Together We Are People of Action - Building Community
February 01, 2021 Edition: 54.27 Reporter: Duncan Stanners Editor: David Williams
RCCW Zoom Meeting
Ken Montgomery greeted us all to the Zoom meeting. President Bill opened the meeting with a big gong. Robyn Braley's inspirational moment spoke to everyone wanting to get back together with people in person, the world after Covid.
Announcements
President Bill announced that the UCalgary Rotaract Pitch Night Event will take place on Friday Feb 26 at 6pm. They will be looking at various project options. You can sign up here https://www.facebook.com/events/1274298666287815/.
Marlene Doherty reminded us that the NStep flower and veggie fundraiser orders are due by this Friday, and encourages everyone to spread the word. On Monday members will receive a link to the results of the membership survey and a Zoom invitation to a Wednesday night discussion. The District has adopted a "Protecting vulnerable people" policy which our club has adopted. There will be a link to the document and a 12 minute video to explain what the policy is and why it is important.
Judy Cochran informed us that the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) session for 14-18 year olds will be happening May 6-9 at Camp Chestermere. Depending on the Covid situation, the decision will be made to go virtual or live at the beginning of March. Our club has sponsored 5 students, and member Cory Tretiak has sponsored 2 more. If you know of worthy candidate, please contact Judy for registration information and so that she can keep track of participants.
Terry Felton reported on a meeting he had with the SeatingU, the company that we rent bleachers from. It is unlikely the Stampede will happen this year, but if there is a possibility of doing it in a Covid-safe way, they have offered us twice the seating. Terry will continue to stay on top of this and keep us informed.
Barb Hames talked about the proposed book club, noting that she has had only one response so far. She also suggested an outing to look at the window displays in Inglewood. Please contact her for more information.
Presentations
President Bill described the "All Clubs" committees. Bill belongs to the Presidents committee, and this has spawned 2 more committees, Community Services and Fundraising in which Calgary and area clubs can collaborate and cooperate for greater impact. Ken Montgomery is our representative for fundraising and Bill Lawless for Community Service.
Bill Lawless presented 3 potential projects for our consideration:
- Rotary Welcome Centre for Foothills Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as a part of a $60million renovation there. Rotary commitment would be $2million over 5 years.
- A Rotary park beside the new Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. This would involve a one-time cost of $500K.
- Community Hubs Calgary is a partnership between Rotary, the City of Calgary and United Way. It is a part of the city's "Enough for All" program https://www.enoughforall.ca/ . The Downtown club currently supports this partnership with $425K per year, and is looking for participants to provide $35K for Covid Care packages and a further $50K per year for 2 new brokers.
A poll was taken to gauge our club's interest in potentially supporting these projects. Results were in favour. This presentation and the poll results are in the appendix to this report.
President Bill presented Bill Quinney with his December "Golden Stetson" award for all of the club service he does and his leadership on the Local Services Committee and team 2.
Bill Quinney provided a quick overview of what we have done in the 2020/21 year. The list may be found in the appendix to this report. We have $5K remaining for other projects, preferably Covid related.
Darren Grierson gave a presentation on mentors, calling on some mentors and mentees to talk about their experiences and the engagement of new members. He then provided a dialog with a prospective member, the new Member Application and a Sponsor Membership Proposal. These may be found in the appendix of this report.
Tim Anderson reported on 3 upcoming meetings that look at various aspects of Climate Change. Feb 8 will be Brandon Anderson, CEO NorthRiver Midstream, Current State of Oil and Gas in Canada. No meeting on Feb 15. The Feb 18 evening meeting will be Megan Bailey, on Climate Change Economics. Feb 22 will be Ron Barmby Sunlight: Climate Change presentation with a different perspective.
Appendix Approved Local Community Service Projects
2020 - 2021
I Can 4 Kids - $4000 - August money raised through sale of Cherries;
South Sudanese COVID – 19 Response Strategy - $7500 – September – money used to evaluate the needs in the entire community;
Woods Homes Chefs of NStep -$4500 – August program covered providing food to students and teaching them how to cook it;
Community Kitchens - $5000 – September – funds for COVID 19 Good Food Box Program;
CanLearn – Word Play - $1888 – money raised through our 50 /50 lottery;
Never too Late - $5000 – November - money raised from Rotary Roses and used to buy back Packs and supplies for students;
Alberta Computer for Schools - $300 – refurbished computers given to CanLearn and Soccer without Boundaries to loan;
Bethany Care Poinsettias and Christmas Bags - $4125 – December - money donated from club members to buy Poinsettias and gift bags for the 200 plus residents of Bethany Riverview;
I Can 4 Kids - $3769 – Community Kitchens - $1507 – January – funds raised from the Huron Carole fundraiser;
Reset Society - $3500 – February - money to build a fence and provide playground equipment at one of their homes;
Connaught Diaper Drive - $1150 – funds donated to buy diapers for needy families;
Alpha House - $375 – funds collected to donate directly as well as clothing and toiletries;
Feed the Hungary – September – $7000 - club donated $3500 matching from Shaw Charity Classic.