Program helping people in Cambodia is the wheel deal

Led by a former soldier, Rotary Wheels for Learning donates bikes in addition to funding clean water projects and much more

The organizers: Lisa McCoy, Maryanne Marshall and Mike Cole

The pitch: Rotary Wheels for Learning

Mike Cole spent more than 30 years as a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces and he went on missions around the world, helping communities and people in crisis. But he always felt something was missing.

“I was getting paid doing that. You feel good, but by the same token someone’s paying me to do this,” Mr. Cole, 60, said from his home in Ottawa.

Several years ago he got involved in a Canadian project in Cambodia led by Lisa McCoy. Ms. McCoy had been on a visit to Southeast Asia in 2011 and she came across a charity that was supplying bicycles to people in rural Cambodia. When she returned home, she encouraged her Rotary Club in Gravenhurst, Ont., to take up the cause and members started fundraising to buy bikes.

The Rotary Club in Gravenhurst, Ont., raises around $100,000 each year to fund Rotary Wheels and everything is bought locally, including the school supplies and bikes which cost around $50 each.

The club’s governor knew Mr. Cole and invited him to go to Cambodia and help deliver some of the bikes. “That first trip over to Cambodia was kind of like, yeah, this is what I’ve been searching for,” Mr. Cole recalled. He added; “It’s a country of probably some of the most amazing people in the world. Despite everything they’ve been through, they just are so friendly, so caring, so giving.”

After Ms. McCoy stepped down from running the program, called Rotary Wheels for Learning, he served as co-leader with another club member, Maryanne Marshall. He became the sole leader in 2017.

The program has donated thousands of bikes to people all over the country. It also funds clean water projects, school supplies, and a food service for an orphanage and a school. The club raises around $100,000 each year to fund Rotary Wheels and everything is bought locally, including the school supplies and bikes which cost around $50 each.

Mr. Cole, who works at the Department of National Defence, still makes regular trips to Cambodia to see the program in action.

“The one thing I learned from my years in the military is that commitment is the key. When you sign on to do something, you’ve got to carry it on.”