For more information about the work of Rotary Beenleigh, email rotarybeenleigh@gmail.com or go to Home Page | Rotary Club of Beenleigh (beenleighrotary.org.
