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Castlegar Rotary round-up

Find out what the local Rotary clubs have been working on
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A screenshot of a recent Castlegar Rotary meeting. Photo: Submitted

Rotary International is a global network of 1.2 million people belonging to over 35,000 clubs in 200 countries, who are joined by the common goal to unite and take action to create lasting change through service to others. Each year the incoming RI President sets a theme for their term, and for 2020/21 it is “Rotary Opens Opportunities.”

In our community there are two Rotary clubs, Castlegar Rotary Club which meets Tuesdays at 6 p.m., and Castlegar Sunrise 2000 which meets Thursdays and at either 7 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. The two clubs jointly sponsor a very active youth Interact Club at Stanley Humphries Secondary who participate in both local and international projects.

While the clubs operate independently in their fundraising events and support to community initiatives, they also partner on community, district, and international projects. We are grateful to the Castlegar News for the opportunity to share the world of Rotary with our community.

Recently, the clubs came together via Zoom with the Rotary Club of Sao Luis Joao Paulo, Brazil to celebrate their joint efforts in building an addition at the local school. There were members of six different clubs in three countries on the call, including Youth Exchange and Interact members.

Currently, the clubs are working on a joint initiative to plant shade trees in community identified areas in Castlegar near Stanley Humphries and Castlegar Primary.

Polio eradication work

October 24 is World Polio Day. Since 1979, Rotary has been committed to the eradication of polio.

“Along with our partners, we have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries. We have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide and we won’t stop until we end the disease for good,” according to Endpolio.org.

The Sunrise 2000 club recently held a tulip bulb fundraiser, selling 65 boxes of tulips to support the End Polio Now campaign. Every dollar that a Rotary district contributes to End Polio Now is matched by the World Fund, up to $10 million. In addition, every dollar that Rotary commits to polio eradication is matched 2-to-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, up to $50 million per year. To learn more visit www.endpolio.org.

November is Rotary Foundation month. Since the Foundation was founded in 1917, they have spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. The mission is to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. For more information about Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation, visit www.rotary.org.

Upcoming events

Upcoming Rotary events in our community include a highway clean up; a sold-out Dram Good Evening scotch tasting and tulip bulb planting in October.

An Online Auction, a Purdy’s Chocolate fundraiser, a smoked salmon fundraiser, and Christmas tree sales will take place in November.

We welcome visitors and potential members and encourage you to join us at a meeting to learn more. For the evening club, Castlegar Rotary contact Stan Hadikin at 250-608-2757 or visit them on Facebook @CastlegarRotary; and for Castlegar Sunrise 2000 contact Collin Ludwar at 250-509-2345 or visit them on Facebook @castlegarsunrise2000 or their website at portal.clubrunner.ca/924.

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