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Karen Vandergaag’s work honoured by Castlegar Sunrise Rotary

Castlegar Rotary member Rhonda Sorenson presented her granddaughter with a Paul Harris Fellow Award.
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From left: Ed Sorenson, Tami, Doug and Karen Vandergaag, Rhonda Sorenson, Alexia Turner, Arry Dhillon. (Submitted)

Castlegar Sunrise 2000 Rotary Club member Rhonda Sorenson presented her granddaughter Karen Vandergaag with a Paul Harris Fellow Award for her ongoing Humanitarian work in East Africa.

Karen graduated from Stanley Humphries Secondary School in 2010 and went to Brazil for a year on a Youth Exchange sponsored by Rotary.

She also volunteered in Sri Lanka on a project sponsored by Sri Lankan Rotarians.

As part of the Business Administration Program at Okanagan College, Karen did field study in Ethiopia and Malawi learning about entrepreneurship in developing countries, and helped to teach HIV Awareness in remote high schools there.

During her years in OK College Karen was part of the leadership team of their Enactus Club, which promotes entrepreneurial leadership to advance the economic, social and environmental health of Canada. She was project manager, taught financial literacy workshops to the underprivileged, worked on many fundraisers for the food Banks, and took part in several national Enactus competitions across Canada.

Karen graduated from Okanagan College in June 2016 with a Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours, specializing in Finance.

She was awarded an Aga Khan Foundation Fellowship to work in International Development in Tanzania, and began her work there in August of 2016.

After completing this fellowship she was offered continued employment and is now working as a consultant for Care Access Africa in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Paul Harris Fellow Award honours people who share the objectives and principles of Rotary for advancement of health, literacy, and peace among the nations of the world.