Raising Money To Help Children In Need
The Rotary Club of Kitchener Grand River Charitable Foundation is focused on supporting children, youth and future leaders both locally and internationally by way of living, promoting and supporting Rotary core values, beliefs and programs.
Since its inception in 1990, over $3.6 million has been raised by SKATE 48 in support of children’s charities. Registered players and teams are automatically set up to raise funds. Make a donation by sponsoring an individual player, sponsoring a team or donating directly to the SKATE 48 event.
Local Allocations
KidsAbility aims to help children and young adults with developmental, physical and communication disabilities. The Centre provides services to children from birth to eighteen years of age. Services may be provided in homes, childcare agencies, schools and community settings. KidsAbility is committed to playing a significant role within the children’s services system. As we influence, and are influenced by, this children’s services system, we vigorously pursue the our mission to empower children and youth with special needs to realize their full potential.
They believe that no kid should be left on the sidelines and all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sports. KidSport provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport.
Kitchener-Waterloo Schools
Support to programs at high-needs schools with no funding from the ministry of Education and limited fundraising opportunities from the school community, such as:
- Literacy resources e.g. Chromebooks, decodable reader for home reading, assist reading disabilities
- Mental health programs
- Sensory room equipment
- Enrichment learning opportunities
- Snack program
- Off-campus excursions
- Playground equipment
- Math games
- Book writing club for new Canadiens
- Buddy benches
- Skating program
- Media equipment – making their own music
- Inclusive playground equipment
- Community Garden
Every year too many children die or suffer serious head injuries that could have been prevented if they were wearing a properly fitted and the correct helmet for the sports or activities they play. The mandate of the Lidz on Kidz program is to provide free educational sessions to generate awareness on the key messages on brain injury and the prevention to the general public.
Distro was developed to combat food insecurity among students. Distro operates a weekly grocery store providing extras for some students and primary food source for others. Our funds were primarily used to purchase produce which is a luxury for many students. Over 200 university students are helped weekly.
Children’s Needs Distribution Centre
CNDC ensures that every baby can safely go home from the hospital. If parents, cannot afford a legal baby car seat, they are provided with one. Due to the generosity of this organization, many families are able to safely transport their newborns home.
National Service Dogs is dedicated to enriching the quality of life and enhancing the independence of individuals living with special needs by providing them with specially trained Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers. Our contribution provided for the training of one service dog for a needy child.
Our mission is to support the overall well being of students and their ability to learn by ensuring that every student can attend school well nourished. While hunger and poverty is a major social problem beyond the scope of our organization, we can ensure that the children living in our community go to school well nourished. We look forward to the future when all schools in Waterloo Region can operate a Student Nutrition Program that are universally accessible to all students at school.
This organization trains service dogs for various uses, as follows…
- Psychiatric service dogs (PSDs) are specially trained to work with people who have certain kinds of mental illnesses or learning disabilities.
- Facility dogs are specially trained to work with a volunteer or professional in a residential or clinic setting.
- K9 Companion’s are placed with children, adults and seniors with various disabilities.
Pride Stable is run by the Central Ontario Developmental Riding Program that offers therapeutic horseback riding lessons to people with disabilities. We sponsor the cost of one pony for the year.
Their mission is to set children in need on a more hopeful path, by outfitting them with clothing and school supplies, intended to send’em off smiling on that first day of school each September.
A downtown soup kitchen operated by The Working Centre that provides outreach services and over 300 meals per day to homeless or impoverished patrons many of whom struggle with physical and mental health issues.
Wheelchair Basketball Canada is committed to excellence in the development, support and promotion of wheelchair basketball programs and services for all Canadians.
WAYVE stands for Working Against Youth Violence Everywhere, and is a peer-led violence prevention program created for youth, by youth, in the Waterloo Region. WAYVE’s purpose is to address youth-identified issues such as bullying and cyber-bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination, youth suicide, self-harm and gang violence. Trained to be aware of sensitive youth issues, WAYVE team members provide support to peers and community groups through education and awareness of local resources.
The Council promotes a community wide strategy to reduce the incidence of suicidal behavior through public awareness, education, skill development, and public health advocacy. The Council strives to reduce the impact of suicidal behavior through the improvement of services, collection of local statistical data and through community consultation, co-ordination, and collaboration.
Waterloo Region Track 3 Ski School provides children and young with disabilities the opportunity to safely experience the pleasure of downhill skiing as a leisure activity.
We provide funding of classes for kids who couldn’t afford art activities.
Ontario Rotary Programs
Rotary programs focused on youth from our community, including Camp Enterprise; an extensive three-day camp offering students the opportunity to participate in leadership activities focusing on the Free Enterprise System.
Scholarships and Private Support
We provide scholarships to high school students who embody the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”. Plus, we provide financial support to worthy individuals travelling overseas to work in various humanitarian roles in third world countries.
International Allocations
Our support goes to both international Rotary programs, as well as other worthwhile projects.
Since the inception of the PolioPlus program in 1985, Rotary International’s mandate has been to vaccinate all children of the world against the crippling disease of polio with the goal of eliminating the disease from the world forever.
Microcredit Loans
Microcredit loans are provided to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history. It is designed not only to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty, but also in many cases to empower women and by extension uplift entire communities.
Rancherias, Nicaragua
Funding and helping oversee the construction of homes to provide much needed shelter to the residents in the town of Rancherias in north western Nicaragua.
We also fund health care needs that the residents are unable to afford themselves. Often earning less than $100US/month, dental and eye care is often not affordable to families in the Rancherias community.
This project addresses two areas of concern in the rural villages of Laos…Water and Education. Specifically, water projects are dedicated to bringing permanent water into villages, hygiene training with water filter distribution and hygienic toilets. Education includes the construction of schools where none exist or where current schools are simply not adequate for learning plus sponsorship of poor children who would not be able to go to school without our help.
In partnership with MEDA, Feminist Entrepreneurs Growing Green Economies (FEGGE) project will focus on an improved business-enabling environment and facilitation of opportunities for women-owned businesses. FEGGE will focus on and work with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), small entrepreneurs (SEs), and other actors in the dryland and semi-arid regions of Tanzania.
Mine Centre – Breakfast Program
This program funds a breakfast program at the Mine Centre School, where the school children are mostly coming from two nearby indigenous communities with limited economic opportunities. Food security is an obstacle for families due to the geographic isolation of the communities.
Nogales, Mexico
This program was run in conjunction with other Rotary clubs and helped fund water purification treatment at a local high school, as well refurbishing student desks.
