The book sale is now on with thousands of fiction, non-fiction and children's books available! If you haven't signed up for a volunteer shift yet, reach out to Bob, Janeane or Leigh for information. Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help with the set up including youth volunteers from Katimavik and Growing Opportunities, and Sabrina (Growing Opportunities farm manager), Jen Cody and Craig Evans (Growing Opportunities board members) whose help made a big impact! Click here to see a few photos from the setup on March 31.
Canada will honor its millions of volunteers this year with the theme “Volunteering is Empathy in Action.” Focused on how volunteers “bring heart to healthier individuals and stronger communities,” this theme resonates with our club’s volunteer efforts in our community.
Every member of our club joins in our efforts to build a better community with “empathy in action.”
We happily sort donated used books all year long and work many shifts at two ten-day sales every year… knowing our hard work will deliver much-needed empathy through the funds we can provide to many organizations in our region. Our spirit of volunteerism is a major reason why members want to be a part of our club.
We’re planting and harvesting vegetables and setting up walk-in coolers at the Cline Farm for Food Share. We’re building vendor carts to help disadvantaged women become self-sustaining businesswomen for the Society for Equity, Inclusion and Advocacy.
We’re building mini book libraries for Literacy Central Vancouver Island, allowing more community access to reading materials. All just a few of the many projects we embrace with the joy of volunteering.
As agents of empathy in action, our volunteer efforts spread joy through our community. Celebrate the work we do during volunteer week. Know that your volunteer time is honored and valued.
Our Second Annual Virtual Journey starts April 15 and ends the first day of the Rotary International Convention - June 4!
Join us and walk, run, bike, kayak, swim or any other exercise as part of our Virtual Journey team in support of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. We will make our way virtually from Nanaimo to Windsor, Ontario (2022/2023 RI President-Elect Jennifer Jones’ hometown) and then on to Houston, the location of this year’s RI Convention. Our combined miles logged doing your activities of choice gets us further along our journey to Houston!
Last year we raised $5,108 for Rotary International and had over 80 participants. We travelled across Canada and logged 36,346 km in 3 months! This year we are one big team and aim to travel 7,462 km in 51 days. We hope to not only beat the fundraising goal of last year, but also the number of participants.
Please contact Joyce Smith for more information on how to sign up or support the team.
Welcome to our newest club members, Coralee Katzberg, Chuling Chao, James Chao, Cindy Shantz, David Witty and Janice Furevick who were all officially inducted in March! We look forward to getting to know them all better and are delighted they chose to join Rotary to give back to their community through service.
Tracy Makarenko, Coralee Katzberg, Chuling Chao, James Chao, Dawn Hankins
John Hankins, Cindy Shantz, David Witty, Janice Furevick, Dawn Hankins
Coralee Katzberg is one of our newest members, having joined in late March. Coralee shared that she and her family have lived in Nanaimo for 16 years and have often noticed the signs and banners that highlight the community support from the Rotary clubs in Nanaimo. Her children were actively involved with the Nanaimo Track and Field Club for several years and they have many fond memories and photos with the Rotary sign at the track. Now that her children are older, Coralee has more free time to give back to the community that has been such a support to her family. "I look forward to getting involved in the various projects that Rotary supports," said Coralee.
The Rotary Club of Nanaimo along with local and international partners is funding the renovation of a dilapidated kindergarten block at the Nsoatre Primary School to provide a safe, secure learning environment for the teachers and young students. Nsoatre Roman Catholic Primary and Junior High School is a publicly funded school located in the town of Nsoatre (population approx. 28,000), in the Bono region, northwest of the city of Sunyani, Ghana, West Africa.
The project is focussing on the installation of sinks and ten micro flush toilets, the building of a fence around the kindergarten block, provision of educational equipment and supplies, and training/professional development for the teachers to help address recruitment and retention of teachers and students and improve learning outcomes for kindergarten-aged children.
Click here to learn more about the project as well as view photos, including of progress of the renovations.
Kids International Development Society
Feeding Dreams Cambodia is a grassroots community school offering free and sustainable education programs for poor children and young adults in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Feeding Dreams educates students from kindergarten to advanced levels in English literacy, math, computer skills, environmental studies and more including vocational training. During COVID-19, the computer lab that Kids International Development Society (KIDS) funded many years ago, lost all its computers as they were destroyed by ants, during the shutdown. The Rotary Club of Nanaimo donated $4,620 through KIDS to provide new computers.
Our club donated $500 towards Everybody Deserves A Smile (EDAS) project. With these funds, students from kindergarten to grade 7 made 615 homemade, hand-decorated care packages filled with cards, cookies, warm clothing and toiletries for people living on the streets. They recently sent this card of thanks. Learn more about EDAS Nanaimo here.
CNOY
This past February, club members participated in the Coldest Night of the Year Walk and raised $4,635 for the Island Crisis Care Society. The organizers sent a lovely card of thanks to all who participated and donated in support of those in our community who need our help. Learn more about CNOY here.
A whole bunch of us learned to LINE DANCE! Perhaps not really well, but boy did we have a good time. On March 18, 2022, twenty-seven fellow Rotarians, friends and family joined in for a night of line dancing. Wendie Harrington did a wonderful job at teaching us a dozen dances over the two-hour period.
It wasn’t just about dancing, for many this was the first social event they had attended since the Covid restrictions were first put in place. Click here to view some photos and here to see a few videos (note: the social activity playlist on our club's YouTube channel is unlisted so can only be accessed via the link in this story)
With the book sale and Easter running the first three Fridays in April, we’ve planned the next social outing for May 20. Pencil May 20 from 4:30 - 6 p.m. at the Grand Hotel into your calendar and join us for some fellowship and a cocktail or two!
The social committee is working hard to host events that encourage everyone to join together. Hope to see you soon!
The Earth Day 2022 theme is Invest In Our Planet. Whether you invest time, skills or funds, all actions in support of a healthier planet make a difference and are needed now more than ever. The Rotary Clubs of Nanaimo and Lantzville are organizing an activity on April 23 in honour of Earth Day so if you are ready to roll up your sleeves, join us as we clean up our community! See the next story for more information.
As Rotarians, investing in our planet became that much easier when, in 2020, Protecting the Environment became Rotary International's newest area of focus. Rotary members can direct donations to this area and apply for global grant funding to address the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. Rotary supports activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment.
Learn more about Rotary's environmental area of focus here. To learn more about Earth Day, visitearthday.org.
Together, the five clubs in Nanaimo and Lantzville work to promote Rotary in our community through collaboration and partnerships. Visit Rotary in Nanaimo & Lantzville online for links to the member clubs and an events calendar here. Below are upcoming Rotary activities happening locally that members, and their families and friends, are welcome to participate in.
Rotary Environmental Day of Service - April 23
Join us on Saturday, April 23 to clean up an area in Nanaimo in recognition of Earth Day! We'll be picking up garbage to help keep our environment clean of refuse and contaminants.
The location will be announced closer to the event date. For more information, visit www.rotaryinnanaimo.com. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Carey McIver who is our club's team captain for this event.
March Nanaimo News Bulletin Promotion
The second five club promotion of 2022 was published in mid-March in the Nanaimo News Bulletin. Click here to view the insertion in the e-edition online (page 6).
Thank you to Rotary Club of Nanaimo members Bob Janes (Island Office Equipment), Wahid Ali (iA Private Wealth), Dave Hammond (and Greg Bullock, Remax of Nanaimo) and Wayne Anderson (Foresight Constructors) for sponsoring the six-month promotional series! The generosity of all the sponsors enables the Area 4 clubs to raise awareness and understanding about Rotary locally and internationally in our local newspaper.
Join your fellow Rotarians May 13-14 at the 2022 District Conference & Learning in Victoria. Attendees will enjoy Inspiration House (formerly Fellowship House), general sessions, inspiration sessions, a no-host reception, a BBQ dinner, Polio Walk, and of course, meeting new friends!
There are a number of ways to keep up to date with all the happenings within our Rotary Club. Click on the following links to view photo albums, read about some of our latest projects and to connect socially through Facebook and Instagram! And remember that ClubRunner is also a great resource for members to view a wide variety of club information.
If you have Rotary Club news, photos or videos to share, please email the details to Rebecca Taylor and Denise Wittkofski so they can share through our multiple online channels.
Thank you to our Cogs team! Content editor & contributor Rebecca Taylor and contributors Roy Bennett, Dawn Hankins, Samantha Letourneau and Denise Wittkofski. Have a story idea? Please email Rebecca as we're always looking for content for the monthly newsletter.
self-sustaining businesswomen for the Society for Equity, Inclusion and Advocacy. 
Join us and walk, run, bike, kayak, swim or any other exercise as part of our Virtual Journey team in support of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. 
We hope to not only beat the fundraising goal of last year, but also the number of participants. 
The Rotary Club of Nanaimo along with local and international partners is funding the renovation of a dilapidated kindergarten block at the Nsoatre Primary School to provide a safe, secure learning environment for the teachers and young students. Nsoatre Roman Catholic Primary and Junior High School is a publicly funded school located in the town of Nsoatre (population approx. 28,000), in the Bono region, northwest of the city of Sunyani, Ghana, West Africa. 
Our club donated $500 towards Everybody Deserves A Smile (EDAS) project. With these funds, students from kindergarten to grade 7 made 615 homemade, hand-decorated care packages filled with cards, cookies, warm clothing and toiletries for people living on the streets. They recently sent this card of thanks. Learn more about EDAS Nanaimo 
This past February, club members participated in the Coldest Night of the Year Walk and raised $4,635 for the 
A whole bunch of us learned to LINE DANCE! Perhaps not really well, but boy did we have a good time. On March 18, 2022, twenty-seven fellow Rotarians, friends and family joined in for a night of line dancing. Wendie Harrington did a wonderful job at teaching us a dozen dances over the two-hour period. 
With the book sale and Easter running the first three Fridays in April, we’ve planned the next social outing for May 20. Pencil May 20 from 4:30 - 6 p.m. at the Grand Hotel into your calendar and join us for some fellowship and a cocktail or two!
Earth Day is coming up April 22!
As Rotarians, investing in our planet became that much easier when, in 2020, Protecting the Environment became Rotary International's newest area of focus. Rotary members can direct donations to this area and apply for global grant funding to address the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. Rotary supports activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment.
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