The Calgary Olympic Rotary club has partnered with the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada to send six Canadian children with life-threatening illnesses to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

The Calgary Olympic Rotary Club — chartered in 1988 and named after that year's Winter Olympics, hosted by Calgary — raised $30,000 to cover the families' transportation and lodging costs.

Tamara McCarron, the club's community service co-chair, said members decided this year that a service project linked to the Vancouver Games would be a natural fit.

"We felt the Children's Wish Foundation exemplifies the spirit of both Rotary and the Olympics," McCarron said.

"Even though these children may not be competing for gold, their spirit and dedication make them just like the many Olympic athletes competing in Vancouver. It is a wonderful and privileged opportunity to help make these children's wishes come true. It is our hope to give them an experience they will never forget."

Tara Johnson, one of the people involved in the project, said they partnered with a non-profit group in Vancouver to help find housing for the children.

"Being a Calgarian, we had the Olympic Games here and that was a great experience and it is difficult to be able to get to see," she said.

"We all know how challenging it is to get hockey tickets, so … to be able to get the children to the events that they have dreams to see and knowing that they are terminally ill, it's an unbelievable gift for us to be a part of that."

The club is sending children from Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Volunteers are heading to Vancouver to meet the children on Tuesday.