Welcome to the Rotary (RAGAS) 7080 eClub

We’re proud to be Canada’s first RAGAS (Rotary Action Group Against Slavery) cause-based club and the first eClub in District 7080, chartered in July 2024.
 
Our mission is twofold — to raise awareness about human trafficking and to champion youth and diversity in our community. As part of RAGAS, we work to connect, empower, and equip Rotarians and community members to help end modern slavery and human trafficking — locally and globally.
 
We’re also excited to include Interact and Rotaract members as part of our growing Rotary family.
 
 
 

Find out more about RAGAS in Canada
 
 
Our Rotary in Action
New Service Group in Centre Wellington 'Pushing the Envelope'

photo of Barb Lustgarten-Evoy and Lori FerberA new Centre Wellington-based Rotary club is trying to "push the envelope" of what a service group can look like. 

Launched just over a year ago, the Rotary District 7080 E-club is a new volunteerism-based service club co-created by Centre Wellington Coun. Barb Lustgarten-Evoy, a longtime Rotary Club member who said she wanted to create a new club that was different than traditional service-based organizations.

"The way I see it, the more service clubs, regardless of their name, the more people living in service and having different opportunities," said Lustgarten-Evoy.

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Centre Wellington Centre Wellington Service Clubs Unite for a Free Family Picnic!
graphic showing all the logos for Rotary, Lions Club, Kinsmen, and the Legion, with Zehrs Fergus and seven local service clubs are coming together to host a fun-filled community picnic behind the Fergus Sportsplex on September 27 from 12–3 p.m. Bring your own picnic or enjoy a free lunch, and take part in arts & crafts, face painting, Waddies, a scavenger hunt, and more family-friendly fun.
 
This collaboration between the Rotary (RAGAS) 7080 eClub, Elora and Fergus Legions, Fergus, Elora, and Belwood Lions Clubs, the Kinsmen Club of Fergus & District, and the Fergus Elora Rotary Club celebrates community spirit and connection.
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Rotary 7080 eClub – Canada Day Volunteers

Photo of a group of peopleWe’re excited to welcome new and returning members to our June Fellowship Meeting as we finalize plans for this year’s Canada Day Celebration!

Join us July 1 at the CW Community Sportsplex in Fergus from 7:00–9:30 pm for an evening of cultural performances, live music, face painting, arts and crafts, henna tattoos, tasty food trucks, Canada-themed ice cream, and a fireworks show at 9:30 pm, proudly presented by the Township of Centre Wellington, in partnership with Rotary 7080 eClub.

District 7080 Club Innovation Award Winner
photo of Barb being presented with a certificateBarbara Lustgarten-Evoy, President of the 7080 eClub, was honoured with the Club Innovation Award at the District 7080 Crossover and Awards Night on June 13. This award recognizes her outstanding leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing RAGAS (Rotary Action Group Against Slavery) initiatives across Canada and internationally.
 
As the Canadian Ambassador and Global Director for RAGAS, Barbara has elevated Rotary’s Avenues of Service through innovative action, community outreach, and public education. Barbara’s vision also helped establish 7080 eClub, Canada’s first RAGAS cause-based club, engage Interact and Rotaract members, launch the RAGAS Canada website, and mobilize action against human trafficking, truly reflecting “Service Above Self.” Congratulations, Barbara — we’re so proud of you!

What Canada can do

Field Notes - Rotary Canada Magazine, January 2025
 

The Rotary Action Group Against Slavery in Canada is looking for ambassadors from each of Canada’s more than 700 Rotary clubs to champion the elimination of human trafficking in the country.

The national group is part of the international Rotary Action Group Against Slavery, which includes members from dozens of countries.

Rotary is a respected voice in Canada, says Barbara Lustgarten-Evoy, and bringing Rotary members from all over the country together to advocate on this issue will make a demonstrable impact. "To effect real change, we have to work at changing the laws, work at changing the way things are done," says Lustgarten-Evoy, a member of the Rotary E-Club of District 7080 and the Canadian coordinator for the human trafficking eradication project. To that end, the action group must "connect Rotarians to one another and to the people doing the work around the country. That’s how we get heard, and that’s how we make the change we need to make."

An interactive map, which is scheduled to go live on the action group’s website after this issue’s publication date, will link Rotary members with vetted potential partners. The District 7080 e-club, the first antislavery cause-based e-club in the country, is working in alignment with the national action group.

In 2022, the Canadian government recorded about 530 instances of human trafficking reported to police, and a nationwide organization that operates an anti-trafficking hotline tallied about 2,200 victims and survivors between 2019 and 2022. Because experts believe that trafficking is underreported, particularly among historically marginalized groups, these figures do not capture the full extent of the problem. The Canadian action group is working with Honouring Indigenous People and has a trafficking survivor on its board to help ensure that its work is inclusive and considers survivors’ perspectives, Lustgarten-Evoy says.

Supporters of the cause are encouraged to attend this year’s Rotary International Convention in Calgary. "We want as many people representing RAGAS as possible so we can show the rest of the globe what Canada can do," Lustgarten-Evoy says.

Learn more and get involved at ragas.ca