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Members of the Wawa Rotary Club have often been asked – how does the Wawa Rotary Club make their money and how do they spend it? This is a great, timely question as we are in the process of asking the community for donations for the Radio Auction and selling tickets for the Gourmet Dinner. The money we get comes primarily from the community so the community should know how we get it and how we spend it.
The largest portion of our budget comes from the sale of Nevada tickets – the ‘pull’ tickets that you can purchase at the Circle K convenience store. The various recipients of those funds are determined each year and must be approved by the Michipicoten Township. These recipients are groups/organizations that benefit the community in general and most frequently children. For instance, all of the schools in the community are on the list of approved recipients, as are various athletic clubs (Wawa Minor Hockey, Figure Skating Club) social service organizations (Children’s Aid, Iris Place, Algoma Literacy, The Food Bank) health services (LDHC Foundation, Wawa Family Health Team, CNIB Eye Van) and Rotary-sponsored educational awards, amongst others. As of January 31, 2019, we have distributed close to $ 16,000.00 to ten different organizations. We expect that this will double before the end of the Rotary year (June 30, 2019).
We also hold four fundraisers throughout the year. These include; the selling of Christmas Nuts, the Winter Carnival Pancake Breakfast, the upcoming Radio Auction, and the Gourmet Dinner. This allows us to contribute to organizations or causes that are not on the Nevada list. These will include such things as: the Royal Canadian Legion, Sight and Sound (sight/hearing testing for children), Plan International (Foster Child), contributions to maintenance of Scenic High Falls, requests from individuals to assist with health care expenses (purchase of assistive devices) and also to offset some of our club costs – insurance, and supplies for the Volunteer Income Tax Preparation program. This is also where we get the funds to participate in the World Community Service Program and the fight against polio.
The World Community Service Program operates in conjunction with Rotary International (RI). In a nutshell, if we contribute 2,500 US$ to an approved project our Rotary district will match the funds and RI may also contribute matching grants. It is important to note that the club must contribute $ 100 per member (on average) to Rotary International each Rotary year in order to be eligible for matching grants. Many of the Wawa Rotary members contribute this and more each and every year. This allows us to sponsor projects in our community (community garden shed) or throughout the world (biosand water filters, medical clinics) for example. In the recent past, we have been operating on the basis of alternating between local and world projects from year to year.
You will often see Rotarian Liz Talian-Clarke sitting at a table with a Polio jar, soliciting donations for the Polio Plus campaign. All of the funds raised through this goes directly to Rotary International Polio Plus. In the current Rotary year, we have contributed more than $ 1,700.00 to the Polio Plus campaign which is matched two for one by the Gates Foundation for a total of over $ 5,100.
The cost of membership is assumed by each of the members with the payment of quarterly dues. In addition, we raise a small amount of money at each meeting with the ‘fines’ – about $ 3.00 per person -which we use for fellowship events throughout the year. You may see us eating at every meeting – rest assured that the money for this comes from the pockets of the individual Rotarians.
You may also see Rotarians participating in events that do not bring in any funds but that we do to raise our profile and also to help out organizations in our community. This includes the Wawa Winter Carnival Exposition, the Drag Races, and the Ride for Cancer.
As a Rotarian, I am proud that we are able to assist such a wide variety of organizations within our community. I am also proud that we are able to raise a significant amount of funds in a year within our community. We rely heavily on the generosity of our business owners and citizens to hold successful fundraising events. Thank you to those who have contributed in the past and will continue to contribute. When you see a Rotarian trying to sell tickets, or nuts, or pancakes, or asking for donations you can be sure that the proceeds will be used wisely.
Oh by the way – did you get your Gourmet dinner draw ticket yet? You can call me (Bev Boyd) at (705) 856-7546.
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