Club History
In the Fall of 2004, under the leadership of Chip Ross, who at the time was the president of the Rotary Club of Strathcona Sunrise, Courtenay, members of the Cumberland community were invited to meetings to begin discussions on the possibility of establishing a Rotary club in the Village. District 5020 Governor, Dick Drew, appointed Chip to act as his representative. Following a number of meetings into the winter of 2005, 20 people had agreed to become Rotarians in a new club. The DG gave the group Provisional Rotary club status. Such was the sense of becoming involved in community activities among those first members that a "hands-on" project was identified that involved the rehabilitation of an abandoned, century-old apple orchard that connected the club to the history of the Village.
On 3 June 2005, Mac Fraser, our Charter President, accepted our charter at the District 5020 Conference from Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, who became President of Rotary International for the year 2005-2006 .
The Charter Members - 7 June 2005 - Cumberland Cultural Centre
The club received tremendous support from Rotary clubs all over the district in the form of gifts of Rotary paraphernalia, flags and cash to get us off to a great start. Within a couple of months, the club had decided it needed a fundraiser and decided to hold a dinner and auction, which was dubbed the Extravaganza Italiana. The theme of the event connected us to the Italian-Canadian members of the community who used to hold dinners of homemade Italian dishes until the 1970s. The first event, held in October 2005, netted the club in excess of $20,000 and has become our signature fundraiser with the proceeds growing every year. Part of the funds raised were used to purchase a thermal imaging camera for the Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department in 2005-2006, five portable defibrillators for the community in 2006-2007 and in 2007-2008 the club installed 2 transit shelters in the Village. During the year 2008-2009 our club provided $10,000 to the Comox Valley Hospice Society to help them raise the funds necessary to build a free-standing hospice centre in the Comox Valley. All four Rotary clubs in the Comox Valley have committed to provide funds for three years. In 2008-2009 we also provided wet-weather gear for the Comox Valley Volunteer Bike Squad, two defibrillators for locations in the Valley and we served more than 3000 pancake breakfasts to participants who attended the "Big Time Out" in Cumberland. Our 2008 Extravaganza Italiana was very well supported by the community, with 300 people attending the 13 October event in Cumberland and helped the club realize more than $46,000 in gross revenue.
Internationally, the club provided the funds for a well in a village in Kenya, provided funds for a school in Ethiopia that is the home of orphans whose parents were lost due to AIDS, partnered with other Rotary clubs on Vancouver Island to provide a source of clean water to the village of Wonchi in Ethiopia. Funds were also provided to assist with a sustainable tea plantation in Assam, India, a sustainable chicken operation in Zimbabwe and a school in Mexico. Funds were provided to the Rotary Club of Kakamega, Kenya to help people in need following the turmoil created by factional fighting. The club made a $3,000 deposit with Oikocredit to help provide micro credit loans to third-world communities.