2018 Community Investments

The volunteers who run Therapy and Reading Assistance Pets (TARAPS) were formerly involved with the charity group Cariboo Hoofbeats Assisted Activity Program Society (CHAAPS), which was suddenly dissolved in March.

CHAAPS ran a program with therapy dogs and horses, which shut down and dispersed all of its resources to another charity once the horses grew too old to participate in the program. It was originally started with horses, which were used to help people suffering from brain injuries, as well as people with autism and physical disabilities.

Eventually, CHAAPS expanded to include dogs. But the dissolution of the program left many of the volunteers without the resources they needed to keep volunteering. Instead of giving up, however, a small group of former CHAAPS volunteers came together to create a new program...and Therapy and Reading Assistance Pets, or TARAPS, was born.

To help them get established, we paid for their first year of liability insurance coverage.

The above is a paraphrased excerpt of a new story by Quesnel-Cariboo Observer. Read the full story by clicking here.

Picture reproduced with the generous permission of Quesnel-Cariboo Observer

St John's Community Hall

Located at 465 Kinchant Street, the hall is used by multiple local community groups, free of charge - the soup kitchen, Gold Pan Grannies, Better At Home, and ourselves. So it was both disappointing and distressing to hear of not one but two break-ins resulting in loss and damage to equipment valued at over $4,000.

Community spirit kicked-in right away - remarkably, by the time we reviewed their application for assistance, funds had already been received to replace what had been lost and damaged! So, based on recommendations from Quesnel's RCMP, the hall's volunteers determined how best to beef up security and, with the assistance of $1,535 from us and $500 from Community Futures North Cariboo, they did just that.

In the absence of President Petrie Neave, President-Elect Simon Turner presented our cheque to Kay Honour, Nadine Kirby, and Dale Carlson at our Christmas meeting on 20th December.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Quesnel

An enforced relocation from the Little Big House on Vaughan Street to a new office at 468B Reid Street created quite the financial challenge but also presented us with the opportunity to help out a great community group.

Executive Director Lorene Pulles accepted our cheque for $3,300 from Past President Sandra Lewis and Vice President Bev Haluschak at our meeting of 27th September. We also applaud the contributions of Design Flooring, Benjamin Moore, Act Fast Moving, Quesnel Bakery, and Rona Quesnel employees.

Quesnel Ambassador Leadership Program

Quesnel established a community program for young women in 1956. This gave Quesnel youth a chance to learn communication skills and build confidence as they moved into their future. Through the years there have been many alterations, most recently "Miss Quesnel Teen Development Program", to reflect our changing lives. Their new philosophy, as Quesnel Ambassador Leadership Program, is to embrace all youth regardless of gender identity.

This dovetails very well with Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, or RYLA, so we jumped at the opportunity to support the latest evolution of this quality Program by way of a $500 donation.

Workshop Coordinator Rose Scott spoke at our lunchtime club meeting on September 13 and happily accepted our cheque from 2018-19 Club President Petrie Neave.

Lewis Drive Rink Renovation

From the article written in the Observer, 23rd May:

Colin and Edythe Ketchum love gardening.

Three years ago, they were helping to build a new greenhouse at the community garden on Lewis Drive. While trying to concentrate on the work at hand, their gazes continued to be drawn away by the state of the neighbouring outdoor skating rink.

They had volunteered at the rink’s last touch up, helping to repair and repaint it in 2007, but not a lot had been done in the meantime. The wood structure is rotten, dilapidated and dangerous to use, and the lighting is minimal, leaving the space unusable during winter evenings.

They agreed that something needed to be done.

(Read the full article by clicking here)

Although significant funding had been secured through City of Quesnel and Northern Development Initiative Trust, there were still various bills to pay so we were delighted to have the opportunity to look after the cost of interior vinyl boards (about $3,000) from part of our Super Bingo and Gaming Grant proceeds.

The Grand Opening on September 8th was straight out of the Ketchum playbook: simple, low-key, minimal talking...and kids playing on the new surface.

Better At Home

Better at Home supports seniors to age in place with dignity, stay socially connected and prevents social isolation, especially among seniors who are most vulnerable. The program recognizes that seniors are an important and growing part of communities and helps them with simple day-to-day tasks.

Under the Better at Home program, seniors have access to a range of non-medical home support services such as housekeeping, grocery shopping, home repair, friendly visiting, snow shovelling, yard work and transportation to appointments. Services are delivered through local non-profit organizations by volunteers and paid workers. Seniors are charged a fee for services on a sliding scale based on income.

Quesnel's Better At Home service is run through North Cariboo Aboriginal Family Program Society by the exceptional Brenda Gardiner, and celebrated 5 years of service on 8th May (read about it by clicking here). We decided to help celebrate with a donation of $2,000 from the proceeds of our 2018 Cariboo Festival of Beers, and Brenda took the cheque of our hands at our lunchtime meeting of June 21st.

Quesnel Youth Soccer Association

Way back in 2002, we donated $20,000 from our Radio-TV Auction to support their ambitious plans to build an Indoor Sports Facility. When the Facility opened in 2005, we helped QYSA purchase an electric golf cart to transport balls, nets, and maintenance equipment. Amazingly, that golf cart gave over 10 years of service, but all good things come to an end and QYSA needed a replacement.

We committed the proceeds of a Prize Draw connected with our 2018 Cariboo Festival of Beers along with up to $5000 from 2018 Diamond Calcutta and, at our lunchtime meeting, we handed over cheques for $1,145 and $5,000 to QYSA President Gilbert Schotel. Along with a grant from Quesnel Community Foundation and an award under the Red Cross Support for Small Business Program (relating to the 2017 wildfires), QYSA was able to buy a brand new utility vehicle through Make Traxx Recreation (who provided deep discounts of their own to help make the purchase a reality).

Pictured below is Gilbert accepting our donations from 2017-18 Club President Sandra Lewis. Click here for the cover story by Quesnel-Cariboo Observer.

Click on the pictures below to enlarge

Quesnel Curling Club

All kinds of upgrades are in the works for Quesnel Curling Centre in anticipation of the 2019 belairdirect BC Men’s Curling Championships, February 6 to 10 (the winner of which heads off to 2019 Tim Hortons Brier.

Although the games will take place in the West Fraser Centre, the Curling Centre wants to look its best, and the Club decided to put safety first by upgrading fire doors and exits.

By way of funds raised at our 2018 Diamond Calcutta, we were able to contribute $5,595 to the project and, at our lunchtime meeting on June 21st, Brent Hodgson accepted our donation on behalf of Quesnel Curling Club.

Friends of Hope Air

"Hope Air helps make Canada’s universal healthcare accessible by bridging the distance between home and hospital, patient and physician."

Many local residents have needed to use the support of Hope Air so it was an easy decision to designate our recent Fashion Show as a fundraiser for the Quesnel chapter...and that translated into a donation of $2,225 which we awarded at our lunchtime meeting of June 18th.

Accepting for the Friends was Jeanette Thurston and our own Lauren-Anne Roodenburg.

Quesnel Tillicum Society

Our local Tillicum Society is very active and hosts a number of events, including our Super Bingo evenings. Many of those event are outside, however, including the fast-upcoming National Indigenous Peoples' Day. Naturally, shelter is a desired component.

We helped them out with a contribution of $1,500 from an event of our own (Cariboo Festival of Beers), and Dina Unrau was on hand to accept at our lunchtime meeting of June 18th.

Rec Centre Paramill

Paramill? Think of a treadmill for wheelchairs, designed to maintain and develop essential strength and endurance for everyday life and rehabilitation.

The idea was presented to us by Lynn Dunkley and Alison Duddy on behalf of the City's Inclusion and Accessibility Committee, and what appealed to us was how the paramill would enhance the equal opportunities in our community for a healthy lifestyle. We contributed just over $2,000 to the purchase funded mainly by the City of Quesnel and Cariboo Regional District through the North Cariboo Recreation and Parks Service, and Northern Health (IMAGINE Community Grant).

Click here for a nice write-up by Quesnel-Cariboo Observer.

Front row: Alison Duddy and Lynn Dunkley.

Back row: Richard Gauthier (Rec Centre manager), Jeff Norburn (City of Quesnel), Sandy Meidlinger (Inclusion & Accessibility Committee), Petrie and Liz Neave (Rotary), and Ron Paull (Rotary and City of Quesnel Councillour)

BCSPCA, Quesnel Branch

Approximately ten years ago, no-Manager Colby O'Flynn had surgery that put her on crutches for a while. It was then that she realized how difficult it was to get in and out of the local BCSPCA office and buildings.

But since most of the donations they receive are specifically for animal care, rehabilitation, and adoption, finding the budget for the necessary work was a challenge until BCSPCA allocated $5,000 towards the project, followed by a similar grant from Quesnel Community Foundation and our own contribution of $1,600, presented to Colby at our lunchtime meeting of May 17th.

The "Before" pictures:

...and the "After" picture!

Click on the image below to enlarge

G2G "Positively You" self-esteem workshop

G2G (or Girl to Girl) is a once-a-year workshop run by a group of dedicated volunteers targeting Grade 7 girls as they prepare for the step up to high school...and this year we are delighted to call ourselves a co-sponsor by way of $750 which we presented today to Coordinator Joelene Berry on May 10th just ahead of the workshop.

If you’re not familiar with the program, click here to read Annie Gallant’s piece in the Observer from a couple of years ago.

Quesnel Festival of the Performing Arts - 2018 scholarship awards

Our club has been associated with Quesnel Festival of the Performing Arts for several years now. Following discussions with the board, we agreed our support should be channelled direct to those who can use it most: the performers!

With the assistance of the QFPA board, we were delighted to make awards totalling $2,000 - $500 per discipline - at their awards event of 6th May.

Pictured below, from left to right: Morgan Fraser (Vocal & Choral), Rachel McKinnon (Dance), Emily Jurek (Piano), 2017-18 Club President Sandra Lewis, Sydney Williams (Speech Arts) and Felicia Barry (Speech Arts).

Kersley Creek Salmon Habitat Restoration

Sometimes it's not money we contribute, but work. On 5th May, a crew of volunteers headed out to Kersley Dale Landing Road to plant 100 pine seedlings, the result of a larger donation by Rotary Club of White Rock in support of the recovery of the Cariboo from the 2017 wildfires.

The Restoration project coordinated by Baker Creek Enhancement Society will benefit salmon fry who are often lost during spring run-off, getting swept downstream due to a lack of quieter water or getting stranded on dry land when flooding recedes. Our seedlings will provide species diversity behind a long berm built to reduce the spread of flood water.

Take a look at the pictures in the "Kersley Tree Planting" album.

Back Country Horsemen of BC, North Cariboo Chapter

At our lunchtime meeting of May 3rd, Rob Lafrance of Back Country Horsemen of BC collected our donation of $2,240 towards the construction of an information kiosk at the trailhead of the Telegraph Trail off Blackwater Road.

Their project to clear and maintain that important piece of local history is wonderfully ambitious. This year alone, they plan to install 6 bridges along the Trail.

For more details of the Trail, take a look at the two files they submitted with the funding request: the "Statement of Significance" and "Report, 30th October 2017"

Click on the map to enlarge

Quesnel Food Bank

Not all the money we donate is raised through our events - club members also contribute to "Happy Bucks" when making personal announcements at our lunchtime meetings.

At our lunchtime meeting on May 3rd, President Sandra presented fellow Rotarian and local Salvation Army Major Randy Gatza with $1,000 from our "Happy Bucks" for their Food Bank, whose support of those in need is year-round...

Correlieu School athletics throwing cage

Not only for the benefit of our local athletes, but also to provide a facility eligible to hold provincial-level meets, investing in a proper throwing cage made too much sense for us not to get involved.

But don't take our word for it - click here for the Observer article summarizing the opportunity.

Rob McGregor collected our $1,500 contribution at our lunchtime meeting of May 3rd.

Wildfire Recovery

Our first community donation of the year is a carryover from the worst wildfire season in Cariboo history, last year.

As you will see from the letter below, the response from our District was swift, coordinating the generosity of Rotarians and non-Rotarians alike who wanted to help. That help manifested itself into a fund of over $66,000 and, on 8th March, District Governor Don Evans presented our club with a cheque from the Rotary BC Wildfire Relief Fund for $16,674.25 to be invested in local projects related to wildfire recovery.

In turn, we were immediately able to provide Quesnel Amateur Radio Club with $8,600 for their members to proceed with their Two Sisters East VHF Repeater Project which will help keep the Wells-Bowron-Barkerville area connected in the event of a disaster.

Bob Leclerc and Bob Holowenko were happy to accept our cheque from DG Don, left, and 2017-18 Club President Sandra Lewis. Thanks to funds received from the Red Cross, they were able to complete the project well ahead of the 2019 wildfire season (click here or on the related Photo Album to see the pictures).

Update: we also invested in the Emergency Response Trailer project of Pet Safe Coalition which completed in the Fall of 2020. Click here and then scroll to "2017 Wildfire Recovery Fund" to see details.

(Click on the images to enlarge)