Rotaract Monthly Update - Rotaract Club of New Westminster

Posted by Rebecca MacPherson 
 
As per usual, the New Westminster Rotaract Club began our year by choosing our international project.
 

We decided to fundraise for Rotary International’s Polio Plus Program, because of the joint initiative between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canadian Govermment, and Rotary International.

Our first fundraiser of the year was a cotton candy sale in November, that was held together with a book sale put on the Rotary Club of New Westminster – Royal City. This was the first time we tried such a fundraiser, and it proved to be a success, so we’ll be sure to hold similar fundraisers in the future.

November was a busy month for Rotaract, as we also took part in the Rotaract Training Seminar at UBC, and helped out at the Foundation Dinner. The training seminar proved to be very beneficial, not only as a means of learning more about Rotary, the services it provides, and what it means to be involved with Rotary, but also as a way to meet and get to know other Rotaractors, and learn more about what the different clubs are doing. Then at the end of November, with Rotaractors from UBC, Burnaby, and Squamish, four of our members helped out at the Rotary Foundation Dinner. We had a great time selling 50/50 tickets and helping out President Kevin Gordon, Laurie Stewart, and Jeremy Perry with whatever they needed. They put on an excellent dinner.

For our December fundraiser, a group of dedicated Rotaractors braved the cold and rain to sell hot chocolate that had been generously donated by Rotarian Wayne Corlett (New Westminster Rotary Club) at the New Westminster Christmas Parade of Lights. All of the proceeds from both fundraisers will be donated to PolioPlus.

In the upcoming months we plan to help out at the Heart of the Matter Gala put on by the Rotary Club of New Westminster – Royal City. We volunteer at this event each year, working in the coat check area and selling 50/50 tickets and each year we have a wonderful time. Our next fundraiser will be a pizza and beer night at the Paddlewheeler Pub in February – we’ll be providing more details in the new year. We hope to see some of you there!

Happy New Year from the Rotarators from the New Westminster Rotaract Club.