The Rotary Club of The Pas in Manitoba operates a dedicated medical assistance pool known as the FAMILY Fund to help members and their immediate families cope with the high costs of travelling for medical care. In Northern Manitoba, serious medical treatment often requires long-distance travel — about 630 km to Winnipeg and roughly 550 km to Brandon — which can create significant out-of-pocket expenses for lodging and transportation.
The FAMILY Fund is sustained through the club’s weekly Sgt. at Arms 50/50 draw. During meetings the Sgt. at Arms picks a ticket; the winning member draws a card from a deck — if the card is the Ace of Spades they win 50% of the accumulated pot and the other 50% is diverted to the FAMILY Fund. The mechanism helps build a pool of money that the club can draw on when members face medical emergencies.
Rotary District 5550 and the club’s own records describe the fund as a local safety net for Rotarians and their immediate families. Club minutes record an assistance case in January 2017 in which a $1,000 grant was approved to help the Salamanowicz family with living costs in Winnipeg while they were off work caring for a premature baby; club records do not make clear whether that specific payment was drawn from the FAMILY Fund or from the club’s general assistance coffers.
While the club is well known for large community events such as the Bill Bannock Classic ice fishing derby, the FAMILY Fund is an internal mutual-aid resource focused on the personal needs of members and their families. The club’s January 2021 history notes the fund has been accessed only rarely, but that it serves as an important safety net in a northern town without immediate access to tertiary hospital services.
The Rotary Club of The Pas continues to manage the FAMILY Fund alongside other charitable activities to help fill gaps in local healthcare and community supports.
