ROTARY CLUB OF GUELPH PRESENTS $100,000 TO HOSPITALS

PRESS RELEASE 02/11/14 From: The Rotary Club of Guelph Contact: Robert R. Berry, Chairperson, Publicity Committee 519-822-4680 ROTARY CLUB OF GUELPH PRESENTS $100,000 TO HOSPITALS At their regular Friday meeting on November 15, 2002, Bob Bothwell, Co-Chair of the clubâ?Ts Dream Home Lottery 2002, asked the Rotary Club of Guelph President, Kate Quarrie to present a cheque for one hundred thousand dollars to Bob Ireland, Chair of the Partners for Better Health capital campaign. This is the first of what is expected to be five presentations. The Rotary Club of Guelph pledged to donate five hundred thousand dollars over five years to the joint campaign by the two local hospitals. The campaign was the most ambitious in the history of the City of Guelph and has raised more than its goal of eleven million dollars for capital equipment needs for both hospitals. ) â?oThe Rotary Club of Guelph was one of the first contacts we made when we went out to begin our fund raising processâ??, said honorary Partners for Better Health Chair Bill Winegard, a Rotarian himself. â?oWhen one begins a fundraising campaign of this size, you always try and get your biggest supporters to commit early and to commit big, so that you can lever their commitment with other groups and individuals in the community. The Rotary Club of Guelph has shown over the years that it is one of the earliest and biggest supporters of virtually every worthy cause in this City and they came through again,â?? said Winegard. â?oOur Dream Home Lottery was a big success and we are extremely pleased that we are able to present a cheque of this size,â?? said Bothwell. â?oWe had fabulous major partners like Thomasfield Homes, Sears, The Royal Bank, Guelph Tool and many others. We had over sixty thousand dollars in donations for our early bird prizes. We almost sold out at our very first attempt to run a large-scale lottery and buyers everywhere thought the prizes and odds were great value. But it was also obvious that many local persons said they bought a ticket because they knew the proceeds were going to Guelph General and St. Josephâ?Ts Hospitals,â?? said Bothwell. â?oIt was a very large project that many Rotarians devoted many hours to and it was an excellent effort by our club â?" it really brought us together again, knowing that we had one heck of a big commitment to meet, but we worked hard and we had fun and we had successâ?? said President Kate Quarrie. â?oAnd we have at least four more installments to make so we want every one to be ready to buy their tickets for â?~Dream Home Lottery 2003â?T,â?? said Quarrie. â?oThe Rotary Club of Guelph has already started building the next Dream Home, right next door to last yearâ?Ts Dream Home, and they have no intention of allowing this Dream Home to be something less than last year's. Once again we will truly have a â?~Dream of a homeâ?T as our main prize as well as an equally large number of Early Bird prizesâ??, says Quarrie. More details are to follow soon. â?oWith the Guelph Dream Home Lottery, every ticket sold is valid for every subsequent draw, so buying early pays off in better odds. Consider the odds on other large lotteries where several hundred thousand tickets are sold. In Guelph, we will again sell only seven thousand tickets, so the odds are great. Best of all, the money stays in your community and helps your hospitals,â?? says this yearâ?Ts Dream Home Chair, Bill Scott. The Rotary Club of Guelph was founded in 1920, an early Canadian spin- off from Rotary International which was founded in 1905. It has since sponsored clubs in Kitchener, Orangeville, Drayton, Georgetown, Fergus-Elora, Erin and two other clubs in Guelph, The Rotary Club of Guelph-Wellington and the Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium (which has since spun-off the Rotary Club of Wellington South). Each club is autonomously governed, and usually develops its own unique culture and projects, but all are linked to the international organization. The Rotary Club of Guelph fundraises, provides monies to programs, services and charities locally and internationally as well as organizing events that enrich the life of the community. The club provides major funding to Easter Seals, purchases and plants trees, mentors high school students, provides funds and reading assistance to Action Read, leads international development projects in Tanzania, Cameroon and Uganda and organizes and operates the Canada Day celebrations and the Christmas and New Yearâ?Ts event known as â?~Sparkles in the Parkâ?T, at Riverside Park. Further information about the Rotary Club of Guelph may be obtained from its website, www.rotary7080.on.ca, about Rotary International from its website, www.rotary.org, and further information about polio at www.polioeradication.org.