Rotary Club of St. Thomas, Ontario Canada

International Service

The St. Thomas Rotary Club has been active in its support of projects, both large and small, which have served to improve the lives of people, both young and old, outside our own community. In recent years, the club has been involved in these projects:

Polio Plus

The St. Thomas Rotary Club has done its part and more to help meet Rotary International’s goal to eradicate polio from the earth by the year 2005. One project that has well exceeded expectations is the sale of H.O.P.E. teddy bears, a project initiated by the Bracebridge Rotary Club and adopted by the St. Thomas club. Thanks to the efforts of a small, but extremely dedicated group of St. Thomas Rotarians, sales of the bears reached the hundreds and allowed the club to achieve its Polio Plus commitment well before 2005.

Early in 2004, one of our club members joined a group of Rotarians from across Canada who traveled to Utter Pradesh, India to administer polio vaccine to some of the world’s most economically disadvantaged inhabitants.

Trivandrum

This was a project spearheaded by the St .Thomas Rotary Club in 2000-2001 to raise funds to purchase equipment for a new eye hospital in the city of Trivandrum in South India. A grand total of $97,895 was sent to Operation Eyesight Universal (OEU) based in Calgary, Alberta. OEU supervised the purchase and delivery of all the equipment. 35 clubs in District 6330 donated to the project. Matching grants were obtained from Rotary International, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Canadian Rotary Committee for International Development (CRCID). Dr. John and wife Dr. Suriya David visited the St. Thomas Rotary Club on May 6, 2002 to receive the final cheque for $1000 and to show how the equipment was being put to use in Trivandrum. It should also be noted in passing that for many years (up until the present year) the St. Thomas Rotary Club collected eyeglasses no longer needed by the local population and arranged for these glasses to be sent to overseas recipients under the auspices of Operation Eyesight Universal.

Streetkeepers International for Children

Dr. Jim Thompson, a member of the Guelph Rotary Club, founded Streetkeepers International for Children to provide third world street children safe homes and education. The club was pleased to make a financial contribution to this very necessary endeavour and joined Dr. Jim when his 1000 kilometer walk to raise funds and awareness brought him through St. Thomas on May 5, 2003.

Rotary Youth Exchange

From time to time, the St. Thomas Rotary Club has participated in the Rotary Youth Exchange, either on a full year or short term basis. These are wonderful opportunities for visiting young people from other countries to experience Canadian culture and for young people from St. Thomas to travel abroad to experience the culture of other countries. As we get to know one another at the micro level, the seeds are sown for world understanding at the macro level.