Stories
The Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown contributed 15 hampers to Centretown United Church. The hampers contained gifts and grocery gift cards for 15 low-income families in the community. We have put a smile on the faces of 33 people for Christmas. In December 2022, we also delivered cheques to the Centretown Emergency Food Centre, Hospice Ottawa, Daybreak Ottawa and St. Mary´s School. We also covered the whole shifts for the Salvation Army campaign last Saturday at Billings Bridge Mall. The previous week we delivered a $6,000 cheque to the Rotary Home, funds raised by the Car Rally in the fall. |
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Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown Car RallyOn September 25th, 2022, our Car Rally took place. The Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown partnered with the Ottawa Home Foundation to raise funds and have fun in a nice event that allowed participants to enjoy the Ottawa landscape while performing tasks with family and friends. This year the path took participants to visit great places along the Rideau Canal. At Merrickville, participants were able to enjoy the beautiful town while learning about its historic background. The Rally started at the Ottawa Rotary Home and ended at the same place, where participants and organisers enjoyed drinks and snacks while sharing its adventures during the Rally. Special thanks to our sponsors: Carp Self Storage, Morris Home Hardware, Ampos Orthopaedics and Pilypaitis Nobbs Wealth Management Group. We also thank our generous donors: L.A. and Bill Palamar, Manotick Place Retirement and Miller Apartments, Baldachin Restaurant and Inn, Rocco Disipio, Production Case Company, Bushtukah, Charles Mossman, Benjamin Butmir and Scott Vetter. Thank participants and volunteers! |
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Centertown Emergency Food CentreDuring the year 2021, the Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown provided support and donations to the Centretown Emergency Food Centre in Ottawa. In May 2022, we had the official presentation of the cheque that corresponded to our 2021 donation. In the picture, Louis Karangura-Community Service Director, Kenneth Sparks - Club President, Stewart Hewlett - Honorary member, and Iris Bradly - Club member, presented the cheque to Diana Mahaffy -Centertown Emergency Food Centre Manager.
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StoryBook OttawaThe Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown partnered with StoryBook Ottawa on a literacy project. We donated one book to each student of the Cambridge Public School in Ottawa. In the picture, Louis Karangura -Community Service Director- and Ken Sparks - Club President- presented the books to the kindergarden class.
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Fundraising eventIn the summer of 2021, the Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown collected gently used clothes and house items from our friends and neighbours. We received overwhelming support from generous donors. We partnered with Value Village to receive those items. Dymon Storage - Ottawa gave us space to store the items. Special thanks to them!On June 26th, Rotary Club members from our club with the help of our partners, took the load of items to Value Village. In the last picture, Bob Garret Principal of Immaculata High School, receives a cheque from the activity proceeds from our Club president, Ken Sparks.
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Online Auction |
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ROTARY CLUB OF OTTAWA BYTOWN SUPPORTS PROJECT CHANCE AFRICA
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Meeting June 5, 2018Guests: Robert Garrow (Guest speaker) Henry Beesley (Rotarian visiting from BC) Announcements: - Food drive will take place on June 24th at Loblaws on Isabella. Volunteers are needed - There will be a BBQ in Almonte on June 25th, for the Real Estate Event. Volunteers are needed to cook and prepare hamburgers and hot dogs. - Our Changeover event will take place on June 30th at Iris House. Iris, Li and L.A. will be in charge of the menu preparation. We are asking each attendee to contribute with $25 for the purchase of food. Please, bring your own drinks. Guest Speaker: Bob Garrow Bob Garrow has been a member of Kiwanis Club for 26 years and he is a past member of Rotary Clubs. He has a lifetime history of participation in service clubs. He came to our club to talk to us about opportunities in memberships and how he has seen the evolution of the clubs' memberships through the years to accommodate new generations. As he mentioned, service clubs are based on large club models and this currently is a challenge because membership numbers keep shrinking. Club projects require large number of contributors and lots of energy which is often a concern as club members are aging and it is difficult to recruit new young members. Millennials could be the future of service clubs, but it is evident that this new generation is moved by a cause rather than by a life time commitment. Service Clubs need to adapt and understand the needs and motivation of the new generation. When millennials join a service club, they need to be involved immediately in projects and committees. This new generations is committed to a cause and often connects through the internet. They are also looking for opportunities to network. As service clubs, we should be open to new approaches in order to preserve the future of our clubs. Our website home page has been updated. CLICK HERE TO VISIT. |
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Reading Program at Cambridge SchoolCAMBRIDGE SCHOOL, Rotarians Stewart Hewlett and Derek Fortune have participated as volunteers for several years in the Reading Program hosted by the Ottawa Bytown Rotary Club at Cambridge School. Our Club donates Dictionaries to small children as a component of this program. For their dedication to the program and their commitment, Stew and Derek were nominated as Volunteers of the Year. In the picture, Ruth Verger-Stewart from Cambridge School join Stew and Derek. |
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Daffodil CampaignEvery year, the Ottawa Bytown Rotary Club donates a full-day of volunteers to raise funds for the Daffodil Campaign in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. Our members participate at a designated location receiving donations from the community. During the month of April, the Canadian Cancer Society raise vital funds to support people living with cancer and their families. Our Club has a presence on this campaign. On April 22, 2017, we were present at the Loblaws Store located at the corner of Vanier and McCarthur.
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Meeting April 4, 2017Guests: Chris Kelly, Causeway Kerry Kaisar, Centretown Emergency Food Centre Daphne McClemet, Centretown Emergency Food Centre Tom Wilkinson, Charlottetown Rotary Club
After enjoying breakfast, we visited the Food Centre and inspected the new dishwasher which was funded, in part, by a District Simplified Grant and in part by our club. Kerry Kaisar said that they are extremely happy with the dishwasher and she is grateful to our club for making it possible. Thank you to Stu who helped Kerry pick out the dishwasher and who supervised and monitored the installation. A well functioning dishwasher is essential to the Food Bank since they use old yogurt containers to package food and they must ensure that the containers are sanitized properly. Kerry took us on a tour of the Food Centre and explained generally how customers are served. She mentioned that they are accepting donations of books (since many clients enjoy reading). They also appreciate receiving used plastic bags for their clients to put the food into. |
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Meeting April 11, 2017
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Meeting February 21st, 2017Guests:
Tom Wilkinson
Tim Desjardins
Announcements:
Mike: March
Wendy: April
L.A.: May
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Meeting December 6th 2016Guests:
Suan Cross- West Ottawa Rotary Club
Announcements:
- Stu will deliver cheques for St. Mary's Home, Centretown Food Centre, Hospice Care of Ottawa and Daybreak. These are donations of $750 to each organizations from our Club.
- December 17th, our club members will volunteer for Running on Empties at the Beer Store located on Merivale Road and Meadowlands.
- Chris and Wendy will attend the District Simplified Grant Seminar in Cornwall.
- Our Food Drive event will be held on January 28th. We will confirm the date for volunteers
- On January 31st, our DG will visit our Club meeting. During this meeting, we will also have the Master Raffle.
- Our next Board Of Directors meeting will be on Monday January 30th at the Home Hardware Store
Guest Speaker: Suan Cross
Suan came to our Club to update us on her projects in the slums of Nairobi, Mathare, Kenya. Suan started going to Nairobi in 1989. After many years of hard work, she now has a primary school for 410 children and a medical clinic that services 1000 patients a month. Our Club supporst Suan food project for the children who attend the school.
Suan has been able to partner with other organizations such as a private hospital and other non-government organizations to be able to provide medical service, drugstore, nursing care and food to the community. The clinic is open to the whole community. The food element is very important because this is a way to keep children at school.
We thanked Suan for the update and we hope to continue supporting her projects.
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Meeting October 11, 2016Guests:
Bea Osome
Jeffrey Fine
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- President Li reminded all members to submit receipts for expenses related to the Rummage Sale.
- Next week meeting, October 18th is cancelled. Our next meeting will be on October 25th, where we will have a speaker - GAry Powers- to talk about the Cold War Museum
- Charter Night will be on October 25th at the Canal Ritz Restaurant
- District Conference will be on October 28th and 29th
- Wendy submitted to the Club the request of supporting a project for a school in Mexico as recommended by past Distric Governour Claude La Liberte. Wendy will provide more details.
GUEST SPEAKER:
Jeffrey Fine an international trade, finance and economic advisor for governments across the globe. He has worked with NGO's, governments and educational organizations, and the private sector in the field of Internalization of Education. The fact that people nowadays have longer productive lives often present the challenge of multi- generational presence in the work place and in the field of education. These reality poses the need to understand the needs of different members. The diversity of cultures, the digital information and the multi-generational presence in the work place is something that we must face by seeking cooperation among all members.
We should stand and think how we make sense of this trend of information. Universities and educators face the challenge of preparing individuals for the future. The educational system has been transformed to be able to integrate all these new trends. The skills that people need today are different from what they needed in the past. People need to develop critical thinking rather than acquiring knowledge about facts that may become outdated in a short period of time. There is also a need to develop cross-cultural competency and trans-disciplinary thinking in order to prepare people for evolving professions.
We thanked Jeffrey for sharing his knowledge and experience with our Club members.
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Meeting October 4th, 2016Guest: Christopher Kory, Causeway Work Centre
Announcements: - Chris Kraft spoke to us about the huge amount of work that he and others did over the past weekend in cleaning out the storage lockers where the items for the rummage sale were stored. There were six large lockers in total. Chris described the quantity of goods as "phenomenal". Items were given to Causeway Work Centre since they plan to hold a sale. As well, more items were given to the Centretown United Church for their sale in May. Many thanks to Chris and the others who worked so hard at the lockers on the weekend. - Christopher Kory attended the meeting and explained to us about Causeway Work Centre which is in the Hintonburg neighbourhood of Ottawa. Causeway started as an employment agency for youth with mental illness. However, it has branched out and now runs various types of programs. Christopher Kory runs their nutrition and wellness program. They have a catering business, a landscaping business and an entrepreneur program. These programs bring in funds and also provide training to their clients. - Charter Night will be on October 25, 2016 at the Ritz Canal Restaurant. If you have not already signed up, please be sure to do so if you are available to attend. - our regular meeting will go ahead on October 25, 2016 (the day of Charter night) since we had already arranged for a speaker from the United States to speak to us about a Cold War Museum. Instead, the meeting of October 18, 2016 will be cancelled. - October 28 - 29 - the District Conference will be taking place in Ottawa. The Youth Exchange will be presenting a murder mystery for the Conference and they are looking for volunteer actors. - Saturday, December 17 - Running on Empties will be held at the Beer Store on Merrivale Ave. again this year. A sign up sheet will be circulated. - Monday, November 7 - the Board Meeting will take place in the room above Mike's store. Speaker - Terry showed us his photos from his recent trip to Australia. Terry is a wonderful photographer and his descriptions of the trip were very interesting. Thank you, Terry. |
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Meeting August 23, 2016
Food Drive
The Rotary Club of Ottawa-Bytown Holds Another Successful Food DriveOn Saturday, July 9, 2016, our club held another successful food drive at the Loblaws Store on Isabella Avenue. The food drive was in support of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. We raised over $2,000 in food items and cash donations on July 9th. This was the fourth food drive that we have held in 2016 and 2015 at the Loblaws Store. In all, we have raised approximately $8,100 in cash and food items on behalf of the Food Centre.The Food Centre provides a vital service to the community of Centretown. In recent years, the Food Centre has seen a significant increase in the number of residents of the community who are in need. In particular, immigrants and new Canadians with large families have put increased demands on the Food Centre. In 2015, the Centre served 9760 clients, 529 more than in 2014, and sadly, the need continues to grow. The Rotary Club of Ottawa-Bytown is proud that we are making a contribution in support of the Centre.
The Rotary Club of Ottawa-Bytown Holds Another Successful Food Drive
The Rotary Club of Ottawa-Bytown Holds Another Successful Food DriveOn Saturday, July 9, 2016, our club held another successful food drive at the Loblaws Store on Isabella Avenue.The food drive was in support of the Centretown Emergency Food Centre. We raised over $2,000 in food items and cash donations on July 9th. This was the fourth food drive that we have held in 2016 and 2015 at the Loblaws Store. In all, we have raised approximately $8,100 in cash and food items on behalf of the Food Centre.The Food Centre provides a vital service to the community of Centretown. In recent years, the Food Centre has seen a significant increase in the number of residents of the community who are in need. In particular, immigrants and new Canadians with large families have put increased demands on the Food Centre. In 2015, the Centre served 9760 clients, 529 more than in 2014, and sadly, the need continues to grow. The Rotary Club of Ottawa-Bytown is proud that we are making a contribution in support of the Centre.
RUMMAGE SALE
Rummage Sale Partnership Opportunith
Youth Program
Meeting May 17, 2016
Meeting April 19th, 2016
Meetting January 12, 2016
Guest: Tom Wilkinson, Charlottetown Rotary Club
- We circulated the schedule for the food drive at Loblaws on Isabella Street on Saturday, January 23, 2016.
- Chris mentioned that the South Ottawa Club raised $2,000 at the Scottish Night.
- Wendy raised the subject of whether we should continue to fund the teacher’s salary at the school in Kenya. We normally send the money at this time of year. Unfortunately, salaries are not eligible projects for a Simplified District Grant. Suan Cross has mentioned that payment of salaries is critical to the success of the school. Many of the teachers in Kenya are poorly trained. Payment of salaries is critical to keeping the good teachers. However, Suan mentioned that if our Club wants to apply for a grant, we could instead fund a breakfrast program in the school. Lunch is currently provided to the children but they do not receive breakfast. Mike has very generously offered to fund $800 so that we can continue to pay the salary plus apply for a grant.
- Tom Wilkinson gave a presentation on a proposal that we fund a project to provide solar heating of water in an orphanage in North Korea. Our club committed to fund $500 annually for three years to a fishing project in North Korea. However, Rotary has cancelled that project since the Government of North Korea had asked that the project be moved to another community and would not allow Rotary’s representative to visit the new site. Tom has now asked if our Club would be willing to redirect our commitment of $500 annually for three years to another project.
The Mirim School Solar Water and Hygiene Project involves providing 550 children who live in an orphanage with heated water and soap and education about hygiene. Soap is a precious commodity in North Korea and the current standard of cleanliness in the school is very low since there is no hot water. Water is currently heated with wood which creates soot.
The project involves an overall commitment on the part of Rotary of $29,000. Many other Rotary Clubs are participating in the project.
A key concern on the part of some of us is whether we should be involved in a project in North Korea, given the notorious nature of the government in that country. Tom spoke eloquently on this subject. He said that Rotarians have an obligation to go to places where Rotary is not present to promote world peace and understanding. There has never been a peace treaty between North and South Korea and the potential for conflict there is great. Rotary’s role is to help promote peace. A Rotarian Peace Fellowship Group will go to North Korea following the next International Conference which will be in Seoul. Rotary has successfully participated in many projects in North Korea.
The next Board meeting will be on January 31, 2016. This item will be on the agenda for discussion.
Meeting December 22nd, 2015
Guests:
- Jamie Fraser
- Regina Kraft
- Tom Wilkinson
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Stu read out a text from Ernie who is recuperating from knee surgery.
- Running on Empties went well on Saturday, December 19 - our spot was indoors so the cold was not a problem this year. We collected approximately $560 (not counting cash donations). Overall, $13,000 was collected in the City. The money goes for food hampers at the Christmas Exchange. Many thanks to Terry for organizing Running on Empties and the Salvation Army Kettle.
- Chris reported that sales of the Masters Raffle tickets are going well.
- Next week’s meeting is cancelled. We will start again on January 5th. A student from the Youth Exchange (Ottawa Club) will attend the meeting.
- The next food drive will be on January 23 at the Loblaws on Isabella Street. Wendy will circulate a sign up sheet for those who are able to volunteer.
- As regards the district simplified grants, Terry mentioned that he called the Centretown Emergency Food Centre and another organization to see if they have anything on their wish lists. Their needs are mainly capital assets such as dish washers and large appliances.
- Chris announced that we are going to replace the weekly draws for a free breakfast with a 50/50 draw. The winner will pull a card to win the pot of money. The deck of cards will get smaller each week and the pot will keep growing.
- We ended with our annual Christmas carol sing along accompanied by Jamie. Ernie listened in to the carol sing by phone.
- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Meeting November 17, 2015
- Fay circulated a thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the silent auction at the District Conference in Watertown, New York. Our club donated a hot plate which was a popular item. Fay did a great job in organizing a very successful auction.
- The South Ottawa Club is holding a Whiskey and Malt event on Friday, November 20, 2015.
- Chris reported that a meeting of President’s Council was held on November 16, 2015. They are looking for a representative from each Club to work on a joint committee to mark the upcoming celebration of Rotary’s presence in Ottawa for 100 years.
- The next District Conference will be in Ottawa.
- At the President’s Council meeting, each President was asked to report on the activities in their club. They also reported on the size of membership in their clubs. Our Club has 17 members. West Ottawa has the largest membership at 98 members. Other Clubs are smaller than ours (South Nepean with 10, Stittsville with 15, Kanata Sunrise with 9 and Hull with 10). Orleans has 22 members and Ottawa South has 30 members.
- The Orleans Club will be holding an Anniversary Dinner on January 21, 2016. The cost will be $65.
- Chris circulated tickets for the draw for an international dinner to be cooked by the Youth Exchange students. Tickets are $5.00 each.
- The calendars are in at the West Ottawa Club.
- We had a discussion about possible new strategies to sell the Masters 2016 Golf Raffle tickets. Chris asked if we could join with any of the organizations which our Club supports to see if they may be interested in selling tickets. If they do sell any tickets, they will receive half of the proceeds ($50). Wendy is going to contact Allison Dingle, Chair, Management Committee, at the Centretown Emergency Food Centre to see if she knows of any organizations which may be interested in selling tickets.
We did not have a speaker or any guests.
Meeting November 2nd, 2015
Minutes - Meeting September 29, 2015
2013 Ottawa Bytown Rotary Club-OCL Golf Tournament a great success
OTTAWA BYTOWN ROTARY/OTTAWA CARLETON LIFESKILLS TOURNAMENT
On June 10th 2013 of this year we had over 90 golfers to attend The Rotary Club of Ottawa Bytown-Ottawa Carleton Lifeskills golf tournament at the Equinelle Golf Club in Kemptville. This warm and sunny day proved to be an excellent outing for our golfers and volunteers. This was a very successful year bringing out volunteers and golfers from the Ottawa Bytown Rotary Club.
Our roast beef supper was catered and the staff at Equinelle assisted greatly in our success. The Ottawa Rotary Golf Tournament Trophy was won by the Bytown Club represented by Chuck Merovitz (member), Richard Whetstone, Rodger Noble and Scott Malvern.
I am please to announce that the funds raised this year by Ottawa Bytown will allow us to continue our contribution towards our Community support programs. The funds raised this year will be allocated to St Marys Home, Daybreak, The Youville Centre, The Hospice at the Maycourt Centre,The Christmas Exchange and the Emergency Food Court the Ottawa Mission.
I would like to personally thanks all involved and the many sponsor’s that help contribute towards our success.
Thanks again
Terry Egan
Ottawa Bytown Rotary
Club Runner App for Iphone etc.
Ottawa Bytown Rotary Members are now able to access the Ottawa Bytown Club Member Directory from their Iphone. The details on how to set it up follow. Please note that you use your usual sign in name and password to activate this feature.
http://web.clubrunner.ca/Mobile