The Community Services Committee of the Kingston-Frontenac Rotary Club reviews requests for funding assistance and volunteer help from local organizations providing service to meet identified needs in the community.  If there is consensus amongst the Committee members, the request is approved and funds distributed.  
 
As examples, donations have been made to food security programs, housing (Habitat for Humanity volunteering), women's shelters, clothing resources and the environment, and members regularly volunteer to donate blood, plant trees, grow food and vegetables in the Community garden, assist with vaccination drives and clean-up city parks.
 
In addition, the Kingston-Frontenac Rotary Club has contributed, sometimes over multi-year periods, to large-scale projects benefiting the community including:
  • Homes for Heroes - Kingston Veterans' Village - construction and launch of 20 tiny homes and facilities
  • Hospice Kingston - construction / relocation of expanded of a new hospice facilities
  • Cataraqui Regional Conservation Authority - replacement of boardwalk
  • Fairmount Home - construction of new courtyard gazebo for the residents
  • Rotary Park - land purchase and facilities for establishing new recreational space adjacent to Lemoine Point in Kingston's West End
See below as well as the individual Project tabs on this website.
 
 
What We Do
 
Community
We get involved providing financial and volunteer support to many local organizations benefiting young and old including:
                                 
The Council on Aging, Canadian Blood Services, Extend-A-Family, Fairmount Home, The Food Bank, Hospice Kingston, Easter Seals Camps, Joe's Musical Instrument Lending Library, Martha's Table, Robinson Community Garden and many more.
 

17 August 2022 - Final day at the Robinson Community Garden and BBQ

 

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We are proud to be partnered with the Canadian Blood Services.

Our club members give regularly to save lives.

   

 

 
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Kingston Rotarians Stepping Up for the Community

The Rotary motto of “Service above Self” is being visibly demonstrated by Kingston Rotarians who have stepped up to help at the largest mass immunization clinic at the INVISTA Centre in Kingston.

Mike Moore, a Kingston Rotarian since 2012 says he was inspired to help when he saw other mass immunization clinics on television news.  “I instinctively thought that this may be something that Rotary can help with. It’s directing traffic or directing people or assisting in any non-technical way, something Rotary would be ideally suited for,” he says. 

Moore took it upon himself to contact the area public health authority to volunteer Rotarians to help. The staff at Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health were very receptive and Moore started organizing the Rotarians in the city.

“Now we have 42 volunteers that are on our shifts and I have many more that would like to volunteer but I don’t have a shift for them yet,” Moore says.

The volunteers come from all four Rotary Clubs and both Rotaract Clubs in the city but there are also many friends of Rotarians that have stepped up to volunteer as well. The Rotarians and friends are working three-hour shifts for now and their roles are mostly greeting, ushering and screening the clients.

“It’s the biggest site in Kingston, we’re hoping to vaccinate up to 2000 people a day at our peak,” says Andrea Kruz, the public health program manager assigned to be the manager for this mass immunization clinic.

“So far, our largest day has been 900, but for this week and next week we’re around 300 to 400 a day based on how many vaccines are available and what goes on at other sites,” says Kruz.

The clinic is already planning on increasing the number of hours they are open as they ramp up the rate of vaccination, and Rotarians are ready to absorb this increased demand.

The clinic is using one of the four hockey rinks at the INVISTA Centre which provides good space for the clinic, including the social distancing required.

“In terms of its operation, it was as slick as you can get. The protocol has been absolutely fantastic. It’s been clearly conveyed and very carefully thought out,” says Sophie Kiwala, a long-time resident of Kingston and a Rotarian for the last few years who volunteered for this clinic.

“It feels great, it’s a wonderful feeling to be a part of group action on something that is really important,” says Kiwala.

“One thing that I know about this community is that there are a lot of people who are interested in helping out, people who want to do their part. There’s a lot of good will in this town,” says Kiwala.

 
 
  
 
Nanny Angel Network
 
On September 2, 2020, our club was grateful to hear of the good work done in the community by the Nanny Angel Network. New to Kingston since 2019, The Nanny Angel Network help lessen the impact of cancer on families by supporting moms with cancer by providing free, specialized in-home child care and support to give children the tools they need to deal with their mother's illness.  Our club is proud to support this new organisation in Kingston.
 
 
 
Acts of compassion
 
Through the Kingston Council on Aging, Loving Hands, and Home Base Housing, where some of our members are actively engaged in, our club has been able to obtain and deliver some beds and other necessities to families in need in the summer of 2020.  The current pandemic has meant an increase in needs and our club has been active to support where and when we can.  This is one of the many actions our Rotarians take on a regular basis to help those in need in our community.