By 1985, polio was destroying the lives of 350,000 children around the world every year. Rotary International decided to team up with the World Health Organization (WHO) to start a program called PolioPlus with the goal of reducing poliomyelitis cases worldwide from 350,000 to 0. That’s zero… nil… not a single new case. Rotary committed to raising the funds to allow WHO and Rotary volunteers to inoculate every child in the world. Soon thereafter, UNESCO and CDC (the Center fo

Since 1930, RKY Camp has offered summer camp experiences for young people in the Kingston region. The camp enjoys a strong reputation among its alumni and consistently ranks in the top percentile when compared to similar camps. In 2019, there were 733 summer campers and an additional 3,500 participants in the fall and spring ‘shoulder seasons.’ Out of 24 YMCA camps in Ontario, RKY Camp has rated first in both camper and parent satisfaction. The original buildings of the camp

Generations of campers have spent their summers at RKY Camp on Eagle Lake, yet few know that the ‘R’ in RKY stands for Rotary. In fact, the acronym RKY is for Rotary, Kiwanis and YMCA. The story of how these three organizations came together back in the 1920s is impressive and was detailed in a paper written by David Boyce in 1972. The Kingston YMCA had offered annual camping experiences for local boys as early as 1902. Following WW1, with a view to establishing a permanent f

The Rotary Club of Kingston formed its Environment Committee in the 1980s under the watchful eye of Rotarian, Larry Ritchie, who worked with the Ministry of the Environment at the time. Our club assisted in the delivery of the city’s first blue boxes and helped with the establishment of the hazardous waste drop-off site at Kingston Area Recycling. To reduce the waste of city-treated water on our gardens and grass, we helped with the city’s rain barrel project, promoting and d