A dedicated leader, community pillar, friend, proud member of the Rotary Club of Squamish, and leader of various Rotary District 5040 programs,  Lynda Rocha, passed away on May 5, 2026 at the age of 61. Lynda will be missed by so many in her community and throughout our District, especially in the cause of youth, as she lived her life that truly exemplified the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self."

Rotary's Adventures in Health Care program in Prince George allows young people to explore the wide range of careers within the health care system and connect them to educational pathways and possible career. Here are many of the other achievements and activities of some of our clubs in Rotary District 5040 in the past month.

This is the last post of these monthly posts from clubs throughout the District. This series began three years ago as some form of “member communication” in keeping with strategy of the Public Image Committee, to create some sense of “community” in the District. Our team of 10 Assistant Governors has determined that a more informative method of reporting and discussing, focused on trends, needs and issues among our clubs – as the District aims to serve our clubs – will be more effective.

With two new automated external defibrillators, purchased with Rotary funding, Quesnel Search & Rescue has increased its emergency response capacity in Quesnel and the surrounding Cariboo region by improving access to life-saving cardiac intervention in remote and difficult-to-reach environments. When a sudden cardiac arrest occurs, the availability of an AED in the first critical minutes can significantly improve the chance of survival. The Rotary Club of Quesnel donated $4,746 with an additional $1,582 from The Rotary Foundation through a District Grant for the purchase of this equipment. 

BC & Alberta Guide Dogs (BCAGD), in the Ladner community of Delta is a charity which changes the lives of individuals who are blind or have low vision, children with autism, and Veterans and First Responders with Operational Stress Injuries and PTSD. It takes two years and upwards of $35,000 to produce one certified dog, provided free of charge to the recipient.

The Rotary Club of Ladner has supported the purchase of $15,000 in laboratory equipment for BCAGD’s new $7.1 million Breeding and Training Centre devoted to breeding of dogs, to produce puppies most suited to eventual training as guide and service dogs. Veterinarians working in this highly controlled, safe and sterile environment in the new building can use the equipment to monitor the health of each valuable puppy in its early weeks before leaving for raising with volunteers followed by training.

In rural communities across South Africa, limited access to water affects health, education, household income, and daily dignity. Women and children often spend hours each day carrying heavy containers over long distances, reducing time available for school, work, food production, and community life. The ECOroller Scaling Project addresses that burden with a practical 70-litre rolling water container that allows families to move significantly more water with far less physical strain.

The Rotary Club of Prince Rupert donated $2,100 which, with the help of the Rotary Club of Gibsons, received an additional District Grant of $1,050 from The Rotary Foundation to add to this project. Working with the Rotary Club of Hillcrest in South Africa that total donation of $3,150 was doubled by the Rolling Water Foundation to fund 60 ECOrollers delivered to families in South Africa.