Community and Recreational Programs

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Annapolis Valley

        The RCoW has partnered with the Rotary Club of New Minas Sunrise to support the Big Brother Big Sisters of the Annapolis Valley (BBBS) organization as the Apple Blossom Festival Duck Race Charity of Choice. BBBS matches children in West Hants, Kings and Annapolis Counties with quality adult mentors. Their programs include the traditional one-on-one matching program (Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Big Couples), as well as their newer ‘In School Mentoring’, ‘Nature Calls’, ‘Go Girls’ and ‘Game On’ programs.

Community Organizations

        To assist local non-profit organizations in fund-raising, the Apple Blossom Duck Race provides the opportunity for local community groups to assist the RCoW, RCoNMS and BBBS in running of the race by selling tickets or assisting at the race. In 2013, $11,485 in donations were made, in recognition of these efforts, to:

◦Apple Blossom Festival

◦507th Flight Lieutenant MacLean Air Cadet Squadron

◦Kentville Silver Gliders Skating Club

◦New Minas Elementary School

◦Valley United Soccer Club

◦West Hants 4H Club

◦Windsor & District Lions Club

◦Tim Horton’s Employee Group (donated to Camp Brigadoon)

◦Wolfville Volunteer Fire Department

Valley Harvest Marathon

        The RCoW manages the principle water station at the Valley Harvest Marathon, held in Wolfville each year on Thanksgiving Sunday.

The Flower Cart

        The RCoW provides financial support to the Flower Cart each year. Funds donated by the club are matched by provincial and federal governments to provide a vocational trainer and supervisor for handicapped adults so they can work in various Annapolis Valley businesses and become productive and fulfilled members of our workforce.

The Wolfville Area Inter-Church Council 

        The RCoW provides financial support each year to the WAICC to help maintain two food programs providing assistance to needy over 100 local families. The council minimizes the administrative expenses by distributing food vouchers redeemable at local stores, saving the costs of transporting and storing foodstuffs. This method gives the assisted families some choice in the selection of food items, as well as being supportive of local businesses. Appeals for help are approved on the advice of social workers, health care professionals and clergy.

Stile Park, the Fred Elderkin Nature Trail, & Rotary Field

        The RCoW purchased, built and maintains Stile Park, located on 'The Ridge' above Wolfville. Picnic tables, barbecues, outhouses and a one kilometer long Fred Elderkin Nature Trail built to provincial/national standards (with benches and interpretive nature signs) are recent additions to the facilities. The park overlooks the beautiful Gaspereau Valley.

        The RCoW also owns Rotary Field (via a series of bequests to the club), located between Victoria and Orchard Avenues, and leases it to the Town of Wolfville for $1 per year. Since 2000, the RCoW has assisted the Town of Wolfville in undertaking a number of upgrades to the park, including new playing fields, in-ground irrigation system, new tennis courts, upgrades to the playground, a renovation/addition to the recreation centre in the park, and parking in its lot and on its perimeter.

     

National and International Programs

Seniors Daycare Centre in llha Solteira, & Nursing Home in Nelson Pereira, Brazil

        The RCoW donated $1,500 (contributed by club member Frank Maxwell) as our share of a matching grant project to purchase solar-heating equipment for a seniors daycare centre in llha Solteira and a nursing home in Nelson Pereira, Brazil, near Sao Paulo. These projects developed out of fellowship developed via a RI Group Study Exchange with members of the Rotary Club of Ilha Solteira, a city of 30,000 people. The RCoW and Frank Maxwell’s contribution provided the first level of matching-grant funds for solar heating equipment to supply hot water at these two facilitites for destitute seniors.

Students Supported for International Volunteer Work

The RCoW supports volunteers who contribute their time to international charitable causes. This past year, the club donated:

        $500 to Nathan Hewitt for a Youth Food Study Tour with ‘Canada Foodgrains Bank’ to Honduras;

$500 to Amber-lea Galley, a Nursing Student, for her participation in a Unite for Sight Program in New Delhi, India; and

$500 to Katelyn Williams, an Education Student, for participation in a Peer Health Education Program with the Nova Scotia - Gambia Association in The Gambia (Africa).

PolioPlus

        Since 1985, Rotarians worldwide have raised US $240 million to immunize the children of the world for poliomyelitis. By 2005, Rotary's centenary year and the target date for the certification of a polio-free world, the PolioPlus program had contributed US$500 million to this cause. Rotary International has now donated an additional $200 million to this important initiative, triggering $275 million in matching fund contributions from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to rid polio in the now three remaining countries (Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan) where it remains endemic (note, that India was declared non-endemic last year). Over the years, Rotary has provided an army of volunteers to promote and assist during national immunization days in polio-endemic countries around the world.

        The Rotary Club of Wolfville makes annual $1500 donations to Polio Plus in honour of each guest speaker that addresses our club each week. In addition, in 2011 and 2012, the RCoW donated additional funds to the PolioPlus program via a bequest by deceased member, Curtis Chipman, totalling $20,000 and over $26,000, respectively.

Niger Project

        In conjunction with Etruscan Resources (a local mining company based in Bedford, Nova Scotia), the RCoW has provided funds for the construction of a fence for the areas around a new school in Bossey Bangou, Niger. The purpose of the fence is to give the children a safe environment in which to learn and play (without pastoral grazing animal interference) and has resulted in such a substantial increase in school enrolment in that area that the government of Niger has built a new high school to serve the large number of graduating students.

    More recently the Rotary Club of Wolfville provided funds, and received a matching grant from District 7820, for desks, chalk boards, and other teaching and school supplies to build new classrooms, that were purchased and delivered, or constructed by Etruscan Resources.

Paul Harris Fellowships

        Named in honour of Rotary’s founder, the Rotary Club of Wolfville bestows these fellowships upon individuals who have served our community in exemplary ways (not just Rotarians). This year, the RCoW honoured A $1000 US donation to the Rotary Foundation is made to honour each recipient.

Support to Acadia WUSC Refugee Student    
        Each year, Acadia University partners with the Acadia Student Union (ASU), and the Rotary Club of Wolfville to provide support for one refugee student to attend Acadia University under the auspices of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). The Rotary Club of Wolfville provides approximately $2500 for the transportation costs to bring this refugee student to Wolfville, while Acadia University donates tuition, room, board, books and student fees, and the ASU donates spending money to allow the student to attend their first year of university. During that year, the refugee student receives their landed immigrant status, and is then eligible for student loans that allow them to continue their studies until completion. Acadia University then offers the student reduced tuition, room and board, books and student fees to the student for three additional years.

Rotary Student Exchange      

        Through local Rotary Club sponsorship, senior high school students from around the world have the opportunity to experience living in the lovely Annapolis Valley with host families in our community and studying at a local high school for a year. In turn, local high school students have an opportunity to experience living and studying abroad for a year in an analogous way.

        This year, our club is is not participating in the Rotary Student Exchange program, but other local rotary clubs may be, so interested students are encouraged to contact the Rotary Club of New Minas Sunrise, the Rotary Club of Kentville, or the Rotary Club of Mud Creek to find out if they are supporting the program, and how to apply.

Our recent exchange students are:
 

2013-2014: In: <none>; Out: <none>

2012-2013: In: <none>; Out: <none>

2011-2012: In: <none>; Out: <none>

2010-2011: In: <none>; Out: <none>

2009-2010: In: <none>; Out: <none>

2008-2009: In: Charles Beltaire, France; Out: Patricia Bishop, Equador

2007-2008: In: <none>; Out: <none>

2006-2007: In: Frederik Linder-Madsen, Denmark; Out: Geordie Slipp, Equador

2005-2006: In: <none>; Out: Meghan Read, Switzerland

2004-2005: In: Lina Calderon, Colombia; Out: <none>   

Emergency Relief Fund
        After the December, 2004 tsunami, the RCoW decided to budget $1000 per year for world emergencies. Sadly, there were a number of disasters last year, and the RCoW made two $1000 donations, one to Haiti Earthquake Relief and the other to Pakistan Flood Relief efforts. More recently, the RCoW matched the purchase of a $1000 Shelterbox Emergency Relief Kit by Acadia Rotaract Club (sponsored by the RCoW) to support the people of Japan affected by the recent earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident through the purchase of a second $1000 Shelterbox.

Vocational and Educational Programs

Student Achievement Awards

        In 1985, the Rotary Club of Wolfville celebrated their 50th anniversary. To commemorate this event, they initiated their Rotary Achievement Award program. These scholar bursaries are awarded to local high school students from Horton High School, Northeast Kings Education Centre and Landmark East School who will be enrolled in a tertiary education program in the following year. Since its inception, the club has disbursed over $201,000 to 139 students with financial need. These awards have been made to students who are leaders in their respective schools in academic achievement, extra-curricular activities and community service.

        In 2017, one award of $2000 was made. View a list of past recipients.

        Potential applicants wishing to download the Rotary Club of Wolfville Acheivement Award Application Form directly from this website can click on the above hyperlink, and then select 'File/Save As' to store the document on your computer

Rotary Club of Wolfville-Acadia University Award

        In 2008, the Rotary Club of Wolfville initiated a new scholarship program, partnering with Acadia University to create a 4-year, renewable $4000 per year scholarship at Acadia University for a worthy student from the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board.
        In 2017, three awards of $2000 were made. View a list of past recipients.

Rupert MacNeill Book Prize

        This cash award, made in honour of long-time RCoW member Rupert MacNeill and former Geology Professor, is made to a worthy student within the Earth & Environmental Science Department of Acadia University to pay for textbooks in the upcoming year. In 2017, the prize was awarded to Geology student, Jackson Malone. View a list of past recipients.

Adventures in Citizenship

        Each year, the RCoW sends an outstanding student from Horton High School or Northeast Kings Education Centre with excellent potential to become a community leader, to participate in a four-day citizenship program in our nation's capitol. The program is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ottawa, and the Rotary Club of Wolfville has been participating in this event since its inception in 1950.
        The program exposes 220 student leaders to our system of government and important governmental institutions. The event provides a unique opportunity for a select group of young Canadians to come together from across Canada and gain a better understanding of our country. Through meetings with political leaders, senior officials and others, they learn a great deal about the workings of our democratic institutions. By meeting one another and having discussions among themselves, they learn to appreciate the diversity and shared values of Canada, and the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. The experience is culminated by a visit to a Canadian citizenship court where the students witness new immigrants joining us as citizens in a very emotional ceremony.