Stories

Rotarians from Calgary East, friends of the club and four young leaders cooked and served pancakes and sausages for 500 students at Grant MacEwan Elementary School in Falconridge. The school students showed off their line dancing skills after enjoying the pancake breakfast. The young leaders who volunteered were sponsored to attend Rotary leadership programs by the Calgary East Rotary club and saw this as a chance to give back. 

Rotarians from Calgary East joined other volunteers at the Big Book Sale hosted by the Rotary Club of Calgary in support of Calgary Reads. We sorted books at the Calgary Curling Club on April 25 and 26 and collected books dropped off at the Seton YMCA on April 27. We also provided some volunteers during the sale itself held from May 9 - 19 at the Calgary Curling Club. In all there were 1800 volunteers at the Big Book Sale handling over 200,000 books for the sale which last year raised $570,000.

 

 

New members, Hichan Janbeih and Jose Patino Marquez were inducted as members of the Rotary Club of Calgary East on January 9, 2025.

The Rotary Club of Calgary East has supported the Salvation Army Kettles for many years and did so again this year. 11 volunteers covered shifts at the Marlborough Mall on November 22 and 23.

Who are we thankful for?  YOU!  Just wanted to say a very heartfelt thank you for your clubs sponsorship of the 26^th version of the Rotary Alberta Youth Entrepreneurship Camp (RAYEC).  It was a jam-packed week of business fun with 58 campers, 10 youth leaders and 19 adults at Eagles Nest Ranch.  Just over $12, 000 was exchanged during the week and campers took anywhere from $45 to $122 home with them after paying back expenses.  Some of the products developed by campers included keychains, baking in a jar, vintage designed t-shirts, candles, orb lights….and so much more!  It wasn’t all work though – campers enjoyed the Burma bridge, paintball, campfire, lip sync battle and the other fun stuff that just happens.  Many new friends were made, and tears were shed saying goodbye on the last day.

Thanks to the club members and friends and family who volunteered to cook and serve pancakes and sausages at the Greater Forest Lawn Seniors stampede breakfast. The live music and dancing was enjoyed by everyone.

13 volunteers participated in the Rotary Club of Calgary East's build day for Habitat for Humanity at Livingston 24. The Rotary Club of Calgary East contributed $5,000 towards materials and 13 volunteers put in a good days work on a very hot day. A special thanks to Alessandro Raffi, on a New Generations Service Exchange from Stuttgart, Germany.

Thanks to the 14 volunteers who cooked and served pancakes and sausages for the 400 elementary students at Grant MacEwan School on June 14. The weather was great and the students really enjoyed the event. 

 

The leftover pancakes and sausages were given to the School for their breakfast program. 

Breakfast 'kick off' was held at the Colonel J Fred Scott School. The school motto is "We help each other grow." This played out as we served over 500 K-6 culturally diverse students & their teachers a pancake breakfast. Calgary East Volunteers (cooks, runners, servers) did a fantastic job. A shout out to RYPEN Youth Leader Lindsay who was available to volunteer. 

 

The left over sausages and pancakes were given to the School for their weekly Breakfast Program that goes every Monday to Friday. The students gave us smiles, hugs and big a Thank you!

The Top 30 Under 30 Award is an annual campaign by the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation. Maya Povhe is a past Rotary exchange student, Rotaractor, Youth Advisory Board member to the Rotary International Board and recently named one of Alberta's Top 30 Under 30 for 2024. Maya is a 22 year old student from Okotoks currently attending the University of Toronto.

 

Maya is being mentored by Calgary East Rotary's Vocational Service Chair, Rhea Graham. Maya will write a Rotary blog post for Youth Service Month (in May) mentioning the 30 Under 30 Award and is one of three Young Leaders in Action who will be presenting a webinar "Become a Champion for Youth" on May 15 at 9:00 am MDT.
 

Mary and Steve Turner from the Rotary Club of Olds and John Fortunka from the Rotary Club of Okotoks were guest speakers at our meeting on December 14. They gave a presentation on the Los Amigos project which has delivered 60 decommissioned emergency and service vehicles to Mexico over the last 13 years. In September, 2024, Rotarians will leave Alberta with four firetrucks and four handi-vans. The project is looking for 16 drivers and $64,000 to cover the project costs.

The Rotary Club of Calgary East inducted two members on December 7. John McIlravey and Diane Frost were inducted by President Greg Wing and Past District Governor Christine Rendell. John is a Property Manager and Diane is an Indigenous Educator. We welcomed them into the club and look forward to their community service contributions. 

On October 19, Bill Skinner from the Rotary Club of Calgary Heritage Park gave a presentation on "Climate Change from a Rotarian's Perspective". The receding Columbia icefield and the impact of the pine beetle on Alberta's pine forests are both examples of climate change. Bill gave an example applying the four way test to climate change and showed the warming trend of Alberta temperatures over the last 120 years. What was really interesting was Bill's calculation of his ecological footprint which showing he has 6.6 times the world's average ecological footprint. This definitely makes us think and Bill ended his presentation with a quote from a famous frog who said "It isn't easy being green!"

 

To calculate your ecological footprint go to: http://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en

 

 

We hosted David Eaton from the Rotary Club of Monterey, Mexico and Dawn Byford from the Rotary Club of Canmore. David gave a presentation on Operation Pollinator, which is aimed at saving the monarch butterfly population, which has had a precipitous decline in the last 50 years. RI President Gordon McInally and past RI Presidents Jennifer Jones and Mark Maloney have signed the Operation Pollinator Partnership. Following David presentation the Rotary Club of Calgary East signed a Pollinator Pledge joining over 150 Rotary clubs who have signed the Pollinator Pledge.  

 

 

Calgary East Rotary Club is 50 years young! 15 club members and 45 guests attended the celebration. The Calgary Plaza Hotel prepared a great meal, we viewed a slide show of pictures from the last 50 years and a video of highlights from some our our past inbound youth exchange students. Past President Brian Carnahan gave a summary of the history of the Calgary East Rotary Club which has raised $1.5 million and provided 27,000 volunteer hours to support communities in East Calgary. We were entertained by Dueling Pianos, live from Las Vegas. They played hits from the 70's, 80's and 90's and some dancing broke out.

 

On Feb 13, 2023, our member Cam Stewart was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Medal for his outstanding contributions to serve Alberta and your community. This is icing on the cake after RI's People of Action - Champions of Inclusion Award. Cam Stewart has been active in diversity, inclusion, and human rights for more than two decades, with a particular focus on Indigenous inclusion. He founded and chairs District 5360’s Indigenous Relations Committee, which is unique within Rotary because its members include Indigenous, non-Rotarian leaders. The committee, which reports to the District Governor, ensures that Indigenous issues and people are a priority. It received a district grant for the Indigenous Community Action Project to address some calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This project creates opportunities for Rotary clubs and Indigenous organizations to identify community issues, brainstorm solutions, develop initiatives, and take action together. Stewart provides resources for clubs to learn about DEI issues related to Indigenous peoples and organizes events where people can meet, learn, celebrate, and build relationships. He also arranges for Elders or other keepers of knowledge to participate in Rotary events. Stewart has been honored with an eagle feather and a pipe from Elder Doreen Spence and was given the Blackfoot name Mikostahpinukum (Red Morning) by Elder Herman Yellow Old Woman.

Comedy Night at Yuk Yuk's. Calgary East Rotary Club held a fundraiser on February 2. The 50 plus people in attendance were treated to some great comedy from Jacob Balshin  (MC), Scott Dumas (Middle) and Dale Ward (Headliner). Humor certainly is the best medicine and we raised some money for Rotary in the process. Look for another chance to enjoy Comedy Night at Yuk Yuk's in the fall!

Three young leaders gave presentations at our club on January 19th. Luke Mendonca and Kaleb Langton attended the Rotary Alberta Youth Entrepreneurship Camp at Eagle's Nest Ranch in the Cypress Hills in August and shared their experiences. They were two of 58 campers supported by 10 leaders and 24 volunteers who learned hands on about entrepreneurship. In teams, they developed business plans, got loans from teams of bankers, and created their products. At the conclusion of the Business Day, when families came to pick up their campers, all the loans were repaid with interest and fees. Each camper went home with $20 to $120 and some teams made donations to charity on top of that. 

 

Eve Pigat attended the Zone Interact Convention sponsored by the Rotary Club of Calgary East in October. The four day convention was attended by over 50 Interact members from Districts across Canada and the United States. Speakers included Rotary leaders like RI Director Drew Kessler and RI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Vice Chair Brian Rusch. Eve really enjoyed the program and meeting Interactors from across the Zone.

Rotarians from Calgary Easy teamed up with 7 other Calgary area Rotary Clubs to help replace the Community Kitchens delivery truck. The new truck was unveiled on December 19 and Rotarians from the clubs involved were present. Rotarians from all 8 clubs provide volunteers monthly to prepare food boxes for the Good Food Box program. 

Renette Kurz was our guest speaker on Oct 13. Renette teaches at the Morley Community School and leads the Entrepreneurial Academy. Grade 10 and 11 students volunteer in the school's Mini Thni Mini Mart where they sell clothing they helped create through the Iyethka Trading Co. The clothing icludes quality T-shirts and hoodies with unique logos designed by local artist Tyson Crawler. Calgary East Rotary members purchased the orange T-shirts being modelled from the Iyethka Trading Co.

Members from the Calgary East Rotary Club played in the Calgary Rotary Challenger Park golf tournament held at the Bearspaw Golf and Country Club. The annual event raised about $48,000 for the park this year and the total raised in 16 years is about $750,000. Calgary East Rotary is one of many sponsors for the golf tournament.

 

Thanks to the volunteers from the Calgary East Rotary Club who joined volunteers from other Rotary clubs for the Challenger Park fundraiser at Elbow River Casino on August 9 and 10.

 

10 volunteers from the Calgary East Rotary Club cooked and served pancakes and sausages to 275 people at the Forest Lawn 55+ Society Stampede breakfast on July 11. This is an annual event that has been supported by the Calgary East Rotary Club fpr many years. Everyone enjoyed the food and the live music and line dancing.

 

4 volunteers from the Calgary East Rotary Club joined volunteers from the Marlborough Community Association for the annual community clean up. A steady stream of community members dropped off garbage, yard waste, and metal and electronics recycling. This annual event helps keep the community clean.