The Burnaby Metrotown Rotary Club is looking for students in grades 10 to 12 for an upcoming leadership camp. The club is seeking youth who have shown leadership potential, and the camp will teach them how to further develop those skills. It takes place at Camp Elphinstone on the Sunshine Coast on the March 25 to 28 long weekend. The application deadline is this Friday, Jan. 15, and successful applicants will be fully sponsored. Email [email protected]. Info: www.ryla5040.org.
Jobs for refugees
Kudos to a local pharmaceutical company that raised $3,500 to help refugees. Xenon Pharmaceuticals is based in Burnaby, and employees raised part of the money, while the company pitched in the rest. The funds will go to MOSAIC, a non-profit settlement group that helps refugees adjust to life in Canada. The company also plans to work with MOSAIC to identify newcomers with science, medical or lab experience for possible employment.
Boots for kids
The Rotary Club of Burnaby-Deer Lake helped nearly 300 kids stay warm and dry this winter through the Boots for Kids campaign. Rotarian Janice Froese organizes the annual effort. This year, volunteers approached local schools to find out what the kids needed. They then took the list of orders to the New Westminster Army & Navy, which supplied two full of boxes of boots at a discount. Rotarians then took them to the schools, and the kids were brought into a common room to pick up their boots.
“There are a lot of kids out there that come to school in tatty old running shoes, walking through mud, and their feet are wet and cold,” said Rotarian William Johnston.
The kids have often have mixed reactions.
“Some of them seem to be overwhelmed and quiet and kind of stoic. The majority are big smiles and hugs. (They) are just delighted, and they show their boots off to their peers,” Johnston said.
“Some of the little girls with pinks boots and trimming and fur, they go nuts. There are big hugs, it’s wonderful,” he added.
The boots go to kids in the Edmonds area in grades 1 to 6. The Rotary club collects money for the boots by running a tree decorating fundraiser in Brentwood Town Centre. People can sponsor a decorated tree for hundreds of dollars, and the money helps buy boots.
