Stories

Rotary assisted in our community today - to children and seniors - by donating stuffies and squishies for children entering Charlotte County Hospital and by donating to Lonicera Hall's fundraising drive for a much needed generator. As the sign says - Rotary at Work Here.

Rotary always has its ear to the ground to hear about what needs and projects are occupying groups in the area. Trudy Higgins from Lonicera Hall attended the Monday noon meeting to talk about the the improvements and the continued needs of this historic residence for seniors in St. Stephen. A goodly sized generator to ensure that the 20 residents and staff can cope with weather related issues is on their current needs list.

Our Community Call to Action was a tremendous success as the local community responded to the invitation to 'come see what Rotary does' in our community and share ideas on what we all could do together to benefit our town. An enthusiastic crowd and pages of ideas to take into the next step. Thank you to all who attended!!!

Rotary gave away $1800 today in the Super Draw Early Bird - Rotarians drawing and tracking winners and doing a live stream video with the aid of a Rotary friend did their pre-Christmas good deed as 12 lucky people won some dollars. THE BIG DRAW IS IN FEBRUARY AND THERE ARE 11 TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!!!

Rotary in person - past and present members, all friends doing what Rotarians do best - providing community service at this year's Christmas Toy Drive.

Rotarians welcomed Coach Don Walker and players Beth Harris and Anna Somers to their noon meeting where they accepted the Rotary Club's annual $1,000 donation towards the SSHS Varsity Girls Basketball Team's tournament which will take place Dec 16th.

Rotary answers needs and provides support wherever there is a need. In this instance, it's a $500 donation, accepted by Heather Bridges, for the Milltown Elementary School Home and School Association Holiday PJ Drive.

DG 7815 Roger Sevigny was our guest at today's noon meeting - available in person at Carman's Diner and on Zoom. He received a box of Ganong chocolates of course, and a book in his honour donated to the children's section of the local St. Croix Public Library.

The Rotary Club of St. Stephen-Milltown supported the 10th annual radiothon for the Charlotte County Hospital Foundation with a $1000 donation as well as having members volunteer to man the phones. The late afternoon shift were only 3 of many Rotarians who served in this fashion, Sharlene, Steve and Maria.

Rotarians are at the Super Store today to collect food items for the Volunteer Food Bank - we want to 'fill the truck' and all donations, including cash and gift cards, will make members in our community 'less hungry' - food insecurity is part of so many families in our community.

The 2023 Rotary Run to Fuel Young Minds brought smiles to many faces - congratulations to all winners - our sponsor shirts looked wonderful - Rotarians can't do what they do without that tremendous community support!

Sally Madsen of 'Jamie's Dream' informed the club of exactly what can be accomplished in Equine Assisted Learning, a 12 week program facilitating Life Living Skills with the horse, at a recent meeting.

Rotarians were pleased to welcome St. Stephen Middle School principal Bronwyn Tanner today as she gave us details on the outdoor activity/playground that we supported with a significant cash donation. She also spoke with our environmental committee member about the importance of programs that recycle clothing while assisting those who need a helping hand.

Our guests from the Multicultural Association of Charlotte County - both Aura and her young son -captivated members as she both informed us about welcoming programs for immigrants to our county and asked questions about Rotary and its role in our community.

Rotary in St. Stephen honoured Earth Day with a Paint Swap that kept some paints from the landfill - an effort of our Environmental Committee.

Our club with another busy day focusing on community caring. As part of an annual program here are the club donations of stuffed animals to the Charlotte County Hospital for assisting children cope with their health visit/stay.

The Rotary Super Draw sales of only 350 $100 tickets support local youth sports teams, youth groups, children in need and service organizations such as Rotarians Reaching Out to Read, We've Got Your Back, Hospice of Charlotte, Charlotte County Hospital Foundation, Transition  House, Volunteer Centre Food Bank, and Dial-a-Ride.

Another successful toy drive for Charlotte County in the wind and the rain - a little warmer than last year, but not by much .

 

Thank you to Mark Downey, Charlotte98.1fm for there ongoing support and promotion and special thank you to Canadian Tire for allowing us to set up by their front door and Cox Electronics for the use of their awesome truck.

 

And, of course, the volunteer team of Rotarians - Mark, Les, Tom, Tina, Richard, Kelly, Steve - AND the amazing generosity of toy donors.

When we are not helping out in the community we love to have fun.

 

Celebrating laughter, creativity and friendship a great time was had by all during our Halloween lunch meeting today.

 

More photos of all the shenanigans here. 

World Polio Day saw members of the St. Stephen-Milltown Rotary Club planting (this is year number 4) 'End Polio Now' tulips in the three flower beds next to the walking trail in downtown St. Stephen.

 

You can view more photos of the event here.

President Ken MacTavish made a $2000 presentation to the Campobello Island Consolidated School towards their green space refurbishment project recently, all part of the Rotary Club's community support of 'green ventures'.

Another successful 'Fill the Truck Food Drive' held at the SuperStore by Rotarians on a bright and sunny Thursday. Many thanks to the extremely generous people of Charlotte County who contributed both food items and cash to assist the Volunteer Centre's clients.

 

Shout out to St Stephen Superstore for allowing us the space to do it, Rotarians & friends of Rotary who volunteered.

 

Together we collected 160 kg and $1191.11 in money and gift cards at the 3rd Harvest Food Drive!

 

Thank you all!

The community, Rotary and the Environment working together.

 

75 compost bins went out in just 30 minutes - surprising and pleasing everyone - thank you for the environmentally friendly response and the generosity - we collected $362 for the food bank while providing service on a lovely sunny day

 

Thanks to Canadian Tire, Kent for the bins, thanks to 98.1 Charlotte FM and St. Croix Courier for the promotion, thanks to all the generous participating drive-in customers, thanks to the Rotarians who made this a wonderful team effort.

 

 

Since 2009 the Rotary Club of St. Stephen-Milltown has gifted the children's section of the local St. Croix Public Library with a book in honour of each speaker or presenter that addressed our club meetings.

 

In the 14 years since then we have donated 187 books, each chosen by the library to add to known favourite reading by local children in grades 1 through 8.