This year was supposed to be the 25th year of the Castlegar Rotary Club Thanksgiving Rose Sale.
But like so many other community organizations have found in recent months — COVID put a thorn in the group’s fundraising plans.
The annual Rotary fundraiser usually sees community members donating to the club and in return a Rotarian delivers a dozen roses to a residence or business in the Castlegar area. But not this year.
“Rotarians felt that, in the midst of a pandemic, this would not be an appropriate time to fundraise,” said Rotarian Wayne Groutage.
“Instead, as a thank you for past donations, the club has assembled, with the help of Wood Wyant and Kel Print, a number of mini-bottles of hand sanitizer to gift to past and (it is to be hoped) future rose buyers.”
If you’d like to check out many of the group’s previous projects made possible through community donations, visit the Castlegar Rotary Club-Home Facebook page.