Rotary Club of Steveston

The Rotary Club of Steveston is celebrating twenty rewarding years of service both to our community and internationally.

Right from the start, the Rotary Club of Steveston focussed on youth and seniors. We have supported numerous programs including:

• DARE in partnership with the Richmond RCMP

• Toys for Kids

• Senior summer BBQs and Christmas lunches.

• Supplied a vehicle (4-year commitment) to Richmond Cares Richmond Gives so that they may drive seniors to appointments.

• Initiated and support the McMath Secondary School Interact Club (a leadership program), with over 100 outstanding students, providing scholarships and bursaries for students.

• Sending youth to RYLA (Rotary camp) and supporting and hosting Rotary International exchange student programs.

• Preparing pancake breakfasts to help school fundraisers.

• Cooking at the Salmon Festivals, and participating in the parade, winning awards for our pirate float.

• Sponsored a "Fish Boat Fest" educational event at our fish sales dock in the early days, bringing elementary school children to tour the different fish boats.

• Delivered dictionaries to over 400 grade five students (yearly) on behalf of our late member Bob Jones, well-known for his commitment to youth.

• First Tee – British Columbia, raises funds through our annual Jack Evans Memorial

Golf Tournament. First Tee prides itself on teaching children nine core values through golf. These core values include honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment.

Our fundraising events have included:

• Jimmy Ng (the young RCMP officer killed on duty in Richmond) Memorial Ball Hockey

Tournaments. All proceeds were given to charities determined by his parents, typically $5,000-6,000.

• The Duck Race was a fun event along the

Fraser River. Buy a duck; the first ten across the finish line win a prize!

• Club members directed parking at the RCMP Musical Rides.

• Our ecology efforts at the two men's Canadian Open golf tournaments at Shaughnessy Golf Course raised nearly $10,000.

• Hosted walks around Garry Point for disasters in Haiti, the Bahamas, and the Australian fires; proudly, one hundred per cent of the funds raised went directly to these causes.

• Helped rebuild the back garden at The Salvation Army Rotary Hospice House and provided a $20,000 donation for a new electric bed.

• Loan Rotary tents for use at local events such as the Herring Sale for Kids with Cancer,

Garlic Festival, and many more.

• The wine and food festival (Grapes, Hops, and Bites) has been our mainstay for fundraising. This event was held at the historic Gulf of Georgia Cannery and has been well supported by the Steveston businesses and community.

• Our fundraising in 2011 for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami showed our capabilities for larger-scale events. Expecting to raise $10,000 in a walk for the survivors, we generated $140,000; one hundred per cent was delivered to the mayor of Wakayama for the children who survived the devastation in the city of Onagawa. Internationally, we are involved in helping Rotary eliminate polio worldwide. We sent a surgical microscope to Uganda, supported women's schools in Africa, a dental program in Central America headed by Dr. Doug Nielsen, and a sports medicine service in Africa initiated by Dr. Sean Graham and Dr. Jack Taunton. These are but a few of the projects we support locally and internationally.

• Food security has been our primary focus for the past 18 months. We have partnered with the Richmond School District and Save-on-Foods to supply and deliver food hampers covering 700 families. We received approximately $50,000 through grants which augmented our fundraising efforts to support this program. We spend $5,500 a year on food hampers to support families during the holiday season. We also support the hot lunch program for seniors in need sponsored by the Minoru Seniors Society, through funding the meal cost and delivering meals to more than 15 seniors every two weeks.

• Currently, the B.C. Wildfire Relief 2021 has dominated our fundraising efforts. Rotary Clubs, Rotarians, family, and friends across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and central Washington have responded with cash donations for wildfire evacuees in B.C. As of August 22, we have raised close to $50,000 in contributions between the Rotary Club of Steveston-Richmond Charitable Society and Aurora (Kamloops Rotary Club). We have converted these donations into gift cards. Providing gift cards affords the evacuees dignity and personal choice to purchase what they need. Our society partners with EOC (Emergency Operation Centres) and ESS (Emergency Service Sites) to distribute the gift cards to evacuees in Merritt, Lillooet, Hope, Kamloops, Kelowna, and evacuees in Lower Nicola Indian Band and Siska First Nations.

• Our flagship program is Write to Read B.C. (W2R); it has been running for the past ten years, establishing libraries in B.C. First Nation communities. An enriching program headed by Bob Blacker, who, with help, has established seventeen libraries. In addition to books, many sites have also been provided computers, building facilities, and furniture. Bob asks what the community needs, listens, then tries to fulfill their needs. Special thanks to the Madsen family self-storage facility for donating storage for hundreds of books for distribution.

We want to thank everyone who has donated already. The Rotary Club of StevestonRichmond Charitable Society will continue to accept donations. You may e-transfer to society@stevestonrotary.ca

The Shred event will take place on October 9th at McMath Secondary School.

Steveston Rotary is very grateful and would like to acknowledge all the businesses and individuals for their commitment to the community and for helping us to help others.

If these programs touch your heart and you want to give back to your community, you are probably a Rotarian already but don't know it. Please join us in this journey.

Visit our website: www.stevestonrotary.ca or call Trevor Stickler at 604-970-8957