Posted on Aug 09, 2023
Achievements and activities of some of our clubs in Rotary District 5040 in July.
 
Some recent achievements and activities in District 5040 clubs as reported by Assistant Governors
for end of July 2023. There is much more planning and other activity in clubs,
but these are current results, projects completed.
Network with other clubs for ideas and stay tuned for future reports.
also visit the expanding list of projects in our new District 5040 Showcase
 
Bowen Island
•Two new members joined as a result of interesting speakers and warm reception.
•Article appeared in the local newspaper, The Undercurrent, on the Rotary Community Water Bottle Filling Station, supported as well by the Bowen Community Foundation and Union Steamship Marina 
 
Burnaby
•Three members volunteered for six hours on July 19 to package food for Refood Food Rescue Foundation.
•A club picnic was held at the Burnaby Foreshore Park.

 
Burnaby Deer Lake
•A club member is leading a volunteer team in Uganda for the medical camps with funds raised via an Indo-African Society, which Rotary Club of Burnaby Deer Lake supports every year.
•The club continues to support Rotary World Help with container loadings and administration.

Burnaby Metrotown
•On July 26 a group of members came out for Happy Hour at Station Square.

Dragon
•Three new members were welcomed to the club. 
•Club members volunteered for the Vancouver Bubble Tea Festival on July 7-9th at Burnaby Swangard Stadium and for the Drum Festival on July 8 at Brentwood Mall which raised funds for Burnaby Hospital Foundation. Members also held a yard sale fundraiser on July 29 in support of the Hospital Foundation.
 
Gibsons 
•Club members decided to hold the first two meetings of the month with guest speakers, a business meeting on the third week and a social on the fourth week.  
•The club is organizing a golf tournament fundraiser, at the Blue Ocean course in Sechelt on August 25th.  Format is a scramble and it’s open for all golfers and hackers: sign up at http://gibsonsrotarygolf2023.com
•Luke Vorstermans spoke on his trip to South Africa with Linda for the Hippo Roller project, announcing that the 1000th Survival Garden Kit will be delivered on August 25th, in partnership with Rotary Club of Hillcrest in South Africa, with part of a Rotary Global Grant for a project to supply an additional 2,000 Survival Garden Kits.  

Ladner
•Club members supplied and cooked a BBQ dinner for the McKee House Senior Centre as part of their dinner and dance night, serving close to 100 senior centre members.
•The joint Raise A Flag project with Tsawwassen Rotary – residents and businesses rent at least one Canadian flag to be erected by Rotarians on their property for a week around Canada Day and Remembrance Day for $60 -- raised $6,600.00 for community service projects.
•On July 11th the club held a bbq lunch social instead of a club meeting on the patio of the Coast Tsawwassen Inn Hotel.

New Westminster
•At the club’s first lunch meeting members met the outgoing exchange student. The second club meeting was an evening of fellowship with over 30 members/guests in attendance at a member’s home.
•Members continue to volunteer at Don’t Go Hungry.
•The joint golf tournament with Royal City Rotary Club raised $40,000 thanks to members who volunteered, golfed and provided sponsorships. 
•The club presented the Senior Services Society with $6,500 to purchase fans for vulnerable seniors.

New Westminster Royal City
•Pot of Gold Charity golf tournament, held jointly with the New Westminster Rotary club on July 11th raised $40,000 net, including an online auction which generated $20,125.
•Two new members were installed.

Pemberton
•President Karen has been having one-on-one meetings with each of our Rotary members to learn more about them, why they joined Rotary and where they would like to focus their time and energy with Rotary, and those meetings will continue on through August.
•The Rotary and Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament raised $14,000 for the club.
•Members joined representatives of other Sea to Sky Rotary Clubs at a BBQ at Liz Scroggins’s home to meet with members of the Leaders2Give board and learn more about John Gullo Home Project in the Baja.
•A walk to One Mile social, to look at the new teen dock and floating dock, for which the Rotary Club donated about $8,000 towards the purchase of the lumber of the docks, was followed by drinks and food.  

Powell River
•The club held its third Social before Dinner in the back yard of a member.
•Social activity was held on July 26th as a dinner and brief info meeting on the patio at Iguana’s Mexican Grill.
•The club’s Texada Island Vananda Gazebo Park Shelter concrete pad has now been completed and is now curing.
•Rotary partnered with another group and sold 50/50 tickets at the Powell River Logging Sports event, raising over $1,000 for the club.
•The Amorock Puzzle box is now launched for this year as a fundraiser and is doing well on presales online.

Richmond
•The club held a 2-hour orientation session for 20 Board of Directors members and Committees on July 9th. 
•Eight members, friends and families participated at the Walk with the Dragon hosted by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. (United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society), dressed in red T-shirts with prominent Rotary logo and list of sponsors of the club’s annual table tennis tournament, and raised $1,400 to support S.U.C.C.E.S.S.  programs for families, youth, women, and seniors. 
•On July 22nd 12 members, friends and families attended a fun event at Hastings (horse) Racecourse.
•A social potluck event for members is planned for August 12th.

Richmond Sunrise
•Richmond Sunrise Rotary has supported COME (Children of Mother Earth), with a $7500 cheque for an orphanage in India.
•Max, a Rotary exchange student over the past school year, returned to his home in Germany.
•The Burnett Interact Club, sponsored by Richmond Sunrise Rotary, has produced a video about its Service Above Self: https://tinyurl.com/yc6rec8b

 
Sechelt
•At Canada Day celebrations in Hackett Park club members and some Interactors ran the Dunk tank plus BBQ and snack bar plus a Rotary Information Desk open beside snack bar. 
•The Butterfly Garden project for 2023 has now reached 20 participants.
•The club is running the Snack Bar in Hackett Park every Saturday in July & August.
•Club received a Silver Hero Award from ShelterBox Canada for contributing to 3 boxes in 2023.

Squamish
•Eighteen members participated in the July 1st Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh Squamish Together community event in three shifts to run the Kids Zone and sold some fundraising project puzzles.
•The first Thursday club meeting of the year was a Club Picnic on July 6 in a local park with members, partners, and children, for old-school games and races, and bbq. On July 20, the club meeting was held once again outside, this time at the golf course, where we had blocked off a portion of the driving range for our use. This was followed by dinner and drinks in the golf course restaurant. The July 27 club meeting was held at the Public Library meeting room. The plan is to return to club meetings at the Howe Sound Brew Pub in September. 

Steveston
•Twelve club members and friends of Rotary participated in the annual Steveston Salmon Festival on July 1, serving thousands of pancakes, hundreds of juice boxes and cups of coffee and raising over $2,500 for future club projects.  
•The club set up a tent with volunteers to promote the club and Rotary at three Farmer’s Market events, as an annual summer event where donations were also collected, this year for portable generators for Ukraine sourced through Disaster Aid Canada. To date almost $1,000 has been raised.

Sunshine Coast - Sechelt
•The club is working on becoming a hybrid available club. Board meetings are already hybrid.
•A presentation to the club, and some visiting members from Sechelt Rotary, by Past Chief of the Sechelt Nation and hereditary Chief Garry Feschuk and his wife Pauline about reconciliation and the residential school experience led to discussion on ways the club can walk forward with the nation’s peoples and further the truth and reconciliation movement. 
•An annual social event was held at Pedals and Paddles, with a BBQ, where some enjoyed a kayak or paddle board outing.
•At a club Rotary Awareness meeting on August 26th, members explored the Rotary International site and set up My Rotary accounts for those members who do not yet have them and explored the Rotary Learning Center and the Rotary Club Central goals area.
•All members were asked to pick two committees to engage with this year to add depth on our committees.

Tsawwassen
•In early July the Youth Exchange student Valerian returned to his home in France after visiting for the past school year and outbound exchange student, Max Lee, returned from Belgium. Max said, “this was the best time of my life.”
•The club held a pancake breakfast at Boundary Bay beach with guest speaker Nathan Wilson, the Delta School district indigenous liaison, who brought the amazing journey canoe, "Wave Warrior", partly sponsored by the club and taught members paddling songs and described the significance of the artwork on the journey canoe. The canoe will be used to teach indigenous programs to youth in the Delta school system and community.

Vancouver Cambie
•One new member was also inducted.

West Vancouver
•The West Vancouver club made and distributed 300 sandwiches has a regular service for people facing homelessness in Vancouver.  

Whistler
•The meeting location changed from the Racket Club to the Whistler Mountain Ski Club for 2023/2024. 
•The Canada Day Pancake Breakfast, with Whistler Millenium club, raised about $3,500 and served 500 people in the Village
•Board meetings continue on Zoom and club meetings will continue in hybrid format for 2023/2024.
•Presented a ruby Paul Harris +7 pin to Rotarian Mary Scott. 

Whistler - Millennium
•Six club members joined Rotary Club of Whistler in producing the pancake breakfast at Canada Day celebrations in Whistler.
•Eight members served ice cream, donated by Cows, at the annual  BC Burn Camp. 

Williams Lake - Daybreak
•The club is contributing a $100,000 Community Climbing Wall to the Williams Lake with support of a $5,000 District Grant to get the project underway.