What does the Rotary Club do?
Rotary club members are community volunteers that provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
Each club initiates service projects that provide health care and medical supplies, clean water, food, housing, schools, job training, youth development and education to people in need, particularly in the developing world,
In 1985, Rotary launched Polio Plus, a program to immunize the world’s children against polio. Since 1998, polio cases have dropped 99%, and we have almost completely wiped out the disease.
What does the Rotary Club of Wiarton do?
The following are just a few examples of the kinds of projects the Wiarton Rotary Club has been directly involved with:
Local
- Literacy Programs
- Hospital Foundation
- Interact Youth Programs
- Bruce Peninsula Hospice
- Seniors Support & Events
- Wiarton Bluewater Park Splash Pad, Skateboard Park & Playground Equipment
- Youth Exchange Programs
- Environmental Programs like phragmites control
- Raised vegetable beds at the Salvation Army church
International
- Polio Plus Program (to eliminate Polio Worldwide)
- Clean Water Project in Cameroon, Africa
- Shelter Box (providing emergency shelter after a disaster)
How can youth get involved in the Rotary Club of Wiarton?
There are many opportunities for youth to participate in the Rotary Club of Wiarton to serve the community and learn about the world.
Phoenix Interact
This is an active group at Peninsula Shores District School (PSDS) that includes students between 12 and 18. They organize and participate in fundraising events that support both local and global initiatives, including the music program at PSDS; donations to Habitat for Humanity, the Animal Shelter, and furniture for a school in rural Peru; and Shelter Boxes to help people who become homeless after a natural disaster.
Rotary Youth Exchange
“A Rotary exchange is not a year in your life. It is a life in one year.”
The Rotary Youth Exchange Program allows students between 15 and 17 to study and live in another country for a full year. Students live with carefully selected host families, attend local schools, learn a new language and about another culture, and have the time of their lives!
Outbound students are chosen each September. They leave for their exchanges the following August and return to Canada eleven months later.
New Generations Exchange
This exchange is for students between 21 and 30 years of age and allows young adults to live in another country for 3 weeks to 3 months throughout the year. They may gain work experience while they learn about a new culture, make new friends, and improve language skills.
Where can I find more info about the Rotary clubs in Bruce and Grey counties?
Locally, there are two Rotary clubs on the Bruce Peninsula in Wiarton and Lion’s Head.
Rotary Club of Wiarton
The Rotary Club of Wiarton
P.O. Box 422 Wiarton, ON
Canada N0H 2T0
Phone: (905) 516-5541
Email: wiartonrotary@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/LionsheadRotaryClub/
Rotary Club of Northern Bruce Peninsula (Lion’s Head)
https://www.facebook.com/WiartonRotary/
https://rotary6330.org/clubinfo/lion-s-head
There are many other Rotary clubs in the towns of Grey and Bruce counties, including Owen Sound, Hanover, Walkerton, Southampton, Kincardine, Meaford, and Thornbury.
For more information about Rotary International, visit www.rotary.org.
What is the Rotary Club’s motto?
Service Above Self.
What is the history of the Rotary Club?
The Rotary Club of Chicago was founded in 1905, which was the world’s first service club. The Rotary name came from the tradition of rotating meetings among the first members’ work offices.
As Rotary spread to more locations, its mission expanded beyond only serving the members’ professional and social interests. Rotarians began contributing their financial resources and talents to serve communities in need.
By 1925, Rotary had more than 2,000 clubs and an estimated 108,000 members. The organization’s reputation attracted presidents, prime ministers, and other prominent citizens to its membership.
During World War II, some clubs were forced to disband, while others provided emergency relief to victims of the war. In 1942, Rotarians called for a global conference to promote international educational and cultural exchanges, which inspired the founding of UNESCO.
In 1945, 49 Rotary club members served on 29 delegations to the first United Nations (UN) conference. Rotary still actively participates in UN conferences by sending observers to major meetings and discussing the United Nations in its publications.
In the subsequent years, Rotary has evolved to meet society’s changing needs, expanding its service efforts to address issues as diverse as illiteracy, world hunger, and children at risk, disease, poverty, lack of clean water, and environmental concerns.
Today, there are 1.2 million Rotarians and over 32,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries.
What is the Four-Way Test?
It’s a code of ethics that was adopted by Rotary in 1943. The test has been translated into more than 100 languages and asks the following questions:
Of the things we think, say or do:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
