Club History

The Barrie Civitan Club was Chartered on Sep. 12, 1964. Our belief.."Do unto others as you would have them do onto you" is practiced by our membership everyday.

Our club is not political or religious and was formed to help those less fortunate. The Barrie Civitan club is part of Civitan International, which can boast over 1000 clubs and 70,000 members worldwide. This organization was formed March 17, 1917 with a primary focus on children, especially those with mental challenges. Civitan International encourages its clubs to seek out the specific needs within their community and to fulfill those needs. Civitan also has a junior program with over 500 youth clubs boasting a membership of over 15,000 and we are proud to have one of these Junior Civitan Clubs in Barrie. These kids work along side the senior members on various events.

Since it was chartered, the Barrie Civitan Club has used various ways and means to raise funds. Every year we sell Claxton Fruit Cakes the week prior to Christmas in the Georgian Mall. In the past we have run dances, (our most popular was a Gold Fever Reunion, with the help from local radio stations,) various raffles (computer, boat, beef, 50/50 etc). We have operated beer gardens, barbeques as well as numerous bingos.

We have run and promoted bath tub races, built a crazy car and had a clown unit for parades, we have decorated the children's wards at the hospital for Christmas, cleaned school yards and parks, collected suitcases for Children's Aid, and took seniors out for dinner.

Our fund raising profits have gone to many organizations throughout the city. We have bought cars and vans for seniors, a van for the Salvation Army, we paid off a 2nd mortgage for the Sunnyside Daycare Centre for the mentally challenged. We raised over $75,000.00 for the new Royal Victoria Hospital (more funds per member). We have supported Christmas Cheer, The Barrie Food Bank, Children's Aid, Women's and Childrens Crisis Center, Seasons Centre for Grieving and Traumatized Children, Barrie and District Association for People With Special Needs, Grove Park Home for the Aged, Salvation Army Programs, St. John Ambulance, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, youth sports, construction of Equal Access Parks, as well as many other worthy community projects. Civitan's are always there to help whenever or whatever the needs.

We are very proud of our community and the Barrie Civitan Club is always looking for ways to be of service. Please inquire about a membership via our club contact page.