As posted on Northumberland Today, May 27, 2013.
COBOURG - The Rotary Club of Cobourg has three major fundraising events each year; The Waterfront Festival Arts & Crafts Festival held on the July 1 weekend; Sporstman’s Night held in February and Ribfest held in August. These three events raise nearly $200,000 each year and these dollars are held in a separate account and then invested in a wide variety of projects -every thing from The Cobourg Community Centre all the way down to providing dollars towards the purchase of new uniforms for the Cobourg Legion Pipes and Drum Band. None of the dollars raised are used for club costs, which are covered by annual membership fees.
All funds are administered by various Rotary Club Committees dealing with the individual resident’s (Special Needs Committee) ; youth work (the New generations Committee); international needs (World Community Service Committee); youth education (International Youth Exchange Committee); local literacy initiatives (Literacy Committee) and for major projects, the Club’s Projects and Community Events Committee.
Cobourg Rotary Club members serve on as many as three different committees during each year. Dollars to be invested are and administered by individual committees for amounts up to $3,000 and those over $5,000 must be approved by a majority vote by all club members.
If you have ever wondered just where all the dollars raised go, the following will provide a clear picture of the dollars provided during the first ten months of the Club’s current year which runs from July 1 to June 30.
August
• $3,000 to the United Way Backpack program.
• $1,000 to the Cobourg Clippers Midget Softball Team to help offset costs for the Canadian Championships in Fredericton.
• $500 to the Cobourg Dragon Boat and Canoe Club to assist young members attend the National Championship.
September
• $7,736 towards the cost of Camp Enterprise.
October
• $3,200 towards the Water in Honduras project, in cooperation with the Toronto Rotary Club, CIDA and Care Canada.
• $1,500 to the Rotary Club of Battambang, Cambodia, to assist in the purchase of a Tuk Tuk to be used by the Battambang Women's Shelter for transportation (in co-operation with Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise).
• $3,000 to support of the Port Hope High School, East Northumberland Secondary School and Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West High School "sweat equity" project in Kilema, Tanzania, for school maintenance materials and travel assistance for 18 students.
• $3,500 to Sleeping Children Around the World for the distribution of bed kits in India.
• $5,000 to MSF (Doctors Without Borders) to assist with the medical needs in a terrible situation in the Upper Nile State, South Sudan.
• $2,500 to the Medical Brigade/Friends of Honduran Children for the purchase of medical supplies, drugs and support supplies to be distributed during a medical visit to Gracias Honduras.
• $1500 towards the construction of a wheel chair ramp for a handicapped person.
• $717 to the Salvation Army to assist with cost of dental work.
• $1,500 to the Cobourg Library to support their annual Share Your Stories contest.
December
• $14,605 to the Transition House Coalition of Northumberland for the purchase of 15 metal bunk beds and 10 vinyl mattresses following an outbreak of bed lice.
• $587 towards the repair of a furnace for an elderly woman.
• $1,000 to the The Giving Tree with matching donation from the Port Hope Rotary Club.
• $60,000 to the Cobourg Community Centre. This the third of five $60,000 installments. Rotary has now paid $180,000 of its $300,000 commitment
• $1,000 to the Giving Tree for their clothing collection program (This was matched by the Rotary Club of Port Hope)
• $1,000 to the Santa Clause Parade
• $2,400 to the Church on the Hill for an inflatable obstacle course.
• $1,490 to the Amarok Society to support their “Teach a Mother – Change the World” program. Amarok Society teaches uneducated mothers how to read and write, and then teaches the mothers to be neighbourhood teachers – educating their own and their neighbours’ children every day in their homes, with astonishing result.
• $1,450 to support the Cobourg Festival of Poetry including a workshop to be held by award winning Canadian poet Ken Babstock to be held in April (Poetry Month)
• $1,000 to support the Guatemala Literacy Project. This project qualified for matching grants so the Literacy Committee’s donation was leveraged up to $3,500 as follows: Cobourg Rotary donation $1,000, 50% match from the Rotary Foundation, 100% match from District 7070 Dedicated Funds, 100% match of the D7070 Dedicated Funds from The Rotary Foundation.
• $132 for tread for the ramp built by Rotarian Al Rose for a disabled resident.
• $7,737 is Cobourg’s share (almost 50%) of the amount provided by the six Rotary Clubs in Northumberland to Camp Enterprise.
January and February
• $12, 962 to Transition House for new bunk beds and mattresses.
• 5,000 to the Cobourg Legion Pipes and Drum Band for a new uniform.
• $1,000 to support a nurse in Cobourg to go to Argentina for the Work the World program.
• $1,068 to purchase teaching aids for the Lawson Outdoor Education Center.
• $2,000 to the 6th Cobourg Scouts to attend the Canadian Scout Jamboree in Alberta in July
• $500 a year for five years for fees for a child to join La Jeunesse Choir
March
• $1,489 for the purchase of an electric wheel chair for an MS patient in Cobourg.
• $750 to assist with funding for a special bed and mattress for another MS patient in Colborne.
April
• $2,500 to the Center for Individual Studies for their academic awards program. The Center helps individuals who need training, retraining or upgrading in todays information based society.
• $1,500 to support Emma and Julia Mogus with their "Book with No Borders" program. Following their presentation to the club, members coughed up another $1,500 in cash! The program donated 15,000 books to First Nations in Northern Canada.
• $1,000 to help with expenses for student Rebecca Lasaer to do a sweat equity "Me to We" program in Ecuador.
• $1,695 to support a local Community Safety Net program - a unique safety awareness and educational program that saves lives.
• $4,430 to Rotary International Polio Plus.
• $5,000 to Emmanuel International Canada for materials and services to construct classrooms and latrines in Malawi.
Bill Johnson is a member of the Rotary Club of Cobourg.
