2015
2015 Community Investments
Attendees of this year's Diamond Calcutta were aware of our designation of money raised that night to "Better At Home", a service coordinated by Brenda Gardiner (a Diamond Calcutta attendee herself....in a fabulous red dress, no less!) which supports the desire of Quesnel seniors to stay in their homes - everything from shopping, gardening, providing rides, snow removal, house-keeping...if there's a need, Brenda tracks down a volunteer or two and makes it happen.
Generous to a fault, Brenda says the credit is all with the volunteers.
Well, we agreed with the value of the service (several Rotarians are Better At Home volunteers) and the value of Brenda herself as a community asset so, at our 18th June meeting, we awarded Better At Home with $5,000 and then made her speechless with presenting her with a Paul Harris Fellowship for her tireless work and dedication.
Our club has frequently assisted Quesnel Food Bank with donations. Like many, however, we sometimes forget the need is not just at Christmas but throughout the year.
So we were really happy to be able to make a $3,500 contribution to their work at our meeting of 18th June, funds raised from our various bingo, raffle, and 50/50 activities over the past year - truly a community donation to a highly-valued community group.
Pretty much any and all events of consequence take place at the Quesnel Seniors Community Centre. When we were making arrangements for hosting the 2015 Cariboo Craft Beer Festival, we noticed how their printer was...well...let's say past its prime and suggested maybe we could do something about that. In pretty short order, we were going in 50/50 on a brand new printer, of which they took delivery just days after the old one expired.
But the printer was actually not a project they had been considering. What was really on their agenda was an ice making machine....so they asked again...and we said yes to another 50/50 investment.
President Rae Daggitt was not available, but 1st Vice-President Helene Boudreau was only too happy to have lunch with us on 18th June and collect both cheques. We acknowledge the assistance of the province of British Columbia with both investments.
Ice maker... Printer-copier...
As you drive into Quesnel from the south, it's hard not to notice Rotary Ball Park in the corner of Lebourdais Park. Quesnel Minor Baseball felt it was time to give the facility a face-lift...and with the help of pupils from McNaughton School and a ton of local expertise, they've done a bang-up job!
President Dan Lowndes collected our cheque for $2,000 at our meeting of 5th June - we acknowledge the financial assistance of the province of British Columbia in helping us make this investment possible.
The Friends of Quesnel & District Museum & Archives pulled off quite a coup by bring the 2015 BC Historical Federation Conference to town - those folks now know life, and history, really does exist beyond Hope!
Of course they couldn't come all that way without being taken out to Barkerville, so we were only too happy to be co-sponsors of the day-trip by way of a $500 donation.
Honey Affleck, local Friend and Rotarian, accepts our cheque from President Rebecca.
Along with daughter Kirsten, Paul and Terry Nicholls are embarking on the Ride Across Canada to bring awareness to the difficulty of veterans adapting to civilian life after their tours of duty. Click here to read Paul's story; click here for their website and here for their Facebook page.
For our part, we were honoured to contribute $5,000 to the Ride at their fundraising dinner, 21st March. We are also helping them connect with communities by way of the network of Rotary clubs across the country.
"Rotary Club of Quesnel was our first audience for our presentation. They were the first group to donate to our foundation. They were the first group to truly believe in us. Their continued support brings us strength and we are thankful. Last night at our event they presented us with a $5000 donation. Such a help to get this Show on the Road!! Thank you!"
Quesnel Motocross Association has been around for over 40-years and has seen its membership grow 300% in the last 4-years. This means they can put on events that will attract riders from out of town, including a BCMA event over Billy Barker Days.
It also means they need to invest in their infrastructure to ensure the health and safety of those riders, including a $10,000 investment in a track watering system that will help suppress dust.
Having already secured grants from Quesnel Community Foundation and Community Futures North Cariboo, we were delighted to complete their funding with a $2000 donation, collected from President Rebecca Beuschel by Amanda Morrison and Gerri Shepherd.
4H stands for head, heart, hands and health, and is an organization dedicated to young people and youth development. The objectives of 4H clubs are knowledge, leadership, citizenship and personal development. These are ideals and objectives synonymous with Rotary, so when Barlow Creek 4H asked us for financial assistance to purchase equipment that will enhance their activities, we were only too happy to assist, to the tune of $1,500.
Below, Gwen Dillabough (left) and Marlene Magnowski accept our cheque from President Rebecca Beuschel.
We are proud to have been one of the first donors, back in 2003, to the project that became the Indoor Sports Complex operated by Quesnel Youth Soccer.They have been undertaking a significant overhaul of equipment such as soccer balls, goal nets and frames, out of some of which they have managed to squeeze 10 years of use. Donating $5,085 enabled QYSA to acquire goal nets and frames for the "Rotary Mini Fields", those used by the youngest group of budding soccer stars - Under-5's to Under-8's.
QYSA President Gilbert Schotel and Vice-President Shannon Wilwand collected our cheque from President Debbie Wiens and Funding Requests committee chair Simon Turner.
Del Cyr leads a small yet very determined group that helps local low income individuals file their annual tax returns: the Quesnel chapter of CRA's Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.
This year they expect to file nearly 500 tax returns, so our $300 cheque, presented by 2014-15 President Rebecca Beuschel, should help them with supplies.
Our first donation of 2015 was to the local Food Bank, run by our Salvation Army.
2014-15 President-Elect Steve Vrolyk presents Lt Laura Van Schaick with our cheque for $1000, funds raised through our weekly "Happy Bucks"
