ROTARY MEETING NOTES, JULY 18
29 members and two guests, Lari Langford & Karen Hurst were present to hear Margo Langford and Carlyn Moulton give an update on the Syrian families that PEC Syria is assisting.
Margo reported on the disposition of the $13,000 that was raised for emergency relief for the relatives of our local Syrian families suffering through the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. She showed pictures and a movie of the damage done to the houses, the tents they are living in now, and the food and supplies that were purchased with our donations. A movie of one of the families included a special address to us by a Syrian child who thanked our Club for its effort.
Ken congratulated the PEC Syria team on the successful completion of this project. Ken's daughter, who works for the Red Cross, was very impressed and had told Ken that it was very difficult to achieve the great results that we did.
Carlyn Moulton, the founder and moving force behind PEC Syria, spoke by Zoom about the current efforts to bring more Syrian families into Canada. It is especially urgent now because the governments of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are forcing Syrians who have taken refuge in their countries to go back to Syria. Also, the international food aid is being reduced making it more difficult for them to survive.
PEC Syria is sponsoring two more families, relatives of families living in the County, to settle here under the same conditions as the earlier ones, where all their costs for travel and living expenses are covered by PEC Syria for one year.
Lari Langford is working on their files to prepare all the documentation needed for their immigration.
At the same time, PEC Syria is working to bring other refugees to the County and the Quinte area under another federal program, the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, with the assistance of a charity called Talent Beyond Borders (TBB). Lari explained that TBB is compiling a registry of refugees and their skills and if PEC Syria can find companies who need these workers, the federal government will speed up the process for them and their families to come to Canada.
PEC Syria is arranging for overseas relatives of the families who are here to be registered ASAP. These families are in addition to the ones coming under full sponsorship. Because they will have a job waiting for them, the financial load on PEC Syria will be much less. The sponsoring companies will be asked to contribute to TBB’s operation. Barry announced that he will be contacting potential companies and asked members to advise him if they have leads on companies needing workers.
These workers may not have any English, but PEC Syria already knows companies who employ Arabic speaking workers who will help in their orientation and adaptation. Concerning housing, it is expected that the relatives currently living in the County will house their relatives initially until they find their own accommodations.
Carlyn advised the following ways the Club could help PEC Syria:
- Donate to the PEC Syria settlement fund that will assist the new arrivals. Pec syria.ca leads you to The County Foundation that will issue a tax receipt.
- Donate to the PEC Syria education fund that pays tuition and expenses to the children of the Syrian families. Seven children are now in university and college.
- Volunteer for PEC Syria to relieve some of the volunteers who have worked for eight years on the file and need a break. There will be two volunteer training courses in September or October.
- Become a Volunteer Coordinator for this new group of volunteers.
Club Business
Membership dues of $200 are due now, and can be paid by cash, cheque or e-transfer to Yvonne at y.buys@utoronto.ca.
Tim reported that Mike Lattner’s daughter has generously donated a case of butter for the corn for the Rotary community party on Aug 20.
Membership Chair, Peter, reported that Munir Touteh thanked the members for considering his membership but he is too busy now to participate, plus he has moved out of the County. He would like to consider joining in about a year when his house is built.
Howard reminded alcohol solicitors for the Dinner/Dance to advise Peter of their intentions and results as Peter is coordinating alcohol donations.
Jacques’s number was drawn for the 50:50, but he did not draw the ace of spades.
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