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Ham and Cheese Christmas Fundraising Project

The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup June 26th, 2021.

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Latest News:

David Daudi Laizer presented with the Paul Harris Award

Rotary Club of Willowdale is proud to have completed building three new classrooms at J. K. Nyerere Primary School.

The students are happy studying in their new classroom, at their new desks with lights on!

The students and teachers are very excited, and we are happy to continue with the construction of more classrooms during this summer of 2021.

Rotary Club of Willowdale is very proud of all the great people working on this project's success in Arusha, in Canada and other countries. A

special thanks to Fellow Rotarian Margaret with her family and friends, Fellow Rotarian Howard with his family and friends, and all Fellow Rotarian members contributing to this beautiful project. PEOPLE OF ACTION!

Click on this link to make donations to this project.

https://willowdalerotary.org/page/donate/

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Club President Notification:

Thank you to all that contributed to our annual Holiday Ham & Cheese Project. Your donation is well received and will help with our club's continued community and charity projects.

WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE OUR NEXT PROJECT:

The Rotary Club of Willowdale is happy to celebrate in person again, our traditional Christmas Holiday Season Luncheon in support of the Salvation Army.

We invite you and your family to join us in person at the Grand Luxe Event Boutique, in North York.

Tickets are $55 per person and your donations are highly appreciated.

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KERALA

Computer project Phase 1 Completed!

Rotary Club of Willowdale is proud to have Fellow Rotarian Jobson lead this beautiful computer project for flood affected schools in Kerala, India.

Our Fellow Rotarian Jobson is happy and honoured to lead this project of re-building computer labs in Kerala, India schools which was washed away during the unprecedented flood in 2018. We are happy to announce completion of phase one. Jobson would like to thank his good friend

Anil Sankar

who was very instrumental on this idea and Sunil K Zachariah (Past Rotary Governor) for coordinating this project. Thank you to all donors and the Rotary Club of Willowdale, Canada for leading fund raising for this project. A sincere thanks to the Rotary Club of kalamassery and Rajagiri the reach/college of social sciences for executing and effectively administering this project.

The first phase is done, and the computers were delivered and received with great celebration!

PEOPLE OF ACTION!

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Welcome to our Club!

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 12:30 PM

We meet weekly using Zoom
Willowdale, ON
Canada

District Site

Venue Map

In Person Christmas Holiday Season Celebration December 16th, 2021

The Rotary Club of Willowdale is happy to invite you, to our in person Christmas/Holiday Season luncheon in support of the Salvation Army. Our Holiday celebration will be held at the Grand Luxe Event Boutique, 3125 Bayview Ave., North York (East side, midway between Sheppard and Finch), on Thursday, December 16, 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM (lunch at 12:30 PM).

The cost of “tickets” is $55 per person. You are encouraged to bring one cheque for you and your guests made out to the Rotary Club of Willowdale with “tickets” in the message line.

As we are raising funds for the Salvation Army, Yorkwoods and their Homework Club afterschool program, we encourage you to bring a second cheque for donation made out to the Rotary Club of Willowdale with “Salvation Army” in the message line. A charitable donation receipt will be issued.

For those who would like to participate, a cash 50/50 draw will be available.

Participants will be required to wear a mask (at least when entering), show proof of double vaccination (and perhaps photo ID).

We can promise a good meal (with a cash bar), good fellowship and good entertainment which will probably include an opportunity for a seasonal sing-along.

We are happy to meet in person again, so we encourage you to invite family, friends, acquaintances, total strangers, etc. It would be much appreciated if you could RSVP to Bill King, lyonrex@rogers.com or 416-223-4646 ASAP. The Rotary Club of Willowdale is looking forward to seeing you there!

It's that time of the year again! Order your Ham & Cheese now!

Rotary Club of Willowdale is happy to continue with our traditional end of the year Ham and Cheese fundraising project, lead by our Fellow Rotarians John Simpson and Vern Barney.

Please order by November 14th, 2021, and help us support important causes in our community.

Rotary Foundation Major Donor Crystal in recognition of Carol Barney.

The Rotary Foundation Major Donor Crystal was created in recognition of Carol Barney.

On the left side is engraved “Carol Melba Barney”

On the right side “The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International “.

This is a very beautiful piece of artwork and accompanies the Major Donor pins presented by the Rotary Foundation,

to Carol and Vern Barney. Carol is Happy!

Until we meet again Dennis.

It's with a heavy heart that we are announcing the sad news of the departure of our beloved Fellow Rotarian Dennis Kuysten. Our deepest condolences to his wife Lu Ann Lafrenz, his son Kristopher, family and friends.

Dennis Kuysten of Bobcaygeon, formerly of Willowdale, Ontario passed away at home October 28, 2021 at the age of 68. Beloved husband of Lu Ann Lafrenz and dear father of Kristopher. Dennis is survived by his wife, son, mother Anne Gauthier (Brockville), sister Wilma Kuysten (Brockville), nephew Harris Lemon (Kingston) and brother Laurence (estranged), and numerous in-law family members in Iowa and Illinois. Dennis is predeceased by father Adriann Stephanus. Dennis was born and raised in Brockville, Ontario. Dennis worked in the Fleet Management industry for over 40 years and was part of the founding team at Transportaction Lease Systems Inc. (TLS) His work legacy was creating and implementing innovative ways to procure the funding needed to grow TLS into one of the largest fleet management companies in Canada. He is credited with being the first to develop and implement funding by way of “securitization”, which is used by all corporations in the industry today. After retiring from TLS, he continued in the industry by starting Tax Plan Leasing.

For almost a quarter of a century many wonderful memories were created at the family cottage on beautiful Stoney Lake. Involvement in Boy Scouts started for Dennis as a youth and grew into an adult leadership role in the 6^th Willowdale Scouts. After retirement Dennis became active in the Willowdale Rotary Club and he was a former president and Paul Harris Fellow. Recently he was involved in both the Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon Probus clubs. Amazing friendships were born from his curling at Avon Lea (Toronto), Bayview Golf & Country Club (Thornhill), Bobaygeon Curling Club and the Canada to Scotland 2014 Rotary Curling Tour Team. Additional activities he enjoyed include travelling across Canada and internationally, water sports, winter sports, winter and RV camping, golfing, cooking, playing cards, listening to 60s music and using up eight of his nine lives on motorcycles. Anyone that knew Dennis would say “he has a sense of humor, with a joke for every subject” and “stay away from talking politics unless you’re up for a hardy debate".

Thank you Dennis for all your great years of service. You will be missed.

Rally for North York General Hospital.

Over Thanksgiving weekend members of the Rotary Club of Willowdale and family members took part in the Rally for North York General Hospital.

It was a lovely day for a family walk and our team raised $1350.00! Thank you to all our supporters.

Happy To be Outside Again!

Rotaract Club of Willowdale was very happy to join again the Rotary Club of Willowdale in an outside event in July, 2021. We would like to thank Heather and David for hosting such a great event, and for making us feel close to a normal service club again in the company of our fellow members. It was Awesome!

Rotaract Willowdale at The 2021 Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup

Some of our members joined members of the Rotary Club of Willowdale in The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup Project last June 26th, 2021. This event was part of the 2021 District 7070 Conference.

Paul Harris Award Presented to David Daudi Laizer & Doug Dempsey Literacy Award Presented to Rotary Club of Willowdale

https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubOfWillowdale/videos/496768924949170/

The Rotary Club of Willowdale honoured David Daudi Laizer with a Paul Harris Award, for his magnificent work at the J.K. Nyerere Primary school in Arusha, Tanzania. The Rotary Club of Willowdale recognizes that this ongoing, amazing project has been successful with the kind help of David Daudi Laizer, Margaret Adat and Riyaz Adat, without whom the project would never have got off the ground and developed into the ongoing and growing project so close to our hearts today.

Indeed a project recognized and honoured by our Rotary colleagues in District 7070. At the district year end celebration, the club was awarded the Doug Dempsey Literacy Award for our work with the J. K. Nyerere Primary School in Arusha Tanzania. The District 7070 award is due to the great work of our Fellow Rotarian Margaret Adat. Her great team is joined by her husband Riyaz Adat, David Daudi Laizer, Ms Mlay and the Rotary Club of Willowdale.

David was surprised with this beautiful video produced by Riyaz. David was thrilled! Here is his response:

“I would like to thank all members of Rotary Club for your appreciation and for trusting me to be your representative to

J. K. Nyerere Primary School. I know that it was not easy for you to believe and to trust on that. I thank you a lot. may all mighty bless the work of your hands”

We are very proud of this project and of the awards presented to David, Margaret and the Rotary Club of Willowdale.

Past President Stephen Phillips

Rotary Club of Willowdale would like to extent it's utmost gratitude for all the great contributions we received in 2020-2021. We are at the end of another Rotary year, and It was an honour to serve you as President. I am handing over the GAVEL to our President Elect Chungsen Leung.

Thank you everybody for a beautiful Virtual Turn Over meeting on June 26th, 2021. This was our second one, and I sincerely hope we will have the next one in person with all our Fellow Rotarians.

It's an understatement to mention that it was a very tough year for many! The Pandemic was a big lesson for all of us. The Rotary Club of Willowdale suffered the loss of great members and partners. Jan, Deborah and Carol, we will miss you forever!

Despite it all, people contributed to our projects, and for that we are grateful. Because of your kind donations, our projects were successful and made a significant difference in the life of many in Canada and abroad.

Thank you for contributing to: our Ham & Cheese project benefiting North York Salvation Army, our first Rotary Foundation Virtual Walk, our Food Bank benefiting North York Harvest Food Bank, The Phillips House project at the North York General Hospital, The Arusha School project in Tanzania Africa, The Kerala Schools Project in India -- offering computers to 15 schools in 4 districts, our Gratitude Garden project honouring our front line workers, SMILES benefiting locals and people in the Dominican Republic, and many more projects we are proud of.

I have no doubt that our projects will continue to be successful in the very capable hands of our magnificent team and new board members. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to serve you, and a big thank to my family for all the great support during this past unprecedented year. Service Above All!

Welcome to our new President and Board 2021-2022

One June 26th, 2021, Rotary Club of Willowdale held it's second virtual Turn Over event.

Our President Stephen Phillips handed over the gavel to President Elect, Chungsen Leung.

We welcome our new President Chungsen Leung and his Board of Directors 2021-2022:

President

President-Elect

Secretary

Treasurer

Past President

Community Service

International Service

Foundation Chair

Membership Chair

Fundraising Chair

Club Administration

Assistant Treasurer

Public Imaging-Web Master

Uka Marchena

We are looking forward to continue navigating these special times we are living in, and we are counting on your support to continue with the good work. Our projects are important to our local communities as well as abroad.

Our committees are all set to go and our legacy projects are in good hands.

Working Committees:

Fund Raising	Heather Graeme (Chair/Coordinator) Jobson Easow Margaret Adat John Simpson (Ham & Cheese)
Speakers	Al Warren (Chair/Coordinator) Bill King Peter Vanek
International/Community Projects	Jobson Easow (Chair/Coordinator) Margaret Adat Heather Graeme
Environmental Initiatives	Stephen Philips (Chair/Coordinator) Chungsen Leung
Technical Support (Virtual Meetings)	Al Warren

Legacy Projects:

Arusha, Tanzania - Margaret Adat

Kerela, India - Jobson Easow

Salvation Army (Literacy & Christmas Luncheon) - Dae-Gun Kim

Gratitude Garden - Heather Graeme

Scouts Peace Award (new) - Heather Graeme

Tree Planting (environmental) - Stephen Philips

Water Projects - Peter Vanek

70^th Anniversary Celebration - Bill King (Coordinator) Stephen Philips

Thank you to our outgoing Board of Directors 2020-2021:

President

President-Elect

Secretary

Treasurer

Past President

Community Service

International Service

Foundation Chair

Membership Chair

Fundraising Chair

Club Administration

Assistant Treasurer

Public Relations

Successful Tree Give Away Project 2021

We are grateful to look back at a successful 2021 Tree Give Away event with our partner Bayview Village Association.

Thank you Heather and David for representing the Rotary Club of Willowdale during this event.

The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup Was Awesome!

Our Rotary Club of Willowdale had a great end of the year event to close with.

The Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup project was part of the District 7070 district conference last June 26th, 2021, and our members enjoyed making a difference in our environment.

Always in Our Hearts

ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS Jan, Deborah and Carol.

Missing you big time! 2020-2021 was a tough one!

Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup June 26th 2021

JOIN THE ROTARY CLUB OF WILLOWDALE GREAT LAKES WATERSHED CLEANUP TEAM. The more the merrier! Saturday 26th June 14.00 – 17.00 hrs. This will be the final activity of the Rotary year 20/21. Location: East Don Parkland on Cummer where the Don River crosses under the road. Call us and join as a volunteer on our team.

J. K. Nyerere Primary School - Textbooks For All

For the first time ever the students of J. K. Nyerere Primary School now have text books for all standards and all subjects thanks to a very generous donor to the Rotary Club of Willowdale. Thank you to this generous soul.

Click on this link to watch video.

https://www.facebook.com/jknyerereprimaryschool/videos/1737902863037750

Rotary Club of Willowdale is very proud of all the great people working on this project's success in Arusha, in Canada and other countries. A special thanks to Fellow Rotarian Margaret with her family and friends, Fellow Rotarian Howard with his family and friends, and all Fellow Rotarian members contributing to this beautiful project. PEOPLE OF ACTION!

Click on this link to make donations to this project.

https://willowdalerotary.org/page/donate/

Tree Give Away Event of Bayview Village Association & Rotary Club of Willowdale

The Rotary Club of Willowdale is proud to be part of this magnificent TREE GIVE AWAY project led by Bayview Village Association. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the pick up date and time was postponed. A new date is yet to be determined.

Bayview Village Association & Willowdale Rotary Club Tree...

Gratitude Gardens Project on the Radio

Rotary Club of Willowdale's Gratitide Gardens project dedicated to the frontline workers, was featured on CBC Radio One in the Metro Morning show.

CBC's Mary Wiens interviewed Heather Graeme, the project leader, together with very exited frontline workers. Thank you to everybody for making this project a success. Your donation to continue creating Gratitude Gardens is highly appreciated.

Please visit our donation page on our website.

https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubOfWillowdale/videos/386086342523527

BVA News Featuring Gratitude Gardens

BVA News featured the Gratitude Gardens project of the Rotary Club of Willowdale.

https://www.bayviewvillage.org/p/BVA-News/article/Gratitude-Gardens-at-North-York-General-2117501841

New Books - Happy Kids in Arusha

New Books - Happy Kids!

The students at the J. K. Nyerere Primary School in Arusha, Tanzania, are enjoying their new books donated by the Rotary Club of Willowdale in North York, Ontario, Canada.

This is the first time in the history of the school that there are adequate text books for every subject and every standard/grade. Many thanks to a generous friend of the Rotary Club of Willowdale who made this happen.

Your support is always appreciated. Many thanks to all our friends and all that kindly supports Rotary Club of Willowdale's projects. Many thanks to Riyaz and Margaret for putting together this beautiful video.

Please click on this link to watch the video.

https://fb.watch/5k0ZZoskjy/

2021 Virtual Convention

Be There!

Posted by Rotary District 7070 on Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Enjoy The Construction Progress of 3 New Classrooms for J. K. Nyerere Primary School in Arusha, Tanzania

And The Great Work Continues!

Click on the following link and watch the construction progress.

https://fb.watch/5440V_UGUr/

First time adequate text books for every subject and every standard/grade

This is the first time in the history of the J. K. Nyerere Primary School, that there are adequate text books for every subject and every standard/grade.

Many thanks to a generous friend of the Rotary Club of Willowdale who made this happen.

Click on the link below to enjoy the video of the arrival of the books.

https://fb.watch/545yWNcOGB/

The Gratitude Gardens Are In Bloom!

It is the wish of The Rotary Club of Willowdale, that all the frontline workers are smiling and feeling happy with the Gratitude Gardens blooming around their work places in North York. The Covid-19 pandemic brought a lot of hardship and sadness to the World. Our wish is to give hope through nature and feel that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In the fall of 2020, led by our fellow Rotarian Heather Graeme, the Rotary Club of Willowdale created the Gratitude Gardens in the area of Leslie and Sheppard Avenues, and in the Maddie's Healing Garden at the Phillips House located at North York General Hospital.

Our wish is to bring cheer in the Spring of 2021 and beyond. The idea is to remind us of the dedication of all frontline workers in our community. Bringing cheer to all medical staff and essential workers in these stressful times, is something that is close to our hearts.

Rotary Club of Willowdale, with the help of Rotaract Club of Willowdale, planted narcissus bulbs in the fall of 2020 to bring some colour and cheer to those who have been in the frontline of the pandemic for more than a year. 300 bulbs were planted at Philipps House, part of NYGH. 1200 bulbs were planted at the medical building at 1333, Sheppard Avenue East.

This project was possible from donations made by the community and the Rotary family. All funds raised go back to community projects. Please support this project to show our gratitude.

You can still donate to this beautiful project and help us create more gardens around our community. Please go on our Donation page, and contribute by clicking on General Option and after filling in your details write in the comment box For The Gratitude Gardens. You can also go to this link: https://willowdalerotary.org/page/donate/

Thanks to The NYGH Hospital Foundation and Northwest Properties for partnering with us in this project.

THE BOOKS ARE IN!

For the first time ever the students of J. K. Nyerere Primary School now have text books for all standards and all subjects thanks to a very generous donor to the Rotary Club of Willowdale.

Rotary a Club of Willowdale is very proud of all the great people working on this project's success in Arusha, in Canada and many other countries around the World.

Click on the following link to watch the beautiful video made especially for us to enjoy the arrival of the books.

https://fb.watch/4IpbAt_Dqg/

Two Extra Classrooms Completed at Arusha School

Two classrooms are now complete thanks to the generosity of the members, friends and family of the Rotary Club of Willowdale.
Posted by JK Nyerere Primary School on Saturday, March 20, 2021

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