The Rotary Club of Moose Jaw and of Moose Jaw Wakamow continue to work to aid Ukraine — the latest milestone is a club-to-club agreement with Rotary Club Zamość Ordynacki (RCZO) in the Polish city of Zamość.
RCZO’s Facebook page reveals that they have also been coordinating Ukraine relief donations with clubs in France, Italy, and the US.
Glenn Hagel of the Wakamow club reached the president of RCZO, Włodzimierz Bentkowski, and began a dialogue with him.
“We concluded that this is the right club to partner with, and Włodek (Bentkowski) was happy to have the partnership with us,” Hagel said.
The agreement the club signed passes responsibility for the funds over to RCZO, who agreed to provide proof that the money has been used as intended.
Although bank fees ate a small amount, Hagel, with Glen Blager of the Rotary Club of Moose Jaw, reported that over $12,000 CAD was received by RCZO as of July 11.
Bentkowski said in an email that the Moose Jaw donation was a large and generous amount and asked that RCZO’s thanks be passed on to everyone who contributed.
“What he sees it going to is long-term food, possibly medical or hygienic products,” Hagel said. However, Bentkowski also said that transportation of aid is a huge problem in the area as well and the funds may be used for that purpose.
“They’re the ones that are closest to where it will end up,” Hagel continued. “What these guys are doing is some direct aid, and also a whole pile of facilitation for Rotary clubs around the world. I was really glad when we found them.”
Blager noted that the clubs are looking for more opportunities to help. Next time, they’d like to see even more people from the community involved.
“We’re looking for new members right now,” Blager said. “We’d like to see some fresh faces to help us get more done and generate ideas.”
Moose Jaw’s Rotary Clubs recently agreed on another category of membership called Friends of Rotary.
Friends of Rotary is intended for people who want to help with charitable and community activities, but don’t want to go to regular meetings or pay dues. It will function as a mailing list to keep everyone informed of, for example, the next evening of perogie-making.
The clubs meet on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. The Moose Jaw club meets at 12 p.m. at the Heritage Inn. The Wakamow club meets at the Wakamow Speed Skating Oval at 6 p.m.
Potential members can also contact Blager at 306-631-6002; for the Wakamow club, contact membership chair Sonja Susut at 306-693-0473.
