Rotary gives $1,000 to relief in Japan
Donny Todoruk, the club's president, started the meeting by asking members to consider what the club was capable of giving. "My question to our club is this," Todoruk said, "Can we contribute? Do we want to contribute? What can we contribute?"
Tuesday's Rotary meeting was all about community. The club heard from representatives from the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation about their work to better Portage. The club also made an impromptu decision to donate to the crisis in Japan.
Donny Todoruk, the club's president, started the meeting by asking members to consider what the club was capable of giving. "My question to our club is this," Todoruk said, "Can we contribute? Do we want to contribute? What can we contribute?"
The only concern raised was about the club's current budget, which doesn't account for unforseen circumstances. However, the Portage Rotary Club has a special section of their budget for world community service.
It took only minutes to see no members had objections to designating $1,000 from the budget for relief in Japan, and a unanimous motion was passed in a matter of minutes of opening the topic.
The club will be donating through ShelterBox Canada, Rotary's biggest ongoing service project. The boxes are purchased for $1,000 and include general items needed to survive a crisis, including a tent for up to 10 people, blankets, basic tools, and a stove and basic cookware.
"It never ceases to amaze me that when the need arises, people in this club step up and say 'hey lets do it, if it's not in our budget we'll find it,'" Todoruk said gratefully.
Club Treasurer, Erin Bryson, explained how the world community service section of the rotary's budget works. "As a rule of rotary, we like to sponsor a world community project that helps fund underdeveloped needs elsewhere in the world," he said. Usually this section of the budget is decided by a committee that takes time to explore their options, however, Bryson said in this special case the club circumvented that process.
"(Japan relief) just kind of fits what the spirit of that budget line is," he said.
The Portage Rotary Club had originally planned on using their world community service funds to support a water project, potentially in Haiti. "We're still hoping we can do that," Todoruk said. The club has 3 fundraisers before June, and Todoruk said with the money they raise, the Rotary Club of Portage la Prairie should hopefully be able to still achieve their original goals as well as sending aid to Japan.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the Rotary's efforts are encouraged to contact their executive for more information.
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