The Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise has been working with Pikangikum First Nation in NW Ontario for five years.  This year, Rotary teamed up with supplier Algonquin Outfitters, OPP, and the Rotary District 7090 to help outfit the school’s outdoor program with $4500 worth of camping and canoeing equipment so that the school now has the ability to outfit complete canoe trips and hiking adventures.
 
Jim Dawson, a long time Norfolk Sunrise Rotary member, commented “ Formerly, the outdoor program had to travel outside the community to participate in an annual canoe trip, the culmination of the spring outdoor program.  Now with the canoe packs, life jackets and water filters supplied under this grant, the students can also go on more local trips, weekend trips right from the community which has ideal canoe trip conditions and, best of all, this can be done in a much more cost-effective manner.”
 
The Rotary District provides matching funds to help local projects be able to do more with the funds raised locally.  In this case, some of the funding came from the popular “Catch the Ace” progressive lottery which was held at the Port Dover Legion last year (and will be starting again Apr. 6, 2018).
 
The outdoor program is very important in building self esteem, resilience, confidence in traveling in the wilderness, and provides training for future careers in adventure tourism and outfitting. Because of the support by Rotary over the past few years, including yearly visits by Rotarians Jim and Marjorie Dawson to help with canoe training, the program is now going to be expanded to include the fall term next year.
 
THANK YOU ROTARY AND RCNS MEMBERS JIM AND MARJORIE DAWSON FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE!! yesheart
For more information, contact Jim Dawson 519 583 3328 energyprojwd@gmail.com
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