The end of June marks the transition from one Rotary year to the next. With profound gratitude we thank our outgoing President Cameron (Cam) Scott for his clear-sighted and capable leadership over the past year.
Cam stepped into the vacated President's role at a crucial time in our Vancouver Sunrise club's history, bringing his knowledge and experience as one of the club's charter members, as well as his steadying, engineering approach to the club's many business and service project achievements over the year. To be reported in the next bulletin....
Thank you for your service, Past President Cam, and may you always have a tailwind at your back as you cycle off into the Rotary summer sunset!
In May, we gratefully received the surprise gift of a $20,000 from Graham Fulton, member of Blake, Cassels & Grayson LLP and the Board of the HoopLaw Society. The proceeds came from the Hooplaw's annual basketball tournament where local lawyers and law students raise funds for Vancouver charitable causes, including our Rotary Strathcona Youth Leadership Hoop-A-Thon.
Our Sunrise club supports the Hooplaw fun and fundraising by serving a pancake breakfast to help fuel the competitors.
Cameron Reeves, from the Vancouver Bandits professional basketball team was our speaker on June 14th - pictured above at the Hoop-A-Thon with our project leader Gary and King George Interactor Finnegan who won the raffle for Bandits hoodie.
Cameron also promoted the Bandits Rotary Night on Sunday July 9th at the Langley Events Centre which supports the Starfish children's backpack program. Hope to see you there!
Dr. Lauryn Oates, Executive Director of Canadian Women for Afghan Women (CW4WAfghan) gave us an update on the journey to to adapt their classroom educational programs to the dire conditions resulting from the reinstatement of Taliban rule. CW4WAfghan has pivoted to 100% secure, confidential, online learning for Afghan girls, teachers, and displaced students in Tajikistan and Turkey via its a Digital Library and Digital Academy. They also created a new program called Learning Plus Baskets which provides laptops, internet access, and food aid to the girls and their families affected by the humanitarian crisis.
In thanking us for our donation of $2065 to support this urgent work, CW4WAfghan wrote, "Not only are you supporting CW4WAfghan's quality education programs, you are giving Afghan women and girls the priceless gifts of dignity, empowerment, and hope."
On Saturday June 24th, the Rotary Club of Vancouver Sunrise, along with our partner Clubs, presented $53,824 in funds raised at our April 22nd Rotary Strathcona Hoop-A-Thon. Since 2007, the Rotary Hoop-A-Thon has raised nearly $600,000 for youth at risk.
The headline photo above shows 8 of the 9 students who received a total of $40,000 in post-secondary scholarships. In addition, we awarded $13,824 to Girls Who LEAP, the parallel Boys who RISE leadership program, and the Strathcona Basketball Program.
Some of our Club members and spouses attended the first Annual Pow Wow Honouring Fathers, Grandfathers, and Sons on Fathers' Day Weekend that was held at the Britannia Community Centre.
There were bannock treats and plenty of other delights as Indigenous families, drummers and dancers competed and celebrated with song, dance, and gorgeous traditional regalia over the weekend.
For more pictures and stories about this inaugural event, check out this CBC Vancouver News feature on YouTube, and mark your calendars for next year!
May kicked off with a presentation by fellow Rotarian Freddie Marsh, who shared his remarkable journey of becoming a living kidney donor to his friend, Anna Maria in 2015. Since that experience he has become a passionate and committed volunteer and advocate for organ donation.
We thank Freddie for his inspiring story, as well as for some compelling facts from BC Transplant, including:
there are over 700 fellow British Columbians on the waiting list for a kidney donation;
the surgery for living donors is now routinely done laparoscopically; and
registering your organ donation decision on https://transplant.bc.ca only takes 2 minutes and can save multiple lives - Logan Goulet of the Humboldt Broncos, whose organ donation inspired the Green Shirt Day in Canada, saved the lives of six fellow Canadians.
Sheila Anderson from the Rotary Club of Nanaimo gave us an update on the latest developments at Project Amigo. She serves on the board of the Project Amigo Canada Society and regularly visits the school in the town of Suchitlan, Mexico.
Over the past year, Project Amigo Canada has supported:
85 primary and 51 high school students with school registration fees, transportation to school, hot meals, school supplies, uniforms and shoes; and
23 University and 2 Vocational Technical students with scholarships and housing while they attend their studies and funds for tuition, books and equipment.
Our club sponsored two students and an English teacher in 2022-23, and our Chair of Service, Carlos Obregon, already has a plan ready for 2023-24. Sheila encouraged us to visit the school for a volunteer service week and to keep up the good work!
On May 24th, we welcomed Ryan McBride, Past President of the Rotary Club of Burnaby, who shared his data science expertise and experience with the changes transforming our world through the power of AI and tools like ChatGBT.
Ryan teaches computer and data science at SFU and is the founder of ROM2 Consulting which assists BC non-profits to use "Humanitarian Data Analytics", including AI tools, for social good.
Thank you "Dr. Ryan" for the work you do and for giving us a fascinating peek into a complex field that we all need to understand. Even better, stay tuned for a future update about Ryan's next chapter to continue his passion for Rotary community service...woo hoo!
Our final speaker in May was our own Ron Suzuki who dusted off his old photo albums to share his experience and lessons learned as a young coach supporting the talented and inspiring athletes who represented Team Canada Cerebral Palsy in 1984.
Ron, is there anything that you haven't done or don't do for others? You are truly Awesome!
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