Fundraising & Signature Club Projects

Our club, in partnership with the food security distribution centre established a food share program at Sidney Elementary School. Every Tuesday, our club members pick up fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, dairy and meat from the food security distribution centre and setup tables at Sidney Elementary. Club members hand out the food to parents after school to ensure families have fresh food at home.

Collaborating with all Rotary Clubs in Greater Victoria, the Mustard Seed Street Church and the Victoria Foundation, our club has supported the Food Rescue Project which began in March 2017. The Mustard Seed operates the food security distribution centre which addresses ever-growing food insecurity and hunger issues throughout the Capital Region. Partnering with local grocery retailers, including Thrifty Foods, Country Grocer, Red Barn Market, Fairway Markets, the Root Cellar and Costco, approximately 10,000 pounds of high-quality food are collected and re-distributed daily through the Food Share Network to over 40 agencies and organizations across the region.

Our club’s annual raffle raises funds to support or enhance the efforts of several great organizations in our community. This years we are supporting two charities: the Saanich Peninsula Hospital & Healthcare Foundation and the Oral Care for Children and Adolescents Society. Ticket sales will run until midnight 31 Oct 2022, leading to the draw on 1 Nov 2022 at 4:00 PM

In the past, our raffle has supported the Mustard Seed Street Church (Food Rescue Network), Hudson House, Peninsula Youth Health Clinic, Sidney Elementary School, Mount Newton Centre Society and Penninsula Streams Society . Tickets to our raffles are typically sold online or from one of our club representatives and come with a chance to win cash!

Each year approaching the winter holidays, our members sell poinsettias to friends, colleagues and local businesses. These sales raise funds to support various causes from literacy programs, ORCCA dental centre, the Sidney Lions Food Bank and putting on of a “Santa’s Workshop” event for local youth. Over 900 poinsettias are sold each year and delivered to buyers by our members in a single day near the end of November.

Each year during the historic annual Saanich Fair, our club operates an ice cream wagon serving patrons with delicious piled high Island Farms hard scooped ice cream cones. Funds raised at the ice cream wagon support Christmas hampers our club prepares for local families in need, scholarships for high school students and sponsoring students to travel and participate in Adventures in Citizenship, a Rotary-led program in Ottawa that educates about what it means to be a Canadian.

Our club’s Canada Flag program celebrates Canada by placing a flagpole on subscribers’ lawns for three holidays per year. Flags stay up for at least three days for Victoria Day, Canada Day and Labour Day weekends. Flags for other celebrations (like birthdays) are also available. Funds raised support youth in Air Cadets and Sea Cadets on the Saanich Peninsula.

Each year our club members staff a refreshment station and hand out water, sports drinks and food to athletes passing on their bikes participating in the Victoria Ironman. Funds raised by participating in this event are used to support various community projects.

New for 2021 and beyond! Our club is planning a paper shredding day where our club will provide individuals and local businesses a paper shredding service to destroy sensitive documents while protecting the environment Further details about this project are found in club news.