History of Markham Sunrise
The Markham Sunrise Rotary Club was formed in 1997 to provide service to the Markham community. The Markham Sunrise Rotary Club is one of twenty-five thousands clubs throughout the world with over one million members, both women and men, striving to help people in need, trying to improve health where disease is rampant, where poverty exists, and providing cultural and educational exchanges to further the ideal of World Peace and Understanding. There are 55 Rotary Clubs in our District.
We are strong supporters of our Markham-Stouffville Hospital and local organizations that help the elderly, the infirm, the functionally disabled, and the families and youth of our community.
We strive to make "community" an important part of Markham's social fabric by the organization of local events such as the Markham Santa Claus Parade and Markham Rotary Ribfest.
We are part of Rotary District 7070 - for information on the district and events, see https://rotary7070.org/
We are part of Rotary District 7070 - for information on the district and events, see https://rotary7070.org/
In co-operation with other Rotary Clubs worldwide, we regularly assist third world countries by providing much needed services, the most prominent being the PolioPlus Program that, since 1985, has had as its goal the global eradication of Polio.
In recent years we have focused on supporting Youth in Markham through organizations and schools who show great initiative by going outside the box. This included funding for the Milliken T.E.A.M. Program and specifically for the Milliken Mills High School Organic Vegetable and Community Butterfly Garden.
We have also funded the Living Room project for Evergreen Hospice which is a non-profit agency providing supportive care to people of all ages in Markham and surrounding area who are dealing with a life threatening illness or bereavement care for family and friends.360 Kids was our focus for 2017. We have raised funds through a bootcamp at one of our Rotarians' gym, and used the donations we received at the 2017 Ribfest toward the 360 Kids Mill Street Project.
In 2018, our charity of choice was the Markham Stouffville Hospital, in support of their Dr. Bear Program. The Dr. Bear Program is a surgical pre-admission program, to provide psychological preparation and support to reduce the stress associated with hospitalization and surgery for children.
In April 2020 in the early days of Covid, in partnership with Canadians Care Collective, we raised almost $100,000 to deliver meals to hospitals and long term care facilities while supporting local restaurants struggling with the lockdown.
In 2022, we again partnered with Canadians Care Collective in response to the horrific war in Ukraine. As part of the "Fill A Plane For Ukraine" initiative, we raised over $110,000 in cash and over $2.6 million of in-kind donations to deliver much-needed medical supplies for hospitals in Ukraine.
We are continuously looking to make a difference locally and globally and always looking for new members, volunteers and new ideas.
We need your skill, talent, passion and expertise to help us develop and accomplish projects that make a difference to your community."
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