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‘Newbie’ Rotarian chairs Langley’s 50/50 Mega Draw to exceed previous year’s total

Jennifer Roy joined Rotary looking to make a difference and ended up taking on a big role
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Jennifer Roy wanted to make a difference in her community.

It was the height of the pandemic, and she was really feeling like she should be doing more for Langley than she had done previously.

The CEO of Roy’s workplace, TLC Solutions, asked her if she was interested in joining his Rotary Club.

“My boss has been a Rotarian for many years and I had very little knowledge about what they did,” Roy explained. “He spoke highly of the work he had done with them and the people of his club.”

In a bid to give back in a bigger way and get that sense of fulfilment through helping others, Roy joined Langley Sunrise.

Because of the pandemic, meetings were only held virtually and all in-person fundraisers and community events were abruptly cancelled.

Jeff Morfitt, chair of Langley RibFest, spearheaded the 50/50 Rotary Mega Draw that helped raise more than $140,000 through ticket sales.

Roy got her first taste in lending a helping hand by working on the data entry end of things.

“I put in about 30 or 40 hours of volunteering logging ticket sales,” she said.

When 2021 rolled around, Morfitt stepped down from his role of lottery chair to focus on RibFest should the event be allowed to happen. While COVID-19 would eventually curtail the festival for a second year, the lottery would continue on.

This time, with only one year of Rotary experience behind her, Roy stepped up to lead the charge.

“As the chair, you’re coordinating all the different pieces. Overseeing the finance, marketing, helping the committee, and organizing venues to sell in-person tickets at. I’m also doing a third of the back-end stuff again by logging ticket sales,” Roy noted. “It’s basically about lending a hand wherever where I can.”

She admitted that the job has been a little overwhelming at times, but that knowing she is helping the community has made a difference.

“It’s challenging but rewarding,” Roy explained. “People have been coming up to me and saying ‘oh, so you’re Jennifer – we’ve been emailing back and forth and now we’re finally meeting’.”

READ MORE: Lucky Langley lottery winner hopes to do it again

Roy’s efforts have certainly made a difference – particularly where lottery funds are concerned.

Langley Rotary clubs have raised $152,000 through ticket sales, with several weeks still to go.

“We’ve exceeded our target,” Roy noted. $20 single tickets are nearly sold out and it only takes one ticket as the previous winner knows.”

She hopes to chair the lottery again in 2022 and work in conjunction with Morfitt and RibFest to make it even bigger than it was before.

Funds raised will go to help various institutions and organizations around Langley including Langley Memorial Hospital, Langley Hospice Society, Ishtar Women’s Society, and the Starfish Backpack Program.

Tickets are on sale at Langleyrotarymegadraw.com.

The deadline is Sunday, Aug. 15 at midnight with the draw officially taking place on Wednesday, Aug. 18. at 12 p.m.

Winner will take half of the funds raised.

“We’re supporting the community, and that’s already a win for me,” Roy said.


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