On Sunday, July 28, we were delighted to distribute the $54,500 in funds raised through our 2024 Rotary Strathcona Hoop-A-Thon fundraiser to our worthy recipients:
$41,000 in Scholarships to 9 graduating students (pictured above); and
$13,500 for Youth Leadership Projects, including Strathcona Basketball, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Girls Who LEAP and Boys Who RISE programs.
Infinite thanks to our project leader Gary Chomyn for his unmatched dedication and hard work in building and leading our signature service project for the past decade, and thank you to our Hoop-a-thon Scholarship Committee members Lorri and Frances.
Eric Ming Community Hero Scholarship Awards were also handed out to two of our Strathcona Interactors Chloe Huang and Alex Lui who are pictured below with Ron, youth champion Mitra Tshan, Eric’s brother Alex and his daughter Mia.
Loud and proud described the vibe as a group of Rotarians, including District Governor Nominee Dean Hsieh, Ron, and some of our youth members hoisted the Rotary Pride Banner at the August 4th Vancouver Pride Parade.
Niloofar Hedayati, Community Connector from the West End Seniors' Network, spoke to us on August 7th about their collaboration with SFU's Stakeholders' Walkability Wheelability Audit in Neighbourhoods (SWAN) project that will be carried out by the Department of Gerontology. They're seeking Rotary and Rotaract volunteers to assist with the audit in September. Please contact Niloofar for more information.
Congratulations to King George grads Chihana Porter, Aliza Rooker (Student Council President)and Melika Mousavi (Interact President)who received our 2024 Vancouver Sunrise King George Rotary Scholarships. They joined our July 31st meeting to share their thanks and future plans. Aliza and Melissa were also this year's Valedictorians.
We ended the Rotary year for 2023-2024 with the gift of Anita Parti officially joining our club. She's already leaping into the fray to help with an upcoming project involving the West End Seniors Network and King George Interactors. Welcome and thank you Anita!
On June 19th, Craig Longstaff, Executive Director of Honour House Society, spoke to us about their role providing a temporary home-away-from-home for serving and retired military and first responders who are receiving medical care in the Metro Vancouver area - akin to Ronald McDonald House.
The Society's main location is a heritage home in New Westminster. They also run Honour Ranch, a 120-acre facility near Ashcroft, BC where service members can access leading-edge treatment for operational stress injuries including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Check out this clip about the impact of Honour House.
Gail Kaufman from the Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society joined us on August 14th to ask for help. They provide free transportation for adults, seniors, and children, along with their caregivers or parents, for appointments related to cancer treatments and medical care.
In 2023, their volunteer 413 drivers and dispatchers provided an incredible 32,873 patient trips. Apply here to get involved.
Christina Wong, Co-Founder and Executive Director from Employ to Empower, spoke to us on June 26th about the Vancouver-based charity that delivers entrepreneurship training and mentoring programs. Her presentation and clips like this one have already inspired several of our members to become involved as volunteer mentors.
Our resourceful Strathcona Interact Club youth members accessed funding from Telus and a Neighbourhood Grant to produce and deliver 200 toiletry kits on June 29th to homeless neighbours on the Downtown Eastside. Thank you Andrew for assisting with this youth initiative.
This year we raised $2400 for our international youth project, Project Amigo Canada, and presented the funds to Sheila Anderson, who is a leader with the program and former member of our club. The funds will sponsor our student Armando and provide school supplies for students in Suchitlan, Mexico.
President Mark and his wife Lee hosted our annual Changeover event on July 14th. The fellowship and food were wonderful and our club will enjoy the Rotary logo napkins for many future meetings!
So nice to have Miguel Buitrago Norato and his family attend our August 21st meeting. Miguel's father, Dr. Miguel Antonio Norato, is a founder and member of the Rotary Club of Villa de Leyva y Alto Ricaurte in Colombia. We also learned about his club's efforts to secure a Rotary Global Grant to pilot a Mental Health public health education program in Villa de Leyva.
Shout out to Abigail, Ron and the youth who helped our West Vancouver Sunrise Rotary Club colleagues with their annual Ride for Rescue fundraiser on June 8th. Great teamwork and collaboration for a great cause!
Great job on the part of our Rotary members and Vancouver Young Professionals Rotaractors (including Flo pictured here with Ron) who rolled up their sleeves to help out at the West End Seniors' Network's Summer Strawberry Festival fundaiser held on June 15th.
