Caboolture State School has offered it surplus classroom furniture to Rotary Australia’s Repurposing Equipment (RARE) program, giving the items a second life.
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When the school had surplus desks and chairs, Business Manager Paula Connolly contacted the Rotary Club of Caboolture to seek a responsible disposal option. Rather than send the furniture to landfill, the school offered it for redistribution through RARE, a volunteer-run initiative that collects and repurposes surplus items for communities in need.
Rotary volunteers collected the school’s donation, and some of the furniture was shipped to the Solomon Islands within a fortnight. Those items will provide desks and chairs for classrooms where children otherwise sit and work on earth floors. Additional furniture from Caboolture State School is being prepared for distribution to other schools and community facilities in developing regions.
Caboolture Rotarian Leon Misfeld said the RARE program relies on community partnerships and on organisations willing to make the extra effort to prepare donations for reuse. The program aims to divert usable goods from landfill and redistribute them to places where they are needed.
School Officer Andrew Elton said the school community was pleased to assist. Staff and students were involved in making the donation available and supporting the collection process. The school’s offer resulted in equipment being readied for shipment to communities beyond the local area.
Rotary Australia’s RARE project is volunteer-based and accepts surplus and redundant equipment from hospitals, educational institutions and businesses. Collected items are sorted, prepared and sent to disadvantaged communities within Australia and overseas. The types of goods handled by the program include school furniture, computers and medical equipment. Each shipment is intended to put usable items to practical use instead of letting them become waste.
Caboolture State School’s participation illustrates one practical way a local organisation can support communities overseas while reducing waste. School leaders noted the value of finding a responsible alternative to disposal and of partnering with local volunteers to achieve that outcome.
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As RARE operations continue across Australia, volunteer teams and partner clubs work to identify, process and ship equipment to recipient communities. The project is structured to provide logistical support and to ensure donated items meet standards for reuse where they are sent.
For the classrooms in the Solomon Islands that will receive the first shipment, the delivery supplies furniture that those schools did not previously have. For Caboolture State School, the process demonstrates how repurposing surplus resources can extend their useful life and be of benefit beyond local borders.
Published 3-November-2025
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