Published in the Metro, April 24, 2019
Since its inception in 1985, the Charleswood Rotary Club has supported many different community and International projects. Locally, the club provides scholarships to Oak Park High School in Charleswood, acts as steward for the Assiniboine Forrest, and supports literacy and education at Westgrove School.
Supporting literacy and education at Westgrove School has been a passion of the Rotary club for some time. During the summer, Charleswood Rotary supports a summer literacy program. This program operates for six weeks and offers students who wish to attend an opportunity to improve their literacy skills through reading programs and stimulating activities. A great success, this program has seen over 50% of the schools population participate. In continuing literacy support throughout the year, the club provides funds for additional library books and a weekly book draw. Through this draw every student in the school is able to receive a new book over the course of a year. This noble endeavor makes books and reading fun for the kids.
Another great initiative of the Charleswood Rotary Club was building raised gardens at the Westgrove School. To carry out this initiative, the Charleswood Rotary Club partnered with local businesses; Beaucage Lawn & Garden, McMunn & Yates Building Supplies, Bosch Green House, and the Charleswood Subway who together supplied all the required material, soil, and plants for the gardens. The Rotary Club provided the labor to construct the gardens for the students.
It was while the Charleswood Rotary Club was working on this project that they had the opportunity to learn about other challenges in the community. The members spoke with teachers and heard that not all children had the proper footwear for gym class. The Rotary club took action immediately upon hearing this. They reached out to Canadian Footwear and invested in 24 pairs of children’s runners to deal with the immediate children’s needs. This effort has proven to be a very positive move and welcomed by the teachers and students.
There are many reasons I am so proud to live in our beautiful community. One of those reasons is the amazing people within our community. Over my 20 years as MLA for Charleswood I have met many inspiring community members. I am proud of our amazing community and our selfless community leaders like those in the Charleswood Rotary Club. I am humbled to be an honourary member of this wonderful club.
Check out their website at https://portal.clubrunner.ca/1000 and their twitter at @wpgcwoodrotary.