The Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland recognized and celebrated the work being done by five local organizations through the Peace Organization Project on Tuesday.
The local organizations, whose mission is to encourage peace in the community while providing support and aid to thousands of immigrants and refugees were honoured at a meeting at the Fogolar Furlan Club.
The Peace Organization project's goal is to celebrate and recognize community organizations who serve a diverse population including immigrants, refugees and youth, in an effort to educate, counsel and create a culture of belonging.
The five organizations honoured on Tuesday are:
- Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County
- New Canadians' Centre of Excellence Inc.
- Windsor Women Working with Immigrant Women (W5)
- Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc.
- YMCA of Southwestern Ontario
President of the Windsor-Roseland Rotary Club, Aruna Koushik, says the recipients are no strangers to the community, and it's important to recognize the work they do in creating a welcoming community.
She says as a highly multicultural community, it's important to shine the light on the people working so hard.
"New Canadians' Centre of Excellence Inc. have worked to settle new immigrants for over 30 years. The MCC has done the Carousel of Nations for 45 years. What actually has happened is they have promoted peace and harmony within our communities," she said.
Koushik says members of Rotary have worked with and gotten to know members of the various groups being recognized over the years.
"We have done a lot of work with all of these agencies. W5, we have done work with them. We have done work with WEST, why not recognize them? Why not show what a fantastic job everybody does, and they work supremely hard!"
She says being able to recognize others in the community and work together is all apart of what makes Rotary special.
"Rotary is a global organization, we belong to the Rotary International. The first woman president of Rotary International, Jennifer Jones, is a member of our club. We are a club of leaders," Koushik stated.
The City of Windsor, in partnership with Windsor-Roseland Rotary, was named a "Peace City" back in 2001.
Windsor-Roseland Rotary then created the Peace School program that encourages, fosters and promotes a safe, caring and welcoming environment.