An introduction of our new District Rotaract Representatives and an update on their plans for the year.

 

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While July may be the start of the Rotary year, September marks when Rotaract really get into the swing of a new year! This year we are excited to welcome our two new District Rotaract Reps, Jacob Helliwell ( Pictured: Right) and Bianca Yeung (Left). Bianca is a member of the Rotaract Club of Vancouver and a student at UBC studying neurobiology. Bianca also recently returned from China where she helped work on The Leprosy Project (http://goo.gl/116O21). Jacob is a young professional working in downtown Vancouver and is also working on developing a new Young Professionals Rotaract club in the Vancouver region.

With the addition of the new Young Professionals Rotaract club, District 5040 now has eight Rotaract clubs. Six clubs come from the Metro Vancouver area:

  • Rotaract Club of Burnaby

  • Rotaract Club of New Westminster

  • Rotaract Club of Richmond

  • Rotaract Club of Vancouver

  • Rotaract Club of Vancouver Yaletown

  • Rotaract Club of Vancouver Young Professionals

And there are two clubs outside of the Metro Vancouver area, including:

  • Rotaract Club of Squamish

  • Rotaract Club of Prince George

The incoming DRR’s have a goal of 10 Rotaract clubs in the district this Rotary year and have their fingers crossed for North Vancouver and Quesnel!

This year will be another exciting year for the Rotaract District. In addition to the many projects organized by the individual clubs, the district comes together to complete projects together. Most recently the district welcomed five international Rotaractors for a whirlwind 9-day tour of Vancouver, Burnaby, Victoria, Whistler, Richmond, Port Moody, New Westminster and North Vancouver! Our international Rotaract visitors came from Argentina, Mexico, Germany, Japan and Italy. The Pacific Canada Experience (PACE) trip was an incredible cultural exchange.

In addition to PACE, the district will be hosting a professional development day for the district’s Rotaractors, as well as helping to organize and facilitate a training day for Interact clubs. Our Rotaract district meets monthly in Vancouver to plan our projects and we have socials planned throughout the year. Every year the district also includes a district-wide service project, but it is yet to be announced! Rotarians are always welcome at our events and we look forward to their support of our projects. A full list of the Rotaract District’s events and projects can be found on our website - http://www.rotaract5040.org/

To help us develop personally, at a club level, and as a district, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to District Rotaract Chair, Janice Froese, as well as our many sponsoring Rotary clubs! In total we have 12 sponsoring Rotary clubs, including:

  • Burnaby

  • Burnaby Metrotown

  • Burnaby Deer Lake

  • New Westminster

  • New Westminster Royal City

  • Prince George Downtown

  • Prince George – Nechako

  • Prince George – Yellowhead

  • Richmond

  • Squamish

  • Vancouver

  • Vancouver – Yaletown

Our sponsor clubs have all come to appreciate the many benefits of sponsoring a Rotaract club, including additional hands to help on projects, new speakers, support with new technology, mentorship opportunities, spreading the message of Rotary to new audiences, youthfulness, and many many more. If your club is looking to start a Rotaract Club, or if you want more information on the Rotaract District, please visit us at http://www.rotaract5040.org/