The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat was delighted to welcome Connelly Sherwick, a local agent for Wood Gundy, who has been a volunteer with Kidsport - Medicine Hat for the past 14 years.
Connelly spoke about the benefits of organized sports to all kids, and their aim that no kid is left on the sidelines.
They work on the principles that through participation in organized sports activities, all kids learn the values of;
- Cooperation
- Team play and friendship
- Commitment to goals
- Personal excellence
- Healthy competition
- Self-esteem
Kidsport Medicine Hat and Redcliff was established in 1998, and has helped 3,450 kids with distribution of $577,000 over those years. They presently have an annual budget of $80,000 and their distributions are to a maximum of $300 per child. He spoke about the difficulty of maintaining that amount over the past few years, with the troubles in the local economy and how they tried really hard to make sure no child was turned away. He also spoke about their process, the utilization of a modified income test and how the money goes directly to the sporting organization.
More information is available on their website http://www.kidsport.ca .
He answered a few questions and was thanked for a great presentation by President Karen.