Community Projects

Southampton is a “Rotary Town” with scores of examples of hands on and Rotary funded projects from playgrounds, splash pads, trails, parks, gardens, pavilions, student scholarships, youth exchange programs, youth leadership programs, literacy programs, support to the Foodbanks and Women’s Shelters, Road Clean Ups etc ….the list goes on and on.
 
We are particularly proud that we were the founding donor to the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation that enabled the acquisition of the site that is now the home of the Southampton Hospital. Each year through our Rotary Huron Shore Run we continue our ongoing support to keep health care close to home.
 
Rotarians live in the community and we all strive  to make it a better place we are truly “People of Action”
Supporting Children's Mental Health
Rotarian June Van Bastelaar presented a $1,000.00 cheque to Phil Dodd, Executive Director of Keystone Child, Youth and Family Services in Owen Sound. Earlier in the year, the club had forwarded a $2000 cheque to the agency in support of their residential programs which are not government funded.
 
Keystone is the lead Children's Mental Health Agency for Grey Bruce. Founded in 1974, it has a dedicated team of professionals who respond to the needs of children and youth ages 0-17 and provide counselling. Phil Dodd has shared the hope that in the near future adequate funds can be raised to move their residential program from a separate building which no longer meets the needs of the youth to their main centre.
 
Check out the website at www.keystonebrucegrey.org for more information.
Responding to COVID-19
Club members responded to the needs in our community by:
  • Delivering grocery orders from the Southampton Foodland to self-isolating community members
  • Creating and supplying Easter floral arrangements for the dining tables at the Southampton Care Centre
  • Sponsoring the Southampton Art Centre’s On-line Kids Art Contest
We have made donations to the organizations that support our community:
  • Women's House Serving Bruce and Grey and Women's Centre Grey Bruce Inc.
  • Canadian Mental Health Association Grey Bruce (Children's Help Line)
  • Salvation Army Foodbank
  • Chapman House Hospice
 
Regifting
 
Our meetings usually involve a meal, now that we’re meeting virtually club members are donating some of what they would have normally spent on their meal and drinks to the club to be passed through to help our local community response to the CONVID 19 Pandemic.
 
If you would like to support us as we support our community please consider making a donation. You will receive a tax receipt for any donation over $20.00
Supplying Back to School Backpacks
Southampton Rotary Club's Youth and Vocational Committee donates $400 to the Grey-Bruce United Way Backpack Program.
 
The Committee members delivered the backpacks to G.C. Huston School for students needing backpacks and school supplies. Principal Hugh Morrison accepted the backpacks and thanked Rotary.
Creating and Maintaining Perkins Park

In 1999 the Club bought the lot on Perkins Blvd (corner of McNabb and Highway 21) from the Perkins family for $30,000 and then in turn donated back to the town which made a double lot and formally created Perkins Park.

Read more...
Building an Accessible Splash Pad 
In 2015 the Rotary Club of Southampton sought the community’s view on a project to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Founding of Canada and the Centennial of the Rotary Foundation.
 
A survey was undertaken by Students, at GC Huston Public School and opinions were sought from both the Southampton Residents Association and the Business Improvement Association. The results confirmed that a fully accessible splash pad was the preferred project to complement the existing accessible play space.
Read more...
Building an Accessible Playground 
This joint $350,000 project with the Town of Saugeen Shores was completed in Summer 2010
 
Our club with our friends from the Rotary Club of Port Elgin were the naming donors for the playground project by each contributing $25,000. Club members from Southampton were also key members of the Fundraising Committee that raised the full $350,000 over a 5 year period.
 
At the time, this was the first fully accessible playground of its type in Bruce County and provides integrated play opportunities for young and old of all capabilities. A sensory garden is included in the design and this was named the Bruce Power Sensory Gardens after the company's lead donation to the project.
Community Connections Call Centre

There is more to Rotary than burger flips, fundraising golf tournaments, and Zoom events!

Rotary has a team of volunteers from the Rotary Clubs of District 6330 Passport, Meaford, Paisley, Southampton, Thornbury Clarksburg, Walkerton, and Wiarton working 7 days a week from 8 till 8 in 3 hour shifts supporting the Community Connection call centre operation.
 
The volunteers work from their own homes and provide surge capacity to the call centre,
supporting the Grey Bruce Health unit in providing local on-demand personal support to callers needing advice and help in booking a COVID-19 vaccination.
 
After a short intensive course volunteers can sign up for shifts to provide advice and assistance to callers. Typically, a volunteer will handle around 30 calls in a 3 hour shift. Numbers vary depending on call volumes and the complexity of the query.
 
Past District Governor Don Moore, who is coordinating the volunteer team within Grey Bruce said. “Most callers are concerned on how to book a vaccination appointment?  Some callers just want to vent on why the vaccination rollout is not happening faster and others are very grateful to speak and share their concerns and issues to someone from a call centre situated within the Grey Bruce area. The availability of vaccination appointments is always dependent upon the flow of vaccines into the Grey Bruce Health Unit.”
 
Southampton Rotarian Tony Sheard said. “I am surprised how quickly I became familiar and comfortable with the role of helping and reassuring our callers. One funny moment was when I was and asked because of my British accent was the call centre in the UK!”
 
 
Coast Watchers
 
Caring for the Environment – Coast Watchers
Since 2021 Under the guidance of Southampton Rotarian Bruce Waechter the club has a Team of 8 Rotarians monitoring the coastline at pre-determined points in the Southampton area from Miramichi Bay through to North of the Saugeen River, on behalf of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation.
 
The volunteers monitor and take weekly readings of such things as:
  • Air temperature
  • Wind direction and speed
  • Water temperature
  • Wave height and direction
  • Wildlife
  • Plastic debris
  • Storm damage
  • Algae blooms
  • Human beach and water activity
Coast Watchers has been a major program of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, designed to engage members of the community to take an active part in observing and improving the quality of our nearshore waters through individual actions. Community volunteers are trained to observe the coast, record qualitative and quantitative shoreline conditions, and take steps to initiate action when necessary, including beach clean-ups and habitat preservation.
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Coast Watchers volunteers have become the eyes and ears of Lake Huron’s coast. With Coast Watcher volunteers collecting information methodically and consistently along the lakeshore, it will be possible to track conditions and trends long-term, and complete actions towards resiliency and sustainability.