Chartered November 22, 2002
Rotarian of theYear: David Robinet & Phyo Kyi www.wellingtonrotary.ca
Club Bulletin This Week
Liam Smith
(Youth Peer Leader, John Howard Society)
May 04, 2021 Club #60346 District 7070
President's Message
A small section of Picton woke up this Sunday to a localized power outage. It was more of an inconvenience than a concern since we had enough heat. Unfortunately, the cats couldn’t fire up a pot of coffee, so I headed out to Main St to scavenge for some; Dawn takes milk in hers, but the cats insist on cream.
Last week we received the good news that the vaccination clinics were on again. In no time at all, we had more than enough volunteers for the shifts. Lisa Lindsay has told me that the Rotarians are excellent volunteers who help the clinics run smoothly. I expect there will be plenty of opportunities to volunteer now that the governments are reporting the increase in dosages that will soon be available.
Another item related to COVID healthcare; Dave Robinet put me in touch with Rob Leek of the Picton Club. Picton Rotary recently hosted Stacey Daub who told them that one of their bigger challenges is the morale of their health care staff. These people are burdened with a lot of stress and pressure trying to keep our health system running during this difficult time, so the Picton Rotary has put a committee in place to come up with a plan to show the community’s support and appreciation. I spoke to Rob on Friday and said our Club would love to help and Rob will join us on Tuesday to update Wellington Rotary on what’s being planned.
A couple of items that will be revisited at Tuesday’s meeting:
Thank you to Pierre for following up with Tammy Sharkey regarding the donation our Club would like to make to help Kat Kennedy who is battling retinoblastoma.
We’ll revisit the donation to Community Safety Net for the “Help Kids Now” books. Hetty Leitch spoke briefly to us at Forum and I circulated the details in my email last Tuesday.
President Howard opened the Club business meeting but there was a recently-included addition to the usual format with a guest speaker, Hetty Leitch, representing the “Help Kids Now” safety book organisation. Dave R introduced Hetty who has been a Scout leader and active in child-care and safety issues for many years.
Hetty explained how the project, which has been taking place in North America for a number of years, is an important part of any community’s safety net by making children aware of all kinds of dangers and how to deal with them. These books are given to families, for the children, at no cost but sponsored by businesses and local organizations, such as Rotary clubs, at $15.00 each. Hetty requested that the Club give support for 45 books, i.e. $675.
Hetty was thanked by President Howard who continued by reporting on the April Board meeting. Reports were received from Sec. Lyn (Science Fair Award recipients, Hospice donation), and Treasurer Trudy updated the club on the club's financial status including the moneys collected for the hospital initiative. Almost all the maple syrup has been sold. John Inwood has been looking at meeting etiquette, particularly using Zoom, and will have recommendations for the Club going forward. On Fundraising, Dave R spoke about D & D book sales (about 60 are currently left). Discussions are ongoing about a possible Club Golf Tournament in September. The Club agreed to continue to support the Free Reading Program as requested to the tune of $500 and Mike will look into CML Snyder scholarships. The reading program will be accessible to all through the Club website and its use will be promoted through advertising. The Membership portfolio will, in future, always come under the Immediate Past President’s purview. Under Club Admin, dues will increase by $25 per year starting next fiscal year 2021-2022 (voted unanimously). Phyo updated the Club on the deliberations of the New Initiatives Committee regarding the “Field of Dreams” project, the chance to observe the uptake on outdoor fitness equipment at Wellington on the Lake and a visit of a team of members to Kate’s Rest on May 26th. Reference was also made to some beach cleanup and the Wellington Trash Bash.
President Howard urged members to participate in the upcoming District Conference on June 26th. Attendance of at least ten members will entitle the Club to access $500 in funding from the District. Under Special Projects, Margo is planning an event at Wellington on the Lake to celebrate achieving our new hospital target. Several donations had been made to International Projects including one to sanitation in Haiti which received matching grants. Reference was made to the situation of Kat Kennedy who is in need of support for medical needs and for whom a Go-Fund Me campaign has been started. Pierre agreed to be a champion for the Club on this. There was a successful motion to meet the request from the Wellington Museum (Krista Richardson) for funds (Adobe Pro licence) to allow the digitization of local historical documents to form an archive accessible to all. Quinte Access was also supported in the amount of $2,000. The request from Hetty at the beginning of the meeting was agreed with the proviso that the Safety Books would be available to local children specifically.
All the requests for volunteers to work at the vaccination clinic in Picton had been met. Liz reported on the work of the Indigenous People’s Partnership Committee supported by Wellington, Belleville, Trenton & Palgrave Clubs, that had disbursed the grant of $1,000.
Wellington Rotary Supports Indigenous Professional Bursary Award
Congratulations to Alyssa Lancione, who has been selected to receive a $1,000 Indigenous Professional Bursary Award from the Rotary Club of Wellington in 2021. The Wellington Rotary Club is a member of the Rotary Indigenous People's Partnership Committee, which has awarded a total of three $1,000 bursaries to Indigenous students this year.
Alyssa Lancione is a student at Lakehead University, Orillia Campus who is studying for her Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree. She is a young woman of Metis heritage connected to the Georgian Bay Friendship Centre in Midland.
R-O-T-A-R-Y, that spells Rotary.
R-O-T-A-R-Y, is known on land and sea.
From north to south, and east to west,
They profit most who serve the best,
R-O-T-A-R-Y, that spells Rotary.
BOTTLE DEPOT IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED DUE TO
COVID RESTRICTION PROTOCOLS
