Jen Scholte is proud to serve this year as the president of the Rotary Club of Collingwood South Georgian Bay. Soon the leadership of this vibrant club of 49 members will be passed on to President Elect Jeannine Faubert. The Rotary Club of South Georgian Bay is a breakfast club but no breakfast is served! This makes it more affordable for many. They do have coffee though, but bring your own mug because the club has gone green!
The Rotary Club of South Georgian Bay is involved in many activities, but their main focus is YOUTH. The club helped fund the Collingwood Youth Centre with a $75000 donation. The Collingwood Youth Centre is a drop-in centre where youth aged 12 – 18 can hang out, meet new people, have fun, learn new skills, find information and get help.
The club has two major fundraisers each year. One is the annual Rotary 4 Kids radio-a-thon and online auction. This year, the event raised $14 000, all of which goes to support youth programming in many local camps and other community programs.
Their second major fundraiser is “Taste of the Town”, an idea that Rotarian John Saul brought to the club when he left the Rotary Club of Oakville and joined South Georgian Bay. For the past 17 years, Sunset Point Park has been transformed into a beautiful “al fresco” restaurant on the 2nd Sunday in June. 500 participants taste the best of Collingwood’s many local restaurants, craft breweries, wineries and cideries!! This event provides a great experience with a beautiful view of Georgian Bay for all to enjoy. It is an “all hands on deck” event that requires participation from all members! The club usually raises $30 000 - $35 000 in one day! Funds are donated to several local agencies to provide programming for youth and to fund the club’s international projects. Check out this video on Taste of the Town: https://www.facebook.com/Rotarysgb/videos/331539820878681/.
International projects include an education project in Tanzania, Rotary Wheels for Learning, Mully Children’s Family Orphanages in Kenya, an El Salvador Backpack Project and the Back to School Project in the Philippines, a passion project for some of their members. Founded in 2006 as a Rotary project in Cebu Philippines, Back to School recognized that every child counted and that every child deserved the chance to attend school and to learn. Back to School provides this opportunity by creating a bridge to literacy through sponsor donations. For more information about this project, please contact John Van Laar at vanlaar@sympatico.ca.The Rotary Club of South Georgian Bay supports a very active Interact Club. They also send students to RYLA and support the Youth Exchange Program.
To learn more about the Rotary Club of South Georgian Bay, check out their website at https://rotarysgb.org/ or follow them on Twitter @RotaryClubSGB.
The club meets on Thursday mornings at the Collingwood Youth Centre at 76 First St, Collingwood from 7:30 to 8:30 sharp! Members would love to have you drop in for a visit.
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