Service Above Self: 2000 and beyond: ‘To infinity and beyond!’

By Kitt Brand on February 25, 2025.

Just before the end of the 20th Century, Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear proclaimed, “To infinity and beyond!” Lightyear could have been a Rotarian. Already a veteran of two films, Lightyear embodied an almost unassailable confidence, his toy brain focused only on possibilities. From 1995-2025 (soon to be released), Lightyear’s character urges us on “To Infinity and Beyond!” despite the fact that infinity is pretty much it.

Like Buzz, Rotarians are optimistic and seemingly relentless in their efforts to look beyond. The major difference, of course, is that Rotarians are profoundly grounded in reality. At the Rotary International level, a 10-year Future Vision Plan was developed for its second century of service. The vision was to “enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace.”

With core values of service, fellowship, diversity, integrity, and leadership, club projects would focus on promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, saving mothers and children, supporting education (especially for girls and women), growing local economies and protecting the environment.

The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat has 21st century multiples of Buzz Lightyear. One is Dr. Jack Snedden. When the City of Medicine Hat envisioned the Esplanade as a cultural centre across from the library, Jack was chair of its fulfilment committee, pretty much selling the idea to the community and raising money.

His clever idea was to lead the “Live Virtually Free for One Year” campaign, a fundraiser in which the grand prize winner would receive $125,000 in gifts, services and cash; the second prize winner $40,000 in value; the third prize winner $25,000 in value. Sponsors took to this novelty and helped the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat raise $70,000 toward the construction of the Esplanade which opened for Alberta’s Centennial in 2005.

“To infinity and beyond!”

Thanks, Jack.

Another Buz Lightyear is Dr. “Sandy” MacKay. A Rotarian since 1977, he has held almost all the club, district, zone, and international positions possible. He was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and was head above the crowd with his Kolkata Villages Project in India.

Under Sandy’s leadership and keen leveraging of Rotary matching funds and international partnerships, the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat’s $29,000 contribution was magnified to $365,000.

This project affected more than 53,000 people and included water, health, sanitation, education, community improvement, jobs and leadership training, and school improvement to four villages in India. His project was highlighted in a docu-video produced by Rotary International called “Make No Small Plans.”

It offered a template to Rotary clubs around the world as a way to create impactful, co-operative and sustainable international projects.

In 2018, Sandy was presented with the “Service Above Self” Award, given to only 150 Rotarians a year around the world. His wife Jane should have been named as a co-recipient. Sandy continues to serve on the Club’s International Committee and is envisioning his next project.

“To infinity and beyond!”

Thanks, Sandy.

From 2000-2018, the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat gave $112,000 to international projects. Those funds were leveraged at a rate of 4:1 to provide: Education projects in India, Kenya and South Africa; assistance equipment for visually impaired in Brazil; prosthetic limbs and dentures in Sri Lanka; bathrooms for an orphanage in Crimea, a seniors’ centre in Ukraine and a school in Nicaragua; emergency vehicles to Mexican villages through Los Amigos; microfinancing loans to 54 borrowers in 14 countries.

In local service, the three Rotary clubs in Medicine Hat raised $100,000 in 2005 for the Medalta Children’s Centre. Saamis Rotary created the first ever accessible play area in Alberta. The three clubs now together support the Monarch Theatre, and a year ago started a drive in Alberta to establish and supply a medical rehabilitation centre in Ukraine.

That co-operative venture will be completed by next month. Other support has gone to Medalta’s Artist in Residence program, Prairie Gleaners, Saamis Immigration, Salvation Army, YMCA – hard to name them all.

Rotary International has assessed the work of the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat since 1918 as contributing more than $10.3 million to the community and in excess of $8.5 million in volunteer work hours since the club’s beginning.

What does the future hold? To quote Rotary’s founder, Paul Harris: “If Rotary is to realize its proper destiny, it must be evolutionary at all times.”

Yeah, Buzz.

“To infinity and beyond!”