Youth Exchange - Cross Canada Tour

Posted by Gordon Hankin 
 
 
 Annual request for assistance - Great opportunity to provide these YE students with an overall experience
 
May 29/11
Dear Rotarians:
Rotary Districts 7810/7820 have long worked together to offer our international Youth Exchange students a phenomenal experience, our annual coast to coast Cross Canada Tour, a not-to-miss event for the inbound students.
We cannot see and do everything as we travel across the country during the month of July but we hit the highlights, allowing the students to experience the variations and wonders of this big country of ours. This highlights of 2011 will include: lobster fishing and building sand castles in PEI, Hopewell Rocks in NB, Old Quebec City, Montreal Jazz Festival, Canada Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a fabulous stay at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Niagara Falls, a Hutterite Colony tour and supper, the Calgary Stampede, white water rafting and hiking in the Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper), biking in Stanley Park in Vancouver, Salt Spring Island and the city of Victoria. Many more details are provided at http://www.frederictonsunriserotary.com/crosscanada/index.html.
The students are more fortunate than they know because their cost of $2800 does not even cover the bare-bone basics of the trip – transportation (rail, air and bus), accommodations and meals for themselves and 3 chaperones.  Sponsorship and support of Rotary Clubs across Canada and friends help to keep the expenses down while treating the students to a trip of a lifetime, a trip not soon forgotten.
The fee paid by every club sending a student on the Cross Canada Tour goes towards the costs for the chaperones but does not fully cover the actual expenses. Support by Rotary Clubs across Canada, be it cash, food, accommodations and/or entrance fees, helps to defray these costs and to allow 100% of the student fees to go towards the student experience. While this is a D7810/7820 program, traditionally most of our sponsorship has come from outside our two districts. We are appealing  to those clubs within our districts who do not currently host a Youth Exchange student to consider making a contribution to the Cross Canada Tour. Clubs can provide support by covering the cost of things like lunch for one day for the students and chaperones ($235) or sponsorship of an event or “extra” from the list below. “In kind support” by hosting the students in some way when they are in the vicinity of clubs is also greatly helpful in defraying costs. At the same time we are asking clubs who are sending students on the Cross Canada Tour to top up their sending fee to $235 from $175 or to consider sponsoring an event on the tour. These funds help to offset the costs of train, air and bus travel which are ever increasing and to allow the students to attend many events that make our tour the best youth exchange experience IN THE WORLD.
 
 
 
 
When possible, the sponsorships can include things like:
·        Lobster fishing and supper                                                                                                      $500
·        Ferry across St Lawrence River - Levis to Quebec City                                                      $100
·        Crepe breakfast - Quebec City                                                                                                $450
·        Guided tour Chateau Frontenac                                                                                             $372
·        International Jazzfest Supper - Montreal                                                              $600
·        Tour of the BioDome/Olympic Tower - Montreal                                               $390
·        Canada Day breakfast - Ottawa                                                                                             $470                    
·        Hard Rock Café dinner – Toronto  (taken by Sunrise Rotary-THANKS!)                         $960                    
·        CN Tower tour                                                                                                                           $580                    
·        Hockey Hall of Fame                                                                                                                 $380     
·        Breakfast and Dinner in the dining Car on the Train West (4 meals in 56 hours)   $470 each          
·        The Dinosaur Museum - Drumheller                                                                                      $350                    
·        Hutterite Colony Tour and Supper                                                                                         $800
·        Banff Hot Springs                                                                                                                      $220                    
·        Columbia Icefields Sno-coach ride                                                                                        $980     
·        Mountain top aerial tram-ride - Jasper                                                                                 $400
·        Bike rentals in Stanley Park - Vancouver                                                                              $380
·        Theatre Under the Stars - Stanley Park                                                                                 $900     
·        Ferry to Salt Spring Island                                                                                                        $385
·        Fish and Chips on the water at Barb’s Place, Victoria                                                    $650
·        Bus to Butchart Gardens                                                                                                          $225
·        Final Banquet                                                                                                                             $900
 
We hope you will choose to be a part of the continued success of the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program and this ALL CANADIAN Experience.
 
 
Yours in Rotary,
 
 
Mike Ross, Tour Organizer 7810 rotarytrip@hotmail.com
Sharon Niles, Youth Exchange Officer 7810
Jean Sloan, Lead Chaperone 7820
 

THANK YOU!
 
Name of Club     _____________________________________________
Mailing Address _____________________________________________
                              ____________________________________________
Amount of Donation        ______________
If your club hosts an exchange student, please provide his/her name:
_____________________________________________________________
May we recognize your club as a sponsor of the 2009 Cross Canada Tour?
(For example, in list of sponsors on CCT website and/or in CCT Program Booklet)
Yes _________________                              No_____________________
 
Do you have any special words you would like us to pass along to the kids?
 
 
Do you have any comments or suggestions to offer concerning the Cross Canada Tour?