In the words of English writer John Heywood, many hands make light work, and that is certainly the case with Powell River’s two Rotary clubs.
Rotary Club of Powell River and Rotary Club of Powell River Sunrise are comprised of nearly 70 Rotarians who work together to raise money for the community and abroad.
One of the clubs’ largest joint ventures, the Great Grocery Raffle Plus, features five lucky winners every December receiving $2,000 each in gift cards from five participating sponsors: Canadian Tire, Save-On-Foods, Safeway, Pacific Point Market and Quality Foods.
“The grocery raffle is a perfect example of how the power of nearly 70 Rotarians working together in the community can have a larger impact of doing good in Powell River,” says Rotary Club president Scott Randolph. “The success generated will mean more money to spend on community projects and local charities, which in a number of cases our clubs are working jointly on.”
Chartered in 1955, the original Rotary club is often referred to as the “evening club” due to the addition of the Sunrise morning club in 2011. During a campaign to increase membership around that time, Rotary Club members realized a number of interested residents were not able to attend the evening club and it was decided that the best thing to do was charter a new morning club. This gradually led to more and more collaboration.
“We achieve more when we are working together,” says Rotary Club Sunrise president Frank Clayton. “Especially in the last couple of years, we have decided to collaborate as much as possible because both clubs are trying to do the exact same thing for the community.”
In addition to the grocery raffle, which has been a successful fundraiser for the past several years, the two clubs hold a joint installation of new officers each June, provide two liaisons to mentor Brooks Secondary School Interact Club, sponsor youth to attend Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camps and adventure programs, and undertake many other community projects.
“We are all Rotarians supporting the same causes and it's good fellowship for both clubs,” says evening club fundraising chair Ed Frausel, “and it’s also good for our members to meet each other and work together.”
For more information, go to prrotaryclub.org (evening) and clubrunner.ca/powellriversunrise (morning).
