DG Don Evans and Deb Sankey 2017-18
The RI President and Theme for the year – Ian & Juliet Riseley – “Rotary: Making a Difference”
Rotary Bio:
Don was active in Rotary for over 32 years. He was a Past President of the Rotary Club of Vancouver (2002-2003) and held many different positions within that Club. At the District level, he was active with Strategic Planning for the District and many clubs. He was a member of the District Foundation Committee and a Rotary PETS Trainer. Don was named Rotarian of the Year for District 5040 in 2014 and served as District Governor for District 5040 from 2017-2018 with his wife Deb. Don passed away in May 2019 while on holiday in Peru with Deb.
The District Governor's journey was definitely a highlight of Don’s Rotary experience;
- So grateful for the treasured friendships with Rotarians from all over the world
- The special moments experienced as we travelled the District witnessing first-hand the amazing work being done in communities and around the world by District 5040 Rotarians.
- Observing so many Rotarians who embrace his favourite Joel Barker quote:
Vision without Action is just a dream
Action without Vision just passes the time
Vision with Action changes the world
Bio outside of Rotary:
- After 30 years in the telecommunications industry, Don established DJE Holdings Ltd in 1998. In the following 20 years, his work in leadership skills and business strategy took him throughout North America, China, and much of Europe, and to a unique project as part of the peace process in Northern Ireland.
- Past Chair of the Board of E-Comm 911
- President Emeritus of the West Coast Railway Association
- Director of the Association of Tourist Railways
- Awarded Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and Caring Canadian Award for his active community involvement
Summary of District Governor Year:
- Our District put a special focus on Peace during this Rotary year. Aligning with this focus, we became a Peacebuilder District and created a District Peace Committee (Chaired by PDG John Anderson). We hosted the Presidential Peacebuilding Conference, became a partner in the Positive Peace Colombia Workshops, and we had several clubs become Peacebuilder Clubs.
- Rotary’s branding changed during this year, branding us as Rotary – People of Action. We demonstrated that is it the things we do in our communities and around the world that really matter that demonstrate how we make a difference. In order to highlight individuals in D5040 who excelled at making a difference, the D5040 “People of Action Awards” were created with the first recipients announced at the 2017/2018 Conference
- To continue our District’s strong focus on Youth, we created a new Youth Committee in 2017-2018 (Chaired by PDG Lyn Stroshin); and youth programs flourished with 9 Rotaract Clubs, 30 Interact Clubs, 3 EarlyAct Clubs, as well as very successful RYLA’s, YEX and Adventures Programs. This was also the year we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Rotaract.The Rotaract Clubs went all out to celebrate the milestone event!
- Thanks to the great support of the Rotary 5040 Wildfire Recovery Fund, our District was able to support equipping and training local community volunteer fire departments, we participated in rebuilding and re-equipping amateur radio repeater systems (backcountry communications), and we engaged in other projects aimed at better prevention and management of future wildfire scenarios.
