The Rotary Club of Chilliwack is going ahead with a $10,000 donation to G.W. Graham's football program even though the school's sports field won't be renamed GWG Rotary Field.

The service club had agreed to a plan in June that would see Rotary sponsor the team and the field renamed to incorporate the Rotary name.

But a decision by the Chilliwack school board last Tuesday authorized only temporary signage during the teams' home games "confirming that the team is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Chilliwack."

"We are obviously delighted that Rotary has decided to continue with the donation in spite of the change in the naming rights," Graham head coach Laurie Smith told the Times.

"Rotary is an outstanding community partner and we are very proud to have our program associated with them."

Rotary made the decision Thursday morning at its board of directors meeting.

"We went ahead with it because the whole approach to Rotary is to help community," said president Brad Whittaker.

While getting Rotary's name on the field would have been a way to make students more aware of service club's community work, which includes sponsoring G.W. Graham's Leaders of Tomorrow program and a new Youth Interact Club that encourages leadership and citizenship, Whittaker said ultimately it's not about the name.

"It's not about Rotary," he said. "It's about the work that we do. Our motto is 'service above self.' That's what we're about, so we put it above our selves to have a better community, and we think providing a program such as this one helps kids along the way."

cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com