Shepparton Central Rotary Club has donated a book to each Foundation student at Gowrie Street Primary School.
The Foundation students sat in the assembly area on December 10 and were each presented a book by club president David Hardiment and Rotarians Les Mitchell and Mel Watts.
The Rotarians have been presenting books to the students at Gowrie Street every year since 2006 when Mr Hardiment was first in the top job.
“That first year we gave every kid in the school a book, then every year since we’ve given books to all the preppies,“ Mr Hardiment said.
“It’s good to see the smiles on their faces when they get the books.“
The three Rotarians have always been interested in literacy.
Mr Watts and Mr Mitchell have wives who have worked in the primary education sector for decades and Mr Hardiment believes encouraging reading is imperative.
They normally present the books during National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, which was in September, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic.
In Rotary circles, Mr Watts said each year they observed a literacy month.
The Rotarians also work with the Year 6 students through the Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project to help them plan for their future careers.
The Lighthouse Project started in 2014 in response to community concerns about poor outcomes and persistent disadvantage.
“It’s part of what Rotary does, involvement with the community,” Mr Hardiment said.
“It’s a small thing but we enjoy it.”
The project supports young people to realise their full potential and thrive.
“We’ll take them out for barbecues or take them up to the cherry orchards and they go out and pick cherries, and we go yabbying, just to give the kids a ‘family’ type outing with some responsible adults,” Mr Hardiment said.
“Spark a bit of interest in a career around here, some of the workplaces around Shepparton.”