Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of our Charter (July 31, 2001) 20 weeks of "TBT" memories
Week #17 (November 25 2021)
One of our members, Cheryl Cowan, was an accomplished quilter and brought to our attention a local effort by Royal City Quilters Guild to make and donate “Comfort Quilts”. Our club had partnered with RCQG beginning in 2017, providing funding for their Community Outreach Committee in order to designate the next 200 Comfort Quilts, headed to the Guelph General Hospital’s Sexual Abuse & Domestic Violence Treatment Center, with a label that featured the Rotary International logo and a reference to the club’s support. The Guild members assist in the creation of these beautiful Comfort Quilts which are utilized by the Treatment Center staff to help begin the healing process. “I think that my quilt is probably one of my most valued possessions. For me, it’s the thought that there is some beauty that can come out of tragedy.” The RCQG quilters were remarkably able to complete 150 of these Comfort Quilts by the end of 2017 in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. We have continued to support this important initiative, donating $5,450 between 2017 and 2021.
2017 marked the 30th anniversary of women in Rotary. When Rotary was founded in 1905 it was a male-only organization. On May 4 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-0 ruling, declared that Rotary clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender. That same year a California Rotary club elected the first female Rotary club President. The perception of Rotary as an “old boys’ club” has changed considerably as women continue to join the ranks and assume leadership roles. Our club has always had a good balance of male and female members, and 7 of our female members have been club President at least once! It is exciting to note that the first female Rotary International President, to take office on July 1 2022, will be Jennifer Jones, a Windsor Ontario Rotarian.
We have supported a number of different charitable organizations that support both the medical and literacy needs of children in Africa. One in particular that we continue to support is Children’s Help for Uganda with donations totaling $10,550 between 2017 and 2021. Dennis and Stephanie Devey of Guelph work together with Micheal and Sharon Kamya, pastors in the community of Bugembe, Jinja, Uganda, to develop sustainable and meaningful projects to help overcome poverty. Uganda has one of the largest populations of young people in the world with over 56 percent of its 37 million people under the age of 18. In 2019 Uganda was ranked the second poorest country in the world. CHFU works directly with orphaned children, schools and local builders to ensure integrity of the organization and it's mission to implement health, education and sustainability projects for lasting change.
(L-R) Rotarians Cheryl Cowan + Geoff Allen, along with RCQG member Joan Hug-Valeriote, display a "Comfort Quilt" and the label recognizing the contributions of Rotary Club of Guelph South
The female members of the Rotary Club of Guelph South (Nov 2021)
Ugandan school children with their new books thanks to Children’s Help For Uganda
