The Rotary Club of West Ottawa (RCWO) partners with other Ottawa Area Rotary Clubs as well as non-profit organizations in Ottawa to sell and deliver over 5000 chrysanthemums for Thanksgiving. The club members sell, process the orders, map delivery routes, and actually deliver the Mums in time for Thanksgiving!!
Real estate agents, car dealerships, brokerage firms, legal and medical professionals and other businesses and individuals take advantage of this program to thank their friends or clientele. Happy faces greet Rotarians and their partner organizations when deliveries are made!
The purchase of Mums allows RCWO and their partners to support both local and international organizations. Some are listed below.
Royal Lepage Shelter Foundation: Helping Women And Children Escape Violence And Rebuild Their Lives. The Shelter Foundation has raised $41 million to-date and currently supports 200 local women’s shelters and national partners. They are an active partner in this Mums campaign
Esiandumba Toilet Project: Hygienic Toilet and Sanitation project for a school in Western Kenya that built toilets for boys and girls at the Esiandumba Primary School. First of it’s kind.
The Ottawa Rotary Home which exists to improve the quality of life of caregivers and individuals with disabilities through a family and person-centered approach that is responsive to individual needs and offered in a dynamic and flexible way. The Ottawa Rotary home improves quality of life by providing respite care and support to clients aging out of provincial programs..
Storybook Ottawa and the RCWO partner to give books to every student in Regina St. Alternative School. Last year, each of 181 students chose a book from a list of 4 choices for each grade. They were presented to the school by curbside drop off.
YouthforYouth Community – an organization established by an Afghani High School student here in Ottawa. The organization’s goal is to support an online platform for youth around the world to connect and help Afghan girls, aged 15-19, continue their education, specifically learning English, online. The Canadian and International tutors offer academic services virtually and at home for girls who are not allowed to attend school. Some of the tutors are themselves still in or just out of secondary school RCWO helps to fund internet access for the girls.