Here is an opportunity for your club to partner with the Rotary Club of Wellington right NOW. maple Syrup. A great fundraiser. Be sure to contact Yvonne Buys as soon as you can. Here is some information on this fantastic fundraiser from Yvonne.....
Rotary Clubs Partnering in a Sweet Deal
From Yvonne Buys, Incoming President, Rotary Club of Wellington
her email: y.buys@utoronto.ca
In 2020, I retired from my ophthalmology practice in Toronto and moved to Prince Edward County where I joined the Rotary Club of Wellington. What drew me to Rotary was the concept of ‘service above self’ and fellowship with people of ideas and action. Rotary for me brings to life the African proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ During my first weeks of Rotary there was discussion around a white labeling fundraiser. I knew our Rotary had previously run a successful wine fundraiser however some members had concerns around supporting this, given high rates of alcohol-related problems in our region. Naively I put up my hand and suggested “what about a maple syrup fundraiser?” – and as the saying goes, the rest is history.
This was the start of my journey from ophthalmologist to maple syrup distributor. Since, I have learned about the origins of maple syrup which started with the Indigenous people from the maple belt – a hardwood deciduous forest that extends from Midwest to northeast United States and from the southeast corner of Manitoba to Nova Scotia in Canada. Around 1557, Jacques Cartier was introduced to maple syrup and in the late 1700s North American settlers began producing maple syrup. The techniques for collecting sap and producing maple syrup have changed little over the years.
Prince Edward County is home to several maple forests and maple syrup producers. The Rotary Club of Wellington partnered with one of the local producers to purchase their maple syrup. To bring down costs we purchased our own bottles, created the labels and bottled the maple syrup ourselves. Bottling initially was a challenge. For the first year we bottled at a local sugar shack which had capacity for only 2 bottles at a time. We used a hot-fill method, where the syrup is around 185◦F which sterilizes the bottles. After quickly sealing the lids, leaving only a small headspace, the bottles are placed on their side to sterilize the lid and then put into boxes for distribution. This was a labour-intensive process and the hot bottles were hard on the hands. Currently we have been fortunate to use the bottling line at a local distillery which has significantly sped up this process and is much easier on the hands!
In our first year, our club sold 500 bottles in just under a week and decided to do a second run of 500 bottles which also sold quickly. For those unaware, the village of Wellington has a population of less than 2,000 people. We are a rural community approximately a 30-minute drive west of Picton and 45 minutes south of Belleville. Going forward in order to expand our reach, we approached several other Rotaries to partner in this project. In 2022 the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise purchased 500 bottles which they independently labelled and sold. In this way both clubs were able to raise money for local initiatives. Since then, we have also partnered with the Rotary Clubs of Stirling, Oshawa-Parkwood and most recently Cobourg.
To date our club has raised just over $46,000 from this maple syrup fundraiser. Monies raised have supported the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital. This year we are planning to sell 1,800 bottles of maple syrup. Funds raised will be supporting the Wellington and District Storehouse Foodbank. This week the local temperatures are such that the sap has just started to flow and already our maple syrup bottles are more than 90% presold.
I would never have predicted that my retirement would have included running a major fundraising effort and acquiring new knowledge about maple syrup production along with sales and distribution. Our initial success was the result of the cumulative efforts of our club members in all aspects of this initiative including bottling, sales and distribution. Our ongoing success has been through partnering with other Rotary clubs.
If this sweet initiative is something you think your club would be interested in, please reach out to discuss.
Yvonne
Rotary Club of Wellington bottling, labelling and boxing maple syrup. From left to right: Yvonne Buys, Frank (distillery employee), Chris Compeau, Colin Fredericks and Jacques Michaud
Maple Syrup nearly ready for distribution