
Welcome to our Club!

Service Above Self
Willowdale, ON
Canada










Our wish is to bring cheer in the Spring of 2021 and remind us of the dedication of all Frontline workers in our community. We need your donations now. 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 Garden.

The Phillips House and Maddie’s Healing Garden
Rotary Club of Willowdale is organizing their annual Community Building Fundraising Event, and this year the Phillips House and Maddie's Healing Garden at North York General Hospital will be the recipients of the funds raised during the Celebrity Dinner on November 6th, 2020.
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Rotaract Club of Willowdale names
"Smiles In Action"
their Number One Community Service Project in 2020-21
The Rotaract Club of Willowdale decided to make the "Smiles In Action" program their number one Community Services project for 2020/2021 and beyond, as both groups have forged a meaningful partnership for fostering goodwill, making an impact is our communities and opening doors for opportunities.The Smiles Foundation is a non-profit institution with its seat in Canada, based in the United States and in the Dominican Republic. Their goal is to provide life-enhancing activities, dental care and primary health care education to children in the Dominican Republic, free of charge, as well as to offer underprivileged communities tools to develop and improve their health, environment, and safety through our educational and social enterprise programs. Here area a few images of the new Mobile Clinic in the Dominican Republic. The clinic was used only a few times before we had to close it due to COVID - 19. 668 children got treated in it and a few thousand family members received primary health care and dental education.
For more on this organization, please get in touch with Courtney Doldron at the Rotary Club of Willowdale (at csdoldron@rogers.com)
Smiles In Action: 2727 Steeles Avenue West, Suite 301, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 3G9, Canada
Canadian Charitable Organization Registration # 86854 4362 RR0001
T: (416) 739 1237 - - smilesinaction@smilesfoundation.org - - www.smilesinaction.org
We could all use another tree in our yard, and the Bayview Village Association, along with The Rotary Club of Willowdale and The City of Toronto, is here to help.
A Freeman Maple in all its glory (photo courtesy of Connon Nurseries)
The Neighborhood Tree Giveaway Program, formally known as “Tree for Me,” supports the City of Toronto’s goal of reaching a 40% tree canopy cover by 2050.
This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020, from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Forest Grove United Church, located at 43 Forest Grove Drive.
The “Neighborhood Tree Giveaway Program” program offers residents a free native tree that is best suited for their planting space and provides reference materials as well as a workshop on proper planting and care. To register go on EventBrite, at the following link.
A few facts about your free tree:
• The City of Toronto and Connon Nurseries provide all trees, which are native to Toronto’s seed zone and suited for our urban environment.
• Trees come in 1-2 gallon buckets and are small enough to carry on the TTC or sit in the back of a car.
• Residents will be limited to two trees (total) per address.
• Species of the trees/shrubs are subject to availability:
Large Trees: Freeman Maple, Ironwood, Hackberry
Medium Trees: Eastern Redbud
Shrubs: Purple Flowering Raspberry, Nannyberry, Service Berry, and Bush Honeysuckle.
Any questions about the program? Contact Sharon Johnson, BVA Environment Committee at environment@bayviewvillage.org.
https://www.bayviewvillage.org/p/Environment/article/Have-We-Got-a-Tree-For-You-1437305501

Greetings, fellow Rotarians and Rotaractors!
I am so honored to serve as your president this year. We have important work ahead of us at Rotary, and we are going to have a lot of fun as we do it.
Last year, we launched our five-year Action Plan to build a stronger future for Rotary. We are working to increase our impact, expand our reach, enhance participant engagement, and increase our ability to adapt. The last several months have shown that we — as Rotarians and Rotaractors — can realize these goals as we forge a new path for the future.
Without question, COVID-19 has posed new and previously unimaginable challenges for Rotary. But within every challenge is perhaps an even greater opportunity. And while I could not have known what lay ahead when I selected my theme for the year, Rotary Opens Opportunities has even greater relevance as we begin our new Rotary year.
I am incredibly inspired by how our members have adapted and responded to COVID-19. This global pandemic has made it difficult for many of our clubs to operate as usual, but we persevered, and over the past few months, I’ve enjoyed connecting with my fellow Rotarians and Rotaractors in a new way: by visiting hundreds of clubs from my home. It’s been fun to attend so many meetings virtually. If you haven’t already, I encourage your club to try an online meeting or add an online component, like hosting a guest speaker from a Rotary or Rotaract club located in a different part of the world.
As we build a stronger future for our organization, it’s good that we are reaching out to new people and introducing them to Rotary. It’s important that our clubs reflect the communities we serve. More diverse voices in our clubs and in our leadership will help Rotary stay in touch with a changing world.
So let’s find every opportunity to show we value each and every member. Let’s seize this moment to build on what we’ve learned, to embrace our new reality, to welcome new faces, and to find additional ways to shine. This is how we will have a continuing impact on the world. And if you need assistance along the way, Rotary offers many resources that can help you reach your goals.
Rotary means different things in different parts of the world, but we are all united by our core values and by The Four-Way Test. Rotary may change, but our values remain constant.
I look forward to hearing about how you’re finding new opportunities to engage and make an impact in your club and community. Rotary Opens Opportunities, both for the people we serve and for ourselves.
Thank you.
Holger Knaack
RI President, 2020-21
The Rotary Club of Willowdale was chartered on May 1st, 1952, with the approval of Rotary International and became part of District 7070. Rotary is an organization that represents about 1.2 million Rotarians in 30,000 clubs in 162 countries around the world.
Our club has over 50 members from many different walks of life. We represent many of the professions and businesses in Willowdale. Women have been encouraged to join our club for a dozen years.
Some of our traditions in the Rotary Club of Willowdale include: - Regular attendance at the weekly Thursday lunch meetings is encouraged in order to keep in touch with Rotary friends and Rotary projects.
If a member is travelling, he/she can attend any other Rotary club and receive credit for make-up attendance. Many Rotarians take pride in regular attendance. One member of our club has more than fifty-four years of perfect attendance.
Over the years the Club has started, sponsored or started many projects both local and international. Some the project descriptions can be found in the "Our Club at Work" article.
At nearly every meeting we have a guest speaker that present events happening at their particular organization or on current affairs. A few months after a new member joins our club, he or she is asked to give a classification talk at a lunch meeting, with a brief summary of his/her life history, vocation and connection to Rotary. It also gives the new member an opportunity to promote and advertise the particular business or industry they are in.