Time flies when we're having fun! Hard to believe but July 31 2024 was the 23rd anniversary of our being chartered as a Rotary club (originally "Rotary Club of Wellington South"). Since then we have worked hard, played hard, and contributed to the communities we serve both locally and internationally. We changed our name to "Rotary Club of Guelph South" and we created a separate Charitable Foundation. Starting from $0 in July 2001 we have worked hard and have since made donations approaching - if not actually exceeding - $650,000. We have supported disaster responses in Haiti, Ukraine, Pakistan and British Columbia. We have facilitated projects in Haiti, Nicaragua, Mexico and in an Ontario First Nations community.
We continue to support the efforts by The Rotary Foundation to eradicate polio. We have supported so many local organizations as well, tending to focus on those that are consistent with our vision and Rotary's Areas of Focus, and that do not get regular government funding, the ones where our contributions are appreciated and can truly make a difference. Over the years we have also supported other local Rotary clubs, as they have supported us, including providing funding towards large projects so that they will qualify for Rotary Foundation Global Grants. We have held successful multi-year events like the Pasta Dinner, Volunteer Appreciation Brunch and the Grate Groan-Up Spelling Bee. We have been part of the organizing team for the annual Tour de Guelph now in its 11th year, and have started a new Brunch event ("at the Barn" in 2023, "at the Arboretum" in 2024). And our members have been the ones that have taken leading roles in welcoming and supporting Syrian refugees, raising the profile and awareness of the scourge of human trafficking, and addressing the issue of weekend food insecurity for school age children in Guelph.
We successfully navigated the challenges associated with COVID-19 and having to migrate to a solely virtual meeting model during that period, and thanks to all our members over the years we have been able to make this club grow and thrive.
We will be forever grateful to past member (who was one of our original 20 charter members) Frankie Shaw who came up with the phrase that we use as our tagline now "Coming together as strangers, working together as friends". It could not be more true! Many members, when asked, identify the relationships that they have developed with other club members as one of the reasons that they continue to belong to this club. And it is telling that, even when members move away, it does not break the bonds that have been established and many of those relationships continue on.
SO...we are now starting to think in terms of July 31 2026 when we will celebrate our 25th anniversary. Stay tuned for more information!
We are #RotaryGuelphSouthProud.