Community Service

Rotary Club of Oak Bay is committed to improving the quality of life for people within Oak Bay and surrounding communities. We provide funding for other organizations, participate in hands-on activities, and undertake and complete projects of our own that support youth, literacy, women and children, individuals in need, environment and much more.

What We're Doing

Lansdowne Middle School Breakfast Program

Each week, Rotary volunteers support a breakfast program at Lansdowne Middle School, helping ensure students start their day with a nutritious meal in a welcoming environment.

This simple act of service makes a meaningful difference—supporting concentration, well-being, and readiness to learn.

Volunteers prepare and serve breakfast in a warm, efficient kitchen environment, creating a consistent and caring presence in students’ school lives.

Threshold Housing Rotary Educational Fund

This educational fund was started by our Club to assist youth (receiving services from Threshold Housing) to access funds for post-secondary education which should help provide them with a positive future.

Monthly Bottle Drive

The first Saturday of each month in the Oak Bay High School parking lot we accept and sort refundable beverage containers donated from the community. Proceeds support various community projects and organization.

Gaming Funding 

Through the gaming funding our Club receives, we help support organizations such as Our Place, Anawin House, Sandi Merriam House, and The Mustard Seed.

Butchart Gardens – Magic of Christmas Contest 

Our Club participates in this contest with the goal to help provide free admission for adults to Butchart Gardens.

Literacy Initiatives

Rotary Club of Oak Bay is proud to support the Victoria Literacy Connection and 1,000 x 5 Children’s Literacy—both volunteer organizations dedicated to improving literacy and numeracy skills across Greater Victoria.

Rotary’s support helps sustain these programs through fundraising, awareness-building, and hands-on community engagement. Fundraisers have included burger and beer events and breakfast spelling bees.  

Rebuild of the Jack Wallace Memorial Track at Oak Bay High School

Our Club is financially supporting this project, along with the municipality and Oak Bay High Alumni. Funds are raised through our Club monthly refundables Bottle Drive.

Flag Program

This program is one of our most significant ongoing fundraisers, whereby Club volunteers install Canadian flags at subscriber homes in celebration of Victoria Day, Canada Day and Labour Day, collecting them after the weekends.

The funds raised through subscriptions are used to support many of our local and international projects.

Protecting the Environment

Our Club helps raise awareness and protect the environment through hands-on activities, such as helping pull invasive species with Friends of Uplands Park or participating in monthly beach cleanups with Surfrider South Vancouver Island.

We also host regular Nature Appreciation Hikes for Club members and friends.

What We've Done

Soap for Hope The Soap for Hope program provides Hygiene Kits to local shelters, transitional homes, food banks; low-income seniors in many communities on Vancouver Island. Our volunteers reprocessed useable products to create Hygiene Kits. Each Kit contains a bar of soap, an individual sized bottle of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion.

Food Rescue Project Our Club, along with other Rotary Clubs in Greater Victoria, Thrifty Foods, the Victoria Foundation and Mustard Seed Street Church were instrumental in raising funds, planning, and opening the Food Security Distribution Centre. The Centre is where fresh foods are recovered from local grocery retailers and taken to the Food Security Distribution Centre to be gleaned, cleaned, and distributed – this food is being diverted from the waste stream (in 2021 2.1 million pounds was diverted from the waste stream). 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of fresh food is recovered and redistributed six days a week to over 40,000 people in the Capital Region who are food insecure.

School District 61

  • Funded the purchase of musical instruments for Tillicum Elementary School, Vic West Elementary School, George Jay Elementary School and Rock Heights Middle School Music Program.
  • Learning equipment (SMART Boards) purchased for Ecole Macaulay Elementary School.
  • Dictionaries for George Jay Elementary.
  • Science equipment for Victoria High School.
  • Oak Bay High School – helped plan and fund furnishings for the Teen Area of the new Oak Bay High School, including financially supporting the Teen program in the early ‘90’s.
  • Sno’uyutth Pole Project – financially supported the Welcoming Pole at the newly renovated Oak Bay High School
  • Purchased two seats in the Dave Dunnett Community Theatre at Oak Bay High School.
  • Funded training and equipment for therapy dog Tilly at Tillicum Elementary School.

Victoria Hospitals Foundation Financially supported the Victoria Hospitals:

  • Foundation’s “You Are Vital” Campaign, as well as the Echocardiogram Ultrasound Equipment for the Royal Jubilee Hospital.
  • The Cridge Centre for the Family – Funded the Physical Literacy program for Children.
  • Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association – funded equipment to pay for riding program for children with diverse abilities.

Oak Bay Municipality

  • Purchased the Kersplash Climbing Wall for the Oak Bay Recreation Centre Pool.
  • Funded the Aquatic Stair Ladder for Oak Bay Recreation Centre Pool.
  • Contributed funds towards the rebuild of the Windsor Park Pavilion.
  • Contributed funds towards the renovation of the Oak Bay Recreation Centre.
  • Oak Bay Rotary members, along with the municipality, built the Rotary Waterpark at Carnarvon in 1990. Since that time the Club has financially supported park upgrades and participated in the annual clean up.
  • Provided funding to the Friends of Uplands Park to pay for a new bike rack.
  • Provided funding towards the Marine Kiosk at Cattle Point.
  • Provided funds for tree planting in the community.

Victoria Native Friendship Centre

  • Purchased 16 bikes for a summer youth program.
  • School of Nursing, University of Victoria Provided funding for the Feet First Program, in conjunction with Our Place.
  • Student nurses work with Our Place to provide footcare to those in need.

Disaster Aid Canada We financially supported the delivering of humanitarian aid, shelter, sustainable water systems and hygiene products to people affected by natural and other disasters.

Thrifty Foods Golf Tournament Provided volunteers for the Thrifty Foods Golf Tournament, with funds earmarked for the Food Rescue Program.

Craigflower School Food Distributions: We provided volunteers for the Craigflower School Food Distributions Centre from where food is picked up and redistributed at Craigflower School to families in need.

Christmas Shoe Boxes for Anawim House In 2023 our Club filled shoe boxes with important hygiene products, socks, and other personal health essentials and comforts to be donated to members of Anawim House.