2005/06
Derek Rickwood was President and Bill Robinson Rotarian of the Year. We started a partnership with Heart and Stroke by taking over the organization of their Golf Tournament. These tournaments raised $42,000 for Heart and Stroke. Our fundraisers included: Bingo, Art Auction, Art Calendars, Citrus for Charity, Dragon Boat Bar and Club Auction
2006/07
Glynis Hays was president with Larry Rumming as Rotarian of the Year. The club voted to register under the Provincial Society Act. GSE teams were from South Korea and Brazil. A new Interact club that was chartered on February 10, 2007. A three-year $1000 Richard Johnston award was established and a new $1,000 Scholarship award for Cedar Secondary was announced. The two bursary awards for Malaspina University College were increased to $1,000 each. Fundraisers included: Art Calendar, Art Auction and Gala, Bingo, Vegas Draw, Polio Plus Partners Raffle, Club Auction, Golf Tournament for Heart and Stroke, and Dragon Boat Bar. For Fellowship: we got together for a Wine Tour, a Mexican Night and Dinghy Dock Pub Night. As part of Project Amigo, we sponsored continuing education for Ana Alicia Mendieta. Club volunteers helped to collect donations at the Vancouver Island Symphony’s Symphony in the Harbour. The District conference was in Tacoma.
Guests: Anne Northwood, Simon, Luiza and Veera ( our exchange students) Kalina (a returned exchange student) and Annika Wite
Charlene gave a very interesting presentation about the Foundation and its success.
Take a Hike partners with public school districts to engage vulnerable youth in a full-time mental health and emotional well-being program embedded in an alternate education classroom. Its mission is to empower vulnerable youth with the skills and resilience they need to graduate high school, build healthy relationships, navigate the challenges of young adulthood, and achieve success. Started twenty years ago Take a Hike has developed a proven, trauma-informed, evidence-based program model that has transformed the lives of hundreds of disadvantaged youth in B.C. along with their families.
Youth spend one day each week learning outdoors where they can test and apply knowledge to real-life situations, the result is increased engagement in academics and course retention by learning experientially and in the wilderness.
Embedded in each classroom is a full-time registered clinical counsellor who provides continuous, intensive support, helping youth develop social and emotional skills, work through challenges and address mental health concerns.
The Take a Hike program also involves three multi-day wilderness trips ranging from 3 to 10 days depending on the student’s grade level and the season. Spring and fall actives include hiking, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking and indoor rock-climbing, while winter activities include snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, and ice-skating.
Every week at Take a Hike youth engage in service-learning and volunteering in their community in the spirit of giving back in gratitude for the support they have received.
Take a Hike opened its first Vancouver Island program in Nanaimo in September 2019. Initially, the program opened to a small number of youth who could benefit from the unique program. However, within the year, it was quickly realized that it needed to expand to meet the need of the youth of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Community. Capacity was doubled to 40 youth. In March 2020, a new program was started in Cowichan Valley to serve 20 youth. In September 2021 the program was opened in Saanich and a new program will start in Sooke this year.
For more info go to: www.takeahikefoundation.org.
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