Stories

Mayor Don Mitchell delivered his annual address highlighting a number of the Town of Whitby’s major accomplishments in 2017, including the continued revitalization of both Downtowns, progress on active transportation and ongoing transformation of the Town as a destination. The Mayor also provided a snapshot of the Town’s 2018 priorities, including the redevelopment of Town Hall and creation of an Innovation District. The Town’s 2018 Budget Highlights provides additional details on the topics covered by the Mayor and can viewed at whitby.ca/budget.

From Belgium and Back again 

When Melie Genicot returned to Belgium on August 5th, 2016, she took back much more than she left with.

The 18 year old spent a year immersed in Canadian culture as part of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise’s youth exchange program. She now speaks English fluently, has formed lifelong friendships, and learned life lessons she never expected when she stepped off the plane last August.

“It’s the best experience you could have in life to learn about yourself and learn about other people,” she said, reflecting on the past year during her last few days in Canada.

Thursday February 12th, 2015 was another successful dinner service at St. Vincent Pallotti's Kitchen, an extra special Valentine's Day one! We have such amazing, talented and dedicated volunteers that prepared a fabulous spaghetti & homemade meatball dinner for the guests at St. Vincent's. With fresh garlic bread too! Thank you to those who take the time out of your day to serve our community. And a BIG Thank You to everyone who donated their time, ovens and decorations. Special thanks to Petite Thuet bakery for the fresh bread!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday October 9th, 2014 was another successful dinner service at St. Vincent Pallotti's Kitchen, an extra special Thanksgiving one! We have such amazing, talented and dedicated volunteers that prepared a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner for the guests at St. Vincent's tonight. With roast turkey, potatoes, homemade stuffing, squash and apple soup and all the trimmings. Thank you to those who take the time out of your day to serve our community. And a BIG Thank You to everyone who donated their time, ovens and decorations. Special thanks to Stroud's Farm for donating all the vegetables!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On February 7, 2014, Rotarians from Whitby escaped the frigid grip of winter and flew to the Dominican Republic for an unforgettable week of experiences.  This group of twenty individuals included members from both of the Whitby Rotary Clubs as well as a number of spouses and friends.   

This trip offered the opportunity to combine the volunteer efforts of distributing food, clothing and school supplies with a two day hike to the peak of the tallest mountain on the island, Pico Duarte.

Steve Rutledge - member of The Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise - sends his thanks.  Below is an edited version of an email he sent while in Laos.

"We, are pleased to present photos of Lao families member receiving a water filter system, in our ongoing distribution (and hygiene training) in the northern region of Luang Prabang province in Laos.  In this round we distributed 275 systems, with a total of 525 for the year.  THANK YOU!  The three water filter photos below are as a result of the District Matching Grant.  We were able to purchase 13 water filter systems and will begin the main water project in Phonesavanh in the coming weeks. 

Rotarian George Punyaprateep, That's what! George is a dedicated philanthropist whose drive never ceases to amaze us. His projects in Thailand, while centred on education, have a double function....to feed the students. His latest project involves aquaponics, basically a marriage of aquaculture and hyrdoponics to assist the development of students and offer a new farming alternative to the villages throughout northern Thailand.  Follow the link to learn a little more about his amazing projects.

During a recent meeting, we were honoured with the presence of Victoria Kehoe from Distress Centre Durham.  During our summer Ribfest, their amazing team cooked and served hotdogs, hamburgers, back bacon and other goodies to the Ribfest guests.  As a result of their hard work, Victoria was presented with a cheque for the proceeds. Victoria taught us about their critical programs including crisis management and suicide prevention services.  

Dianne McKenzie, Executive Director visited our Club this week to receive a cheque for the proceeds from the Dunk Tank they operated at the Whitby Rotary Ribfest.  Here is what Dianne had to say. 

Our annual dunk tank up and running at the 2013 Spring Fair! 

Click on our Fundraising page for additional details on how we have fun raising money in and for our community.

WE DID IT!.....COLD, HILLS, WATER, MUD, FIRE, ELECTRIC SHOCK, WALLS and more....

Join us at the

Third Annual Polar Plunge - December 27, 2014

History......last year December 28th was a chilly but sunny Saturday on the shore of Lake Ontario, for the second annual Polar Plunge. 70 people, young and old, prepared inside Heydenshore Pavilion to brave the wavy waters.  Under the watchful eye of Med-vents we headed down to the beach and readied ourselves physically and mentally for the Polar Plunge.  The winter of 2013-14 proved to be one of the coldest in the recent past and created a water temperature cooler than last year's Plunge.  The waves were rolling in as the horn sounded for the Plunge to begin.

After the Plunge the smiling and shivering plungers enjoyed Chilli Dogs and warm beverages prepared by the amazing Rotary Sunrise Event Crew. The monies raised at the Polar Plunge will help the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise with local community projects in Whitby and Durham Region.

See you on December 27th 2014! Join us and check something off your bucket list! Click the menu item to the left to register.

June 19th 2014 was a special day at Windreach Farm.  They celebrated 25 years of giving to the community.  Many of Windreach Farm supporters gathered for the celebrations and the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise was there to celebrate with them.  It's fundraising events like our annual Ribfest in July and Savour the Flavour in February that give us the ability to help others in a big way.  Watch this video to see how valuable Windreach Farm is to the community and thank you to everyone for supporting us so we can give more where it's needed.

The Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise gives big in our community.  Many organizations benefit from the fundraising activities carried out by the dedicated members of this club.  The three top fundraisers include the annual Ribfest held the second weekend every July, Savour the Flavour held before Valentines Day in February, and Charity Bingo at the Delta Bingo hall.

THANK YOU!

The Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise would like to thank everyone who had a part of making our second annual Ribfest a huge success. We could not have done it without our amazing sponsors, dedicated volunteers and all those who joined us to enjoy the sunshine and fun at Victoria Fields.

Early calculations are that 50,000 people walked through the gates between Friday July 12 and Sunday July 14. 

Check out the Fundraising page for details and photos from the amazing weekend!