When Sara Mitchell-Banks accepted an executive position with The Rotary Club of Powell River that would lead to a year as president in 2020/2021, she had no idea how different that role would be.
On June 30, she completed her year and passed the gavel to incoming president Katya Gustafson at an installation ceremony under the Rotary Pavilion at Willingdon Beach.
“While tonight is a celebration of the end of this Rotary year, we can’t ignore what tragedy the world has experienced,” Mitchell-Banks told the gathering of members and guests. She wore a button vest gifted to her by a First Nations family years ago to honour the children in unmarked burial sites at residential schools.
“This has been a very difficult year, historically difficult,” she added.
In spite of the many challenges the Rotary club faced, its members looked back on numerous achievements.
The club exceeded its donation goals for PolioPlus that is working to eradicate this disease and to Rotary Foundation. For 12 years in a row, it has been one of the top charities in the world according to Charity Navigator.
The annual Great Grocery Plus raffle provided much of the money raised in the COVID-19 year. Tickets could be purchased online and that will continue in August when they go on sale again.
“We were also able to make several donations here at home and around the world,” said Mitchell-Banks.
Locally the club donated $1,500 to Powell River Search and Rescue for an AED (automated external defibrillator), sponsored a student to film camp as part of Powell River Film Festival, helped two students attend virtual Adventures in Citizenship and two students to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), held a virtual Festival of the Performing Arts, made a donation to Powell River Therapy Dogs, bought gifts for children in Tla’amin Nation during its first COVID outbreak, purchased books for the Read to Me program for every elementary age student, made a donation for Everyone Deserves a Smile, provided two $1,000 bursaries to graduates, bought a new dryer for Willingdon Beach Campground, made a $2,000 donation to Christmas Cheer Hamper and contributed funds for Powell River Community Response Fund.
On the international side, the club continued to support Amarok Society, which trains mothers to teach in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and purchased a Garden Survival Kit with a Hippo Roller to transport water for a South African family. Several KIVA microloans were financed. The program founded in 2005 provides financial access to underserved communities around the globe.
“I was particularly pleased, considering we have been meeting virtually for more than a year, that we had the highest increase in membership of any club in District 5040,” said Mitchell-Banks. The district has 50 clubs and 1,700 members.
The district spans from south of Prince George in the north to Richmond in the south including the Sunshine Coast.
As a global network that strives to build a better world where people unite and act to create lasting change, Rotary celebrates contributions of people of all backgrounds, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, colour, abilities, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.
After being installed as president for 2021/2022, Gustafson said she is looking forward to a more normal year with in-person meetings and more opportunities to fundraise.
“I wondered during our virtual PETS (Presidents-Elect Training Seminar) why there was so much emphasis put on increasing membership,” said Gustafson, “and then I realized that the more Rotarians we have the more good we can do at home and around the world.”
