Such a delicious, joyous Christmas dinner at the Riverside Ballroom. Thank you to the Ghirra’s for the amazing buffet. What a joy to be a Rotarian and especially to be part of the Richmond Sunrise Club.
Kal Mahal and Debbie Tablotney of the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunrise, met with Burnett Interact Club members, Sarah and Diane. Wonderful connections with dedicated, inspirational young Richmond students.This week, our Richmond Sunrise Rotary members put together about 50 shoeboxes for the Shoebox Project (https://www.shoeboxproject.ca/). The project seeks to uplift and empower women who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. We hope that these little gifts will put smiles on faces and send a message of love and support.
Richmond Sunrise Rotary members Elena Agala and Pat Atkinson volunteering at the Richmond Food Bank this week.
On Nov. 25, Elena Agala and Peachy Magistrano volunteered to fill the container for the Philippines, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunrise. The container is valued at $250,000.00 and includes donations of 12 skids of educational books, 3 skids of computers, some hospital equipment and more. The impact on the community will be immense. They will build 5 libraries in elementary and high schools. The container was sealed by Philippine Consul General Arlene Magno and the 20 plus volunteers enjoyed Filipino food that was prepared by Elena.
Richmond Sunrise Rotary supports the Richmond Food Bank and we were very pleased to welcome Hajira Hussain, Executive Director, to speak with us this week.
This week Richmond Sunrise was proud to present a cheque to the Tablotney family supporting Curtis’ dream of fixing up the old 1997 Mitsubishi which will be used to further awareness of the drug crisis, offering connections, distributing drug testing kits and participating in parades and events. Follow them on Instagram: @curtisdreamcar.
Every year, Victor Ghirra would drive up to Children’s Hospital during the holiday season and leave a truck load of toys without any recognition. Victor passed away from sleep apnea at a young age leaving his wife and 4 boys. Seventeen years ago, his family created an annual toy drive, in his memory.
Cash, toys, and gift cards are collected for two weeks at various Van City Credit Union, Cooperators Insurance and ICBC branches as well as corporate and family friends. Richmond Sunrise Rotary has participated for several years.
The items are brought together at the Riverside Palace on Knox Way in Richmond on Sunday December 10th from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
We’re at it again! Richmond Sunrise provides a hot breakfast at Gilmore School on the first Tuesday of each month. Volunteers make pancakes and offer cereal, fruit and juice.
This morning we were uplifted by a visit from Shirley-Pat Chamberlain, DG of District 5040 and Peter Roaf, AG. Shirley-Pat, the original Champion Sparkplug, noticed, named, and celebrated the excellent services our club provides and encouraged us to “keep on keeping on”, focusing on the positive acts we do, putting our energy into the flowers, and the seeds of peace. Richmond Sunrise Rotary is the living model of “IDEA - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access”. We sent Shirley-Pat off with an armload of information for bragging about our club. Thanks for the spark, Shirley-Pat!
Happy Hallowe’en from Richmond Sunrise Rotary.In loving memory of Curtis Tablotney, Richmond Sunrise Rotary supports “Curtis’ Dream” working towards tackling the toxic drug crisis by raising awareness and advocating for safe drug use. You can help by getting in touch with the Tablotney family, contacting our Rotary club or visiting the website at www.curtisdream.com.
Richmond Sunrise Rotary supports Rotary World Foundation through a benefit concert by Spencer Cheung. Contact a Rotarian for more information, or purchase tickets online at https://bit.ly/The_
Richmond Sunrise Rotary will be supporting the Shoebox Project. Check out the website at https://www.shoeboxproject.ca/home
On October 24, Elena Agala participated in the Rotary Polio walk anniversary celebration in Vancouver and it gave her yet another reason to be proud of being a Rotarian.
How wonderful to hear Pat Atkinson’s story once again. Pat you are an inspiration to us all! 
We were proud to present a cheque for $4000 to our own Elena, representing Rotary World Health.
Daniel Remedios came to speak to us about how the $25,000 raised at our Gala is being used by RASS. He reminded us that the goal of RASS is to provide addiction services and support to individuals and families in Richmond. If you wish to explore more about RASS you can follow this link. RASS – Excellence in prevention (rassrichmond.ca)
Peter Roaf, ADG District 5040 and Dean Hsieh, past ADG gifted us with two “Owl” speakers to use for our meetings. These are powerful speakers which turn towards the people who are speaking. This was made possible through a federal grant focusing on supporting community foundations of Canada. Enough funding was available that other clubs were able to receive Owls as well. Thank you, Dean and Peter. 
Tyler Choy, our exchange student has been in Japan since August 2022 and just returned in August with stories of his exciting experiences. In Japan, Tylor went to school, played sports, played his saxophone, and travelled throughout the country. He shared his rich experiences (including driving a tractor in a rice field and sitting correctly during a Japanese tea ceremony). 
Danny, our world traveller, never ceases to amaze us, and always brings back a Rotary banner from somewhere - this time from Greece. He just returned from Italy, Greece, France, and Croatia. Connecting with clubs around the world is just another little reason for joining rotary.Mariel Anderson presented at our meeting today. She is the Founder & Executive Producer of SHINE Foundation for Artistic Expression.
''Together We SHINE” togetherweshine.ca
Mental health is something that affects all of us, whether that is personally or someone in our circle. It is the goal of her non-profit to raise awareness and funds for programs and organizations within Canada that work on the front lines within the mental health and at-risk sector. She mainly does this by producing large scale fundraisers (called SHINE) in different communities that showcase the local talent while giving back to the local programs that need financial assistance.
SHINE will soon be rebranded as IGNITE. Stay tuned for more updates. 
Richmond Sunrise Rotary supports COME in India (Children of Mother Earth), with a $7500 cheque for an orphanage in India.
Goodbye, Max, our rotary exchange student and lifelong friend! We are going to miss you but know you will have an amazing next year, full of exciting adventures! Keep in touch!
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