Best wishes to everyone for a Happy Christmas season! And as we celebrate what is both a secular and a Christian observance in our society, let’s remember and respect the many other religions that also celebrate special occasions at this time of year. It is wonderful to see so many of our clubs engage with their communities as they celebrate holiday events. We’ve had an active month in Rotary! Here are some highlights.
For her hard work and success in making a contribution to Wheelchairs for Fiji, Kitimat resident, 11-year-old Avaya Borgens, is among the youngest people to ever receive a prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award from a Rotary club.
Every day three people in Fiji on average lose a limb, many of those their legs. After those suffering from such a life-changing loss, a wheelchair means freedom from immobilization and burden on family and friends and access to productive, fulfilling lives. Rotary clubs in the District's Northwest have been raising funds in recent years for Wheelchairs for Fiji to supply wheelchairs to the South Pacific nation of almost 900,000 population.
Inclusion of First Peoples’ content in schools builds student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy and mutual respect. In Delta, British Columbia, the School District commissioned “Wave Warrior”, an ocean-going 39-foot fibreglass Journey Canoe, to help students learn more about the canoe culture and connect them with Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Delta students and staff can use the canoe on day trips throughout the paddling season. The School District's Indigenous Education Department has also been developing a mentorship program, Paddling Together, for students in grades 5 to 12. The program will inspire positive identity of urban Indigenous students, help develop leaders, and bridge relationships throughout the community.
Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset member Magdalen R Leung, as a member of the Health Major Gifts Initiative Advisers committee, says, "Through my participation in global grants from The Rotary Foundation, I have seen how the lives of 600 children in China have been changed for the better in the past ten years. I have been involved in four global grants to support Gift of Life in Shanghai, China. These grants, ranging from $150,000 to $200,000, have provided life-changing heart surgery to children as young as three months old, with most of the children ages five or six."
Rotary members and supporters took action on World Polio Day, October 24, 2022, to raise awareness and funds toward eradicating polio.
More than 4,200 Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs in 118 countries registered their participation in World Polio Day.
Donors contributed more than US$740,000 online, which meant a total — with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2-to-1 match — of more than $2.2 million raised.
Social media efforts tied to World Polio Day reached 31 million people, compared to 17 million in 2021.
Once again, Rotary’s members and supporters united to show tremendous support in the fight against polio.
Several members have stepped forward to help serve all our clubs in District 5040, but there are still some opportunities to serve, learn, and build relationships with other Rotary members across the district and beyond. Please join the team.
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