Representatives of the participating clubs and charities gather for the launch of Service Week outside City Hall. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

"BUILDING COMMUNITY"

Red Deer clubs give back to the community in annual Service Week

Sep 8, 2024 | 10:00 AM

September 9 marks the beginning of Red Deer’s Service Week, when the City’s three Rotary Clubs as well as the Lions, Optimist, Kiwanis and Kinsmen Clubs come together to help non-profits that serve the community.

Each club chooses a non-profit to support through a $1,500 donation and a team of volunteers to complete one project to help the charity’s operations. The clubs endeavour to avoid repeating the charity chosen for five years to reach as many organizations as possible.

“Service clubs in Red Deer have been building community and creating milestone memories for residents for over 100 years. They inspire communities to come together in fellowship, to support one another. They dedicate their time and talent to the betterment of others,” said Mayor Ken Johnston at the event’s kickoff outside City Hall on Sept. 5.

Each charity chooses a project that requires about one to three hours of volunteer time. The Rotary Club of Red Deer East has chosen the Red Deer Hospice Society as its charity.

“The volunteer portion of it is a huge support because, as a lot of the other non-profits have said today, it’s really hard when you’re running with a limited staff to try and maintain the building and the spaces to the level you want. People volunteering to come help us with those projects makes a huge difference,” said Fonda Devereaux, fund development manager for the Red Deer Hospice Society.

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The Rotary Club of Red Deer East will be assisting the Hospice Society by cleaning up its Memorial Garden flower beds and the yards before winter settles in.

“It’s really important for people visiting their loved ones, or for people who are residents of Red Deer Hospice, to be able to leave their room and maybe go over to the Memorial Garden to have a moment of peace and tranquility,” Devereaux commented.

Alice Kolisnyk, co-president of Rotary East, said that they chose that organization because it touches so many lives and is a service that many club members have interacted with in their personal lives.

She added that the Rotary Club of Red Deer East is a, “small but mighty club,” and hopes its members, “have the chance to give as much as they want and leave with a full heart.”

Projects will take place up to Sept. 14, the end of Service Week. The service schedule is as follows:

Cadets (Optimist Club)
Monday, September 9
4402-55 Street
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Pregnancy Care Centre (Rotary Club of Red Deer Sunrise)
Tuesday, September 10
5116 47 Street
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Central Alberta Humane Society (Rotary Club of Red Deer)
Wednesday, September 11
4505 77 Street
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Meals On Wheels (Lions)
Thursday, September 12
#10- 7429 49 Street
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Red Deer Hospice (Rotary Club of Red Deer East)
Thursday, September 12
99 Arnott Ave.
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Aspen Heights Micro Society (Kinsmen Club)
Friday, September 13
5869 69 Street
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Safety City (Kiwanis)
Saturday, September 14
3030 – 55 Street
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

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