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Making Ottawa Clean and Green

Stittsville Rotarians celebrated Earth Day on Apr 22^nd by Cleaning Up the Capital at WJ Bell Rotary Peace Park.

City Councillor Glen Gower, community volunteers and Stittsville Rotarians participated in the Clean Up the Capital event in WJ Bell Rotary Peace Park and area on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. For the past three years Stittsville has held the city record for the most participants and groups registered for the city-wide event.

It was a way to celebrate the April 22^nd Earth Day held to raise awareness of the climate crisis and highlight the need to protect the environment. Earth Day is also about the health of forests, oceans, freshwater systems, soils, and biodiversity.

They collected an impressive amount of trash including wheel wells, empty bottles and disposable food containers. We thank all the participants who helped to make our community a better place to live. www.stittsvillerotary.com

Minwaashin Lodge supports Indigenous women, and their families

Minwaashin offers a range of programs and services, including employment, culture, children & youth, counselling, housing, and transitional support.

On April 23, 2026, Jenna Spagnoli was the guest speaker at the meeting of the Indigenous Work group of the Stittsville Rotary Club. Celebrating over 30 years of honoring and supporting women, Jenna said that Minwaashin Lodge was the first non-profit to be established in Ottawa for Indigenous clients. It has expanded over time to include 40 full-time staff, 15 part-time staff and volunteers in 2 locations, with the main building on St Laurent Blvd and a 28-bed shelter as well.

Minwaashin Lodge provides a wide range of programs and services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and children who are survivors of domestic and other forms of violence, and who may also be suffering the effects of the residential school system. Programs and services include employment, culture, children & youth, counselling, housing, and transitional support. The programming exists because of the financial support from three levels of government, donations from the community and the efforts of volunteers and students who help make it all run smoothly. www.minlodge.com

Photo courtesy of Hello Lovely Ontario.

Master Gardener Judith Cox shares her love of gardening with others.

Her secrets to success in the garden include pollinators, water, scented flowers and herbs such as basil and borage.

Master Gardener Judith Cox gave many concrete, practical and inexpensive examples of a common-sense approach to gardening in her presentation to Stittsville Rotarians on April 07, 2026.

After working for years as a gardener, Judith now works as a garden consultant during the growing season and volunteers at Master Gardener advice clinics at local farmer’s markets. She also writes an occasional column called Veggie Bites to encourage gardeners everywhere. As of 2020, She is President of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society.

While Judith favors heritage vegetables along with roses and herbs and fairy gardens, she has always loved working with plants and enjoys sharing that love with others.

Pollinators: bees, butterflies, moths, fireflies, hover flies, beetles, spiders, bats, and birds.

What you need: water, scented flowers, herbs especially basil and borage.

16 Teams Came Out to Compete for a Good Cause

Stittsville Rotary organized a Trivia Night to support their community service projects.

It was the 19^th annual Trivia Night for Stittsville Rotary, and the club offers a big thank you to all the keen and enthusiastic teams who came out to play in support our fundraising efforts at Trivia Night on Friday, March 06, 2026. The Quizzly Bears team in the photo was just one of 16 teams in the competition. The club appreciated the generosity of local businesses and individuals who gave wonderful prizes to make the night interesting for the players.

Rotarian Dave Rooke who organized the event had high praise for the club members, Friends of Rotary and volunteers who found sponsors, helped with the setup of the venue, donated prizes, or worked on the night of the event to make this year's Trivia Night a great success.

www.stittsvillerotary.com

Storytelling Through Authentic Indigenous-Designed Textiles

MINI TIPI’s aim is to address the lack of authentic Indigenous designs in the textile industry.

MINI TIPI is an Indigenous business created in 2016 by Melanie Bernard and Trish Pitura (members of Nipissing First Nation). This Canadian lifestyle brand blends authentic Indigenous storytelling with sustainable, high-quality textiles. Their products such as blankets and accessories are designed, cut and sewn locally in Quebec, reflecting their commitment to Indigenous culture.

MINI TIPI uses design to weave history into every thread without words. Their mission is to address the lack of authentic Indigenous-designed textiles and how they collaborate with artists through meaningful partnerships and royalty programs.

Stittsville Rotarians visited the MINI TIPI warehouse in Gatineau, Quebec on February 25, 2026 to see this business in action. www.minitipi.ca

Friendly Competition and a Good Time for a Good Cause.

Stittsville Rotary has organized a Trivia Night to benefit community service projects.

Stittsville Lions Hall at 1339 Stittsville Main, is the site of a fun, competitive event organized by Stittsville Rotary on

March 06, 2026, at 6:30pm. Rotarians, Friends of Rotary and volunteers look after the details of this Trivia Night including free popcorn and pizza.

Many of the 16 teams of 8 have been participating every year and they come to the event for bragging rights and a good time for a good cause. Three judges keep track through 10 rounds each with 10 trivia questions that are needed to declare a winner.

Rotarian Dave Rooke, lead organizer of the event, confirmed that currently there is room for 1 more team. He commended the generosity of businesses and individuals in the community who have donated more than 50 prizes for the event such as gift certificates, gift baskets, small appliances and tickets to the Stittsville Rotary TIFF Winter Film Series.

Proceeds fund the Rotary’s community service projects such as the Stittsville Food Bank, Richmond Food Bank, Chrysalis House and high school awards. www.stittsvillerotary.com

Rotarians’ Goal for 2026-2027 - Create A Lasting Impact

Rotarians are People of Action who work together to make a meaningful difference in their communities and around the world.

"What is Rotary?" The answer is a simple one: “We are people of action who take collective actions that lead to a sustainable difference - globally, locally, and personally”. 1.2M committed volunteers in 45,000 clubs in 120 countries world-wide channel their skills and expertise into actions that improve lives in communities near and far.

Sustainable Rotary projects in seven different areas of focus solve issues and address such basic needs as providing water and sanitation, protecting the environment, improving maternal & child health, supporting education and more.

For more information check www.rotary.org. and www.stittsvillerotary.com.

Soaring Circle Sponsors Sewing Lab at Algonquin College

The sewing lab sponsored by Soaring Circle for Indigenous students at Algonquin College officially opened on January 16, 2026.

Up to now, Soaring Circle has created 22 sewing labs in remote indigenous communities at the intermediate and high school level, reaching about 5,000 indigenous students and teachers. With the addition of the sewing lab at Algonquin College, the program can now be available to hundreds more.

The new lab is equipped with state-of-the-art Janome sewing machines, sergers and an embroidery machine. Soaring Circle is also providing the program with textiles, curriculum support, and mentorship from Indigenous creators and global brand experts. Indigenous students who have grown with a sewing lab in their community high school will be able to feel at home and to see that the doors to college and to careers in fashion are open to them. The red parka worn by the girl in the photo is an example of the beautiful parkas made in the sewing lab.

Rotary Club of Ottawa-Stittsville has strongly supported Soaring Circle's sewing labs, especially the successful program in Kitigan Zibi, Quebec.

www.soaringcircle.ca

800 volunteers in 3 cities are key to the success of Lionhearts’ support of vulnerable people

From January to June 2025, Lionhearts recovered food and household goods valued at $10.3M for re-distribution.

Lionhearts Inc is a charitable organization that facilitates the logistics required for businesses to safely and efficiently donate surplus food and household goods to front-line local agencies who support vulnerable people.

Travis Blackmore, founder of Lionhearts, was guest speaker at the January 6th Stittsville Rotary Club meeting. He described its development from 2014 when he first thought of reducing waste and supplying much-needed resources in a partnership with Costco in Kingston, ON. Lionhearts expanded to Ottawa in 2017 with a partnership with Cob Bakery and now also operates in London.

Its success can be measured in numbers: $10.3M of food and household goods were recovered from January to June in 2025. Food and goods from 50 businesses were shared with 177 frontline agencies with the help of 800 volunteers in 3 cities.

Travis gave credit to generous donors, grateful partners and many dedicated volunteers who make it possible to address challenges in food insecurity, nutrition and housing assistance and vocational support. www.lionhearts.ca

Having fun while “doing good” in the community

Stittsville Rotarians help in providing Christmas Food Hampers for needy families

The Running on Empties Fundraiser is an annual event that makes a significant contribution to the Sharing and Caring Exchange program, providing food hampers valued at $100 each for the needy during the holiday season. On December 20, 2025, Stittsville Rotarians collected empty bottles at the local Beer Store and donated proceeds directly to support the Christmas Exchange program which has been running since 1915. They would like to thank everyone who generously donated to this cause and offer best wishes in the new year. The club appreciates your support!

www.stittsvillerotary.com.