Monday 30 April 2012
Soles 4 Souls has attracted the attention of Christie Clark, Premier of BC and Laureen Harper, wife of our Canadian Prime Minister, and in Nelson, it attracted support from Jackie Nedelec who volunteered to serve in a second year as organizer for the local campaign.
She gathered up many of her friends as possible to help, but also called on the Rotary Club of Nelson Day-break members to help. Another international service project!
Soles 4 Souls is a Nashville based charity that has distributed over 17 million shoes to 127 countries. There are regularly scheduled distribution trips to coun-tries such as Haiti and India and volunteers may partici-pate.
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Wednesday 18 April 2012
I was at the recent “Beer and Burger” SK8 park fundraiser (a Daybreak Rotary event) when a friend asked me “Just what is Rotary anyway?” She then gestured around the crowded bar commenting, “I know most of these people (the Rotarians) why do you do this?”
I took a moment to ponder what Rotary is about, wondering how to answer such a complex question. Another Rotarian overheard the question and with a shrug of her shoulder stated, “The answer is simple, we, (Rotarians) are making the world a better place!”
The SK8 park fundraiser is a great example. The Nelson Daybreak Rotary Club has, in the last year, raised over $8,000.00 for this worthy youth initiative. Not bad for a little club of thirty members, a small step towards making Nelson a better place for youth!
Like Rotary clubs all over the world we have identified “New Generation” projects supporting youth. For our club the SK8 park is only one of the local youth projects we support. We have established an Interact (Youth Rotary) Club at Mount Sentinel School and helped this club travel to Mexico where they are supporting an orphanage. We are working on a mural project involving youth as part of our Graffiti initiatives and we have numerous other youth initiatives underway.
It is easy for us as Rotarians to come alongside our youth; the young people in Nelson are truly an amazing group! The stories of Nelson Youth serving both at home and all around the world humble us “older folk” who are committed to the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.”
On May 29th we are holding a Celebration of Youth at the Hume hotel. At this event (which will include the famous Hume hotel Italian Feast) we will honor and recognize some of these outstanding West Kootenay youth. We will hear some of their stories, which I am sure will inspire and challenge all of us. If you have any doubt about the “new generation” being committed and able to make our world a better place you need to participate!
Tickets are limited so if you want to join this celebration contact Rotarian Mike McIndoe at mmcindoe@telus.net to reserve a space!
Monday 16 April 2012
After 20 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.
Our District (Rotary District 5080) is committed to doing its part to eradicate this disease. They have come up with a plan to raise funds through an exercise challenge for the winter and spring of 2012. Our club has tried to simplify the process for our own club members, and any others who want to raise money for this cause. This was recently presented to our club members who have expressed their support in this effort.
It is called the Polio Eradication Exercise Challenge (PEEC). If you accept this challenge (and we hope you all will) there will be a combination of events that make up the whole undertaking, and you may participate in any, most, or all of them.
Recently a young man asked me “What is polio?” I probably gave him too long an answer. The encouraging thing is that young people in this part of the world do not remember polio, and the toll that it took on people and families not so very long ago. What a great day it will be when the whole world can ask the question – “What was polio?”
Here’s an example of what we hope you might do:
- Plan to exercise 3 times per week.
- Contribute $2 each time you exercise
- Plan to do this between January 1 and April 30, 2012
- You will have raised $102 by doing this.
- Invite your friends to join you through Facebook or other means, which will raise additional funds for this worthy cause.
Aside from the goal of raising funds to eliminate polio, there are other side benefits:
- Weight loss
- Increased energy
- Increased muscle tone
- Better mental health
- Higher self esteem
You can donate online or you can use our pledge form!
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