Five Counties Children’s Centre would not be here without the central role played by local Rotary Clubs. And fittingly, it’s in a roomful of Rotary Club members meeting in Peterborough in 1970 where our story begins.
The discussion that night in 1970 among Peterborough Rotarians focused on “a suitable venture” by which to mark the 50th anniversary of the club’s founding.
According to the club’s centennial book released in 2021 (meticulously researched and written by Bruce and Frances Gravel), the Rotarians settled on this venture: “the establishment of a children’s care centre” — which became Five Counties.
Some Rotarians had a personal interest in this project, including club members who had children with a physical disability. Providing care closer to home stood to benefit them and other families of children with physical needs, who often had to travel to Toronto, Oshawa, or Kingston for treatment at that time.
But creating a “children’s care centre” to serve Peterborough and surrounding region also aligned with what local Rotarians were doing at the time.
Back then, local Rotary clubs were already funding recreation activities for children with physical disabilities, including swimming programs, a Saturday morning kids’ club, and a summer day camp called Camp Omigolly.
On March 21, 1972, Five Counties was officially incorporated, with Rotary Clubs in Peterborough, Port Hope, Campbellford, Cobourg, Fenelon Falls, Haliburton, Havelock, Lindsay and Minden pledging to support the venture.
The big ask was securing funding for a new building, which Rotarians — supported by families in the area, medical experts, and local leaders — were able to do the following year when the Ontario government signed on.
The original building plan for Five Counties, to be built on Dutton Road in the north end of Peterborough on a parcel of land donated by the City of Peterborough, was based on the design of a similar centre in St. Catharines.
The initial plan for Five Counties included a children’s treatment wing, day care, and swimming pool to be built at a total cost of $920,000. To save money, the pool was deferred (and ultimately never built), shaving $200,000 off the price tag.
The Ontario Ministry of Health and the Ontario Society for Crippled Children (the term used at the time) committed to providing approximately 80 per cent of the building costs, leaving the balance of $148,000 to be raised locally.
Each of the nine Rotary Clubs pledged money to the initiative. For example, the Rotary Club of Peterborough contributed $25,000, while the smaller Rotary Club of Campbellford donated $10,000.
“Contributing the initial $10,000 would have been quite the feat for the Rotary Club at the time,” notes Dave Sharp, secretary of the Campbellford Rotary Club. “It is obvious that the club membership (at the time) understood the need to help get (Five Counties) started, despite having a limited number of patients from our immediate area.”
Club members were driven to help in other ways. With local fundraising successful, the “new” Five Counties opened its doors in Peterborough in 1975.
In those early days, Rotarians around the region — including in Campbellford, Lindsay, and Haliburton — still took an interest, by driving children and families to treatment appointments in Peterborough if they couldn’t get there themselves.
“That is what community organizations do — take care of those in need,” Sharp adds.
Over the years, local Rotary Clubs continued to financially support Five Counties as it expanded services to assist children and youth with physical, developmental and communication needs.
For example, the Rotary Club of Peterborough still holds the annual Fore the Kids golf tournament in support of Five Counties, building on the $353,003 it has contributed in total to the Centre since it opened its doors 50 years ago.
As Five Counties opened new Centre sites in Lindsay, Haliburton County, Campbellford and Cobourg to better serve kids and youth in these areas, Rotary was also there to help.
When Five Counties relocated to its current Division Street location in Cobourg, the three local Rotary clubs — Cobourg, Port Hope, and Northumberland Sunrise — pitched in to buy a special lift for the new facility.
The connection to Five Counties was personal in many ways, according to Denise O’Brien, past president of the Rotary Club of Northumberland Sunrise, who calls the Centre “an essential service in our community to support the wellbeing of children and their families.”
Denise relates the story of another Rotary Club member, Rhonda, whose son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and how Five Counties became “the beacon of support” the family needed.
As Denise tells it, Rhonda credits Five Counties for showing her family “what caring, professional, devoted staff can collectively do to make a huge — and I mean huge — impact on the lives of those with a disability and their family. The team allowed our son to be the very best version of himself… Five Counties holds a special place in our hearts.”
At Five Counties, the feeling is reciprocated, as the Centre would not be here without the vision and support of local Rotarians, past and present.
In their centennial book marking 100 years of Rotary Clubs in Peterborough, the Gravels note the establishment of Five Counties “was a worthy monument to the activities of Rotary during the decade of the ’70s.”
It could be argued that Rotary’s “worthy monument” is a legacy that lives on to this day. It’s evident in the thousands of children, youth, and their families who were assisted by Five Counties over five decades, as well as the many more who stand to benefit from our services in the years to come.
