Our Projects

The Rotary Club of North Delta is actively involved in enhancing the lives of those who live in the communities we serve.  As such, we have a number of active projects as well as a long history of service projects both local and international. 
 

Starfish Pack

 
The Starfish Pack Program provides backpacks of weekend food for children and their families.
 
The Starfish Pack Program was created by the Abbotsford Rotary Club and quickly grew to help hundreds of children in 22 schools.  It has since expanded to 19 communities, such as Chilliwack, Aldergrove, Coquitlam, Langley, Richmond, Duncan, Vernon, and now North Delta.
 
The North Delta Rotary club teams with community partners including Deltassist, Save On Foods, Delta Police, the Delta School Board and other community volunteers to bring the program to North Delta elementary schools.
 
As of April 2025, the North Delta Rotary Starfish Pack Program is providing over 300 backpacks per week to 14 elementary schools, giving nutritious food for the weekend to over 500 children and their families.  These meals allow the students to return to school on Monday morning, ready to learn.
 
The cost of sponsoring a backpack to a family for a school year is just over $650.  The annual cost of the total program is currently around $200,000 per year.  We would not be able to run the program without our generous sponsors and donors.

The Magic Pencil

 
The Magic Pencil program provides necessary school supplies, access to field trips and winter clothing to elementary school children throughout North Delta. 
 
As of September 2024, the Rotary Club of North Delta has provided $25,000 to schools throughout North Delta for school supplies.  This helps fill a major gap in necessary school supplies that was either personally filled by school employees or missing altogether.  The demand included both elementary and secondary schools and we are looking for additional sponsors to meet the greater need. In addition to school supplies, there is an urgent need to provide appropriate winter clothing so that all children are able to attend school on cold days. We are currently working on a plan to facilitate the acquisition and delivery of these clothes. 
 
The program's name comes from various fables of The Magic Pencil (original author unknown):
"A child helps a stranger in apparent need.  By doing so without asking for anything in return, the stranger rewards the child with a magic pencil allowing the child to bring their drawings to life.  The child is then able to use their imagination to provide for those in need.   The pencil serves as a tool to externalize and realize the boundless possibilities within a child's mind. "
 
These fables serve as a moral compass, teaching children to harness their imagination constructively.
 

Storywalk

The StoryWalk® Project is a coordinated effort with the Rotary Clubs throughout Delta that integrates reading and nature through the presentation of a deconstructed children’s book. Display stands that feature a different page of book are laminated and placed along a designated trail. These stands also feature fun physical literacy prompts, like hopping to the next sign post.

This family-friendly initiative promotes literacy and an interest in reading, while also supporting child development and encouraging people embrace the outdoors. With the help of the protective covering over the storybooks, StoryWalks® help replace screen time with green time, throughout the year.

Each month will feature a new book for residents to read while they enjoy their community’s natural beauty.

Huff Greenway

We know climate change can be scary and that we all have to do more to correct it. It will not be easy,
but even a mere hummingbird can save the day.
 
Legends tell of a lowly hummingbird who would not give up trying to stop a forest fire and  continued to carry a few drops at a time. When the other hummingbirds saw this, they joined in and  together put out the fire.
 
Be the hummingbird! You are mighty enough, strong enough, and good enough.
 
The Huff Greenway is located between 6731 and 6755 Westview Drive in North Delta.  It is a BC Hydro right of way.  Working with the City of Delta, BC Hydro and our generous sponsors, we created a green space where children can learn about how to work with nature to make a positive difference in the environment.  
 

ARES

 
If you truly want to change the world, you begin by educating the children.  That is the philosophy behind the ARES Project.
 
ARES is an acronym for the African Ruggedized Education System and a solution for the problem of education in rural communities with minimal resources.

Remote rural schools often have limited access to books, paper and writing materials, as well as intermittent power and no internet access.
 
We are changing the lives of  a generation of students.  Those changes will continue to ripple outwards to change the lives of their families, their communities and even entire countries. 

ARES is a revolution in education for rural communities anywhere in the world. 

Past Projects

NDROTARY SK8PARK 

North Delta Skatepark holds a unique charm as the home skatepark of the acclaimed Canadian skateboarder, Ryan Decenzo. The park’s unconventional design, featuring a variety of elements such as ledges, mellow quarter pipes, down rails, flat bars, and more, showcases that sometimes, less conventional skateparks foster the development of the most unique skaters.

The park, located in North Delta Community Park on 84th Avenue between 112th St and 116 St, operates 24/7, providing skaters with the freedom to explore and hone their skills at any time. 

 

North Delta Pump Track

 

Riders in North Delta can now race their way through the rollers and berms of the community’s new bike pump track following its official opening on Sept. 30, 2017.

The park, located behind the Rotary skatepark and Hillside Boys and Girls Club on 84th Avenue, was funded through the municipality’s Community Initiative Cost Sharing program, with the North Delta Rotary Club and the Corporation of Delta each putting up half of the project’s $30,000 price tag.

“When the Rotary Club of North Delta came forward with a proposal for a pump track, supporting it was an easy choice for council,” Mayor Lois Jackson said. “One of our goals is that our community has the opportunity for a vibrant and healthy lifestyle.”

According to the Corporation of Delta’s website, a bike pump track is “a man-made closed circuit with berms largely made of earth on each end. A rider uses the rollers (whoops) and berms to ‘pump’ speed into the bike with minimal pedaling. Speed is generated when the cyclist rides the bike over the rollers by pulling up and then pushing down…The harder the cyclist pushes, the faster they go.”

Learn How You Can Help

North Delta Rotary has created a charitable Foundation to provide tax receipts for donors.  
 
You can also donate with your empty bottles.   Bring your clear plastic bag of bottles to any Recycle It Depot and use the express drop kiosk.  Enter the number 604 816 0926, print and attach the label to the bag.