Mike Toombs announced this year’s recipient – Donna Graham.

“When your talents and the world’s needs cross – that is your vocation” Aristotle

During her 32 years in HR at J&J, Donna was frequently approached to find out more about HR as a career, always willing to listen, advise and support those wanting to enter the field, and being honest with those who were perhaps not as well-suited to that career choice, helping them explore other options.  She continues to be approached by young professionals interested in exploring HR as a career. She is willing to be a mentor to all.

In 2017, when the four clubs in Guelph decided to launch Food4Kids Guelph, Donna was the obvious choice to lead and represent our club. She became one of the four founders of Food4Kids and for the past two years has been the volunteer Chair of the board. As a grass-roots organization, Donna has helped solidify its foundation and continues to lead with courage and passion to ensure that Guelph children in food insecure households receive food.

No matter her HR role, Donna always took a strong interest in people, looking beyond the work environment to what was happening at home and their involvement in the community.  That attitude hasn’t changed and drives the way Donna continues to interact with people – be it at Rotary or Food4Kids, or more broadly in the community.

Congratulations, Donna.

On behalf of the Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium, a sincere Thank You to our community for supporting Guelph's 25th Ribfest, August 25 to 27th, 2023.

 

Our 25th Annual Ribfest weekend saw almost 40,000 people come through the gates from Friday to Sunday. 517 Bikes were safely parked by Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT); thousands of pounds of BBQ ribs were consumed; over 150 classic cars participated in the 24^th annual Gregg Mitchell Memorial Car Show and much more.  

 

Congratulations to our Winner of 50/50 Draw was Kevin C of Guelph $4186

 

A big thank you to our sponsors, rib teams, food vendors, businesses, community partners and especially to a big thank you to our incredible volunteers.

 

During Ribfest 2023 over 220 friends, families, Rotarians and community members helped fill over 790 volunteer shifts, providing over 2376 volunteer hours to deliver another successful Ribfest to our community. We could not have had such a successful Ribfest without you! A special thanks to the following volunteer groups for their wonderful table and park clean up work:

Rotary Club of Guelph South 

Guelph Minor Hockey Association - U12 BB 2023-24 

 

We are happy to provide these groups with a donation for their service and help them with their fundraising efforts. The net proceeds from Ribfest Guelph 2023 goes back into the local community as well as a few international projects. Just as important as the funds we raise is the incredible community engagement Ribfest brings to Guelph. We watched old friends meet each other, young children clap with glee at the midway, families congregating at the family tent, and people singing and dancing to the music. 

 

Thank you and see you in 2024. 

 

Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium

 

Ribfest Website:  http://www.ribfestguelph.com

Ribfest Guelph https://www.facebook.com/ribfestguelph

Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium https://www.facebook.com/rotaryclubofguelphtrillium/

Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/rotaryguelphtrillium/

 

A big thank you to all our Rotarians and friends who contributed to the mother’s day gifts for @michaelhousepregnancy #serviceaboveself #rotary #michaelhouse #guelph

 

Thanks to the work of Sanguen and the Guelph Community Health Centre for working every day to support those less fortunate than ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every year Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium has the honor of presenting community volunteers and builders with their Paul Harris Fellow Award. These recipients embody Rotary’s value of “service above self” by giving back to their communities through multiple avenues. Their kindness, compassion, wisdom and tenacity come through in their work, volunteerism and life. Here is a list of Paul Harris Fellow Award Recipients from this week.

 

Aaron Farrell: has tirelessly worked on humanitarian causes for over 25 years.  His goal is always to help lift people and communities out of poverty. Aaron’s projects have led him (and encouraged others) to build Schools in underserved communities and support Women’s Shelters. His international projects have touched many countries including India, Kenya, Uganda and Mexico to name a few. Closer to home Aaron is involved in Socks 4 Souls that provides socks for the homeless.

 

Dana Nuttley leads, supports and has grown organizations such as Shelldale Family Gateway. Through his community activism, Dana to worked with numerous outreach programs and agencies in the Guelph and surrounding areas. Dana’s purpose and focus has been on elevating poverty, advocating for marginalized communities as well as helping community members impacted by homelessness and addition issues. Dana has also been a strong ally and advocate for supporting indigenous communities.

 

Jan Craig is a positive, kind and tenacious change agent and community builder. It’s not only about the projects Jan volunteers in but also how Jan works to make Guelph a better place. She has served on numerous boards - Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington, Heart and Stroke, United Way and  is a leader in social justice issues. Jan has also supported to newcomers to Guelph, helping them make appointments and navigate rebuilding their lives and opportunities in our community.

 

John Dennis is a cofounder of the Guelph Tool Library. The GTL provides a low-cost option for members to access over 1000+ tools for construction, cooking, and garden projects.  Through the GTL, John has worked to launch projects such as: Repair Cafe Guelph, a free bimonthly fixing event; Good Call Program, that has repaired and returned over 100 cell phones to the community; and the Urban Sugaring Project. At the start of the pandemic, John started the Kitchen Bees at the Church of the Apostles. This volunteer run program will provide over 7500 meals this year to emergency food providers in Guelph. John’s creative energy continues this spring with the launch of “Free to Read”, a program to coincide with World Literacy Day April 23, 2022.  The program will collect 1000 comic books, graphic novels and paperbacks for local Provincial Correctional Institutes literacy programs.

 

Linda Busuttil’s family experience as immigrants to Canada has led to a lifelong support of newcomers to the Guelph area. She helps give new arrivals a voice while they navigate various health and education systems. Linda also helps to address inequality, inclusion and access issues within her community by volunteering with the West Village Coop’s after school, youth and food support programs. She also fits into her packed schedule Adopt A Family, toy collection, food drives with schools and neighbours, her  food support program & pilot hub as well as work with the Guelph Food Bank.

 

Ray Stultz helps local entrepreneurs at BDC and volunteers extensively in our community. Ray is a past volunteer with the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington, KidsAbility and Victim Services Wellington. As an avid volleyball player Ray volunteered as a coach and treasurer for many years with the Guelph Grizzlies Volleyball Club. Currently Ray is focusing on helping youth community members struggling with mental health issues by volunteering with The Grove Hubs – Youth Wellness. Ray was also just appointed to the board of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce.

 

Shirley Hunt is an advocate for the environment and the health benefits that come from spending time in nature. Seeing the impact of our sedentary, indoor lives on community members of all ages, Shirley collaborated with local photographers, artists and educators to develop a school-based arts program called Focus on Nature to inspire young people to connect with nature through digital photography. Shirley was also the co-founder, first Executive Director, and Chair of an amazing non-profit charitable organization called Up and Running Guelph, which works to improve the mental health and well-being of women through inclusive, nature-based walking and running programs.

 

Stephanie Riley is a community driver who regularly raises funds for the Canadian Cancer Society through fundraisers such as Chairing the Hope AND the City Gala. She is also one of the past Co-Chairs for the Royal LePage Royal City National Garage Sale for Shelter Foundation. During covid, Stephanie collected hygiene kits for the local Shelter and Chemo Care Kits for the Guelph General Hospital that her 9-year-old son helped to assemble.  Stephanie personifies our Club’s mantra of a “mile wide and inch deep”  as she can be counted on to participate in holiday adopt-a-family hampers, food drives and many other community initiatives.

 

Sya Van Geest is an incredibly active volunteer at Dublin Street United Church. She supports many of her churches amazing activities such as their work with the  LGBTQ + communities, climate change committee and the annual Dublin’s Christmas Dinner. In addition to these many activities, Sya supports the Guelph GoGo Grandmothers for Africa and is an active member/volunteer with the Guelph Storyteller’s Guild and Guelph Chamber Choir.

 

Mary Anne Allain regularly and quietly makes a difference in her community. Mary Anne volunteers with  Community of Hearts Box of Hearts Program. Her work supports adults with developmental exceptionalities to achieve the level of independence they desire. The Box of Hearts program is a social enterprise that brings adults together to develop job training skills by baking and packaging dog cookies as well as chocolate covered licorice to sell in the community. In addition to this work, Mary Anne is a regular volunteers at Food 4 Kids Guelph and the Guelph Clothing Closet where she is a valuable resource in their programming.

 

All of our recipients make the world and their communities a better and kinder place. Congratulations to all of Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium Paul Harris Fellow Award Recipients – we are so grateful to have such incredible community leaders.

Under cover of darkness on Saturday night, October 23, the Rotaractors painted "Old Jeremiah" purple with gold wheels. They spray-painted "World Polio Day 2021" on one side, and "Rotaract Club" on the other.  

 

The cannon is a British naval gun, rumoured to have been used in the War of 1812, and it stands in Branion Plaza across from the University Centre. It is a long-standing Guelph tradition for students to paint the cannon with messages in order to promote events and organizations. 

 

Well done, Rotaractors! We are so proud of you.