WEYBURN – Rotary clubs across Canada and around the world are helping to make the world a better place, Weyburn Rotary members heard from the district governor, Sonja Suset, on Thursday.
A member of the Moose Jaw Wakamow club, she spoke about upcoming conferences, including the district conference to be hosted in Moose Jaw this year, and the Rotary International conference, which will be in Calgary in 2025.
She also shared about different projects other clubs are doing, suggesting the Weyburn club could take inspiration from these activities.
Suset shared how in Calgary, Rotary Clubs there take part in an annual Christmas tree contest where the organization who has the most food donations under it wins a $5,000 cash prize they can use to further their activities.
She noted the Rotary tree wins this contest every year, as clubs around Calgary pile up the food donations for the food bank.
“I thought schools could do that, with classrooms competing with each other,” she said.
“We think a better world is always possible. We’re privileged to live the life we live. That’s what Rotary is all about, to make the world a better place,” she added, pointing out that if a program or service makes a difference in one person’s life, it’s worth the effort.
There are some 46,000 Rotary Clubs around the world, and here in District 5550, there are 1,023 members in 43 clubs, which includes two satellite clubs, said Suset.
This district extends from Saskatchewan through Manitoba to Northern Ontario, down to the Kenora area. COVID has had an impact on clubs, with many seeing a reduced membership.
The district lost clubs in Yorkton and Flin Flon in the last couple of years, and the club in Thompson, Man., is down to seven members, but Suset said they are holding on and will not shut their doors anytime soon.
The district governor noted Moose Jaw will be hosting the district conference on May 10-11, with a theme of mental health and mental well-being.
“We need to talk about mental health. We need to treat it like any other disease, and we need more people to deal with it,” said Suset, noting if there are friends or club members that people haven’t seen or heard from in a while, make sure to give them a call, because there’s no telling what other people might be suffering through.
The Rotary International conference, which is usually in another part of the world, will be in Calgary in 2025, and urged members to consider taking it in. The RI conference this year will be in Singapore.
The conference in Calgary will be held at the Stampede grounds in a new facility currently under construction, with this international conference the first one to use it, with between 25,000 and 30,000 Rotary members from around the world expected to be attending.
“What we’re doing in Rotary is bringing hope. We do construction projects, Ripple Effect projects,” she said. “It’s good people from the community doing good things.”
