Meeting of April 10, 2019

 

 

 

There were 19 members in attendance, and guests David Richardson, Pippo Bernnardo of Club Rotary di Palazzolo A. " Valle della,'Anapo " in Sicily, and his daughter Lorenza Bernnardo.

 

Barb reminded everyone of the Book Exchange. Contact Norma for more details.

Laura gave a Happy Buck to celebrate 38 years since arriving in Canada.

Jackie showed us the plaque that displays the names of the JPCI White Ribbon award winners. This plaque will soon be displayed at JPCI. 

 

 

President Clarke presented Pippo Bernnardo with an RTE banner. As Pippo’s club did not have a banner to exchange, he presented us with an original piece of art that he created. The work depicts the landscape of Sicily. As Pippo’s does not speak English, his daughter Lorenza was on hand to translate.

 

We are pleased to learn that John B is home from the hospital. Unfortunately, he is not ready to see visitors, but we have been told he is in good spirits, and getting better. We look forward to seeing him at our meetings very soon.

 

Congratulations to Mike M for putting together the club response to the “Are you Transformed” contest from District 7070. The report was scored “10 out of 10”, so we have our best chance of winning the prize of a $500 donation to a charity of our choice.

 

The 2019 Rotary District 7070 Conference is Friday, October 25 - Sunday, October 27 at the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort and Spa. Registration is $349.00. More information, and how to register, can be found on the conference website.

 

On Saturday, April 27th, 2019, you too can help fight against HIV/AIDS for the 13th Annual Rotary Poker Walk for HIV/AIDS. Join a team of 4 to raise money, play and win; including a trip for two to Las Vegas. Please visit the Rotary AIDS Walk website for more details.

 

Please also be reminded that the District Foundation Walk takes place on September 8^th from 10am to 2pm in Toronto’s High Park. More details to follow.

 

The next meeting of the board is April 16^th. If you wish to attend, please contact Joe.

 

 

 

 

The Committee members are Joe, Nilam, Ron D, Norma, Lois, Stephen B, Shirley, Barb. They are also welcoming Bruce S and anyone else interested!

 

Subcommittees:

Rift Valley WASH in School Global Grant project

Bugiri WASH in School project - Joe and Dennis Gray recently presented an overview of their November site visit.  The project has been divided into 2 main phases and the current Global Grant addresses the needs of Phase 1.

 

Since 2010 RTE has successfully completed  3 Global Grant  partnerships with RC Nakuru totaling $750,000 Cdn. The Nakuru WASH in Schools final report was approved in Jan 2019 and worth $135,524 US. This Grant was supported by 12 RC in D7070, other RC across the country, and as well as private foundations

 

Based in India, this project brought forward by Stephen B, who visited this school and was impressed with the work, oversight and vision of this school. We donated $2000, which helps the school to offer education to lower income students with the goal of an equal opportunity for education for all.

 

We are very pleased to provide $2000 to Scarborough Rotary Club for their international project to supply solar electric panels to the El Arca children's Home in the Peruvian Amazon. This project will make a real difference in the quality of children's lives.

 

We donated $2000 to LFBS who partnered with Maxima Homes Haiti, to build housing for families affected by recent earthquake and hurricanes.

 

ROOTA is a Canadian charity supported by the RC of Scarborough working with women and children in Egypt who live and work in the marginalized garbage picking community of Zabaleen. This project is to provide tablets ($220 cdn) for children in primary grades giving them the same experience for literacy as throughout the rest of the country. We donated $660 for 3 tablets.

 

Based in Peru, Transforming faces’ ultimate goal is to provide early care for children born with cleft lip and palate. RTE donated $2,000 to support training healthcare professionals to help deliver nutritional support to mothers and newborns with cleft lip who struggle to breastfeed.

 

We donated $2,000 to support District 7070’s work with CUSO in Ethiopia to improve the clinical skills of midwives in underserviced areas. Our $2,000 donation became $30,000 with a CUSO match!

 

The Board voted to put aside $3000 for that Global Grant once it has been approved. The goal is to improve health conditions of waste pickers in Brasilia garbage dumps & improve the water quality available to them. Supported by RC of Taguatinga Brazil, Vanessa and Rogerio Cruvinel  spoke to the club on Oct 3.  Since then RC Brighton has offered to support them in a Global Grant application.

 

This year’s walk is Saturday Apr 27th at the Leuty Pavilion the Beaches. 75% of funds raised go to HIV Patients at the Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe; 25% go to Latino Positivos the District’s designated charity.

Our team needs your support and pledges! http://toronto.rotaryaidswalk.ca

Join the Toronto Eglinton team or sponsor Ricardo (sponsor online or by cheque to Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton Foundation).

 

 

 

 

Mike let everyone know RTE has an active online presence at the most popular social media sites.  In addition to our website at www.rotarytorontoeglinton.com, we can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

 

For members not already connected with us, you can visit these sites by clicking on the icons is the “Follow Us” box (shown below) found on our website homepage.

 

 

Our social media efforts are designed to create positive public awareness of RTE, and our projects, and the efforts are working. We now have several hundred people regularly following our posts, and this number is rapidly growing. Mike asked all members to like, comment and share our posts, as it helps spread the word.

 

Mike also spoke about the “Members Section” of our website. Approximately 50% of members have not logged in, in over 6 months, and 11 members have never logged in. Unfortunately, this means that most member profiles are incomplete. In addition, members are not recording their volunteer hours and committee work. This information is important for both RTE and RI as it helps with future planning and our application for citations. As a result, all members are encouraged to go into their profiles and update their information as soon as possible.

 

 

Lois won the wine.  Make sure you buy your 50/50 tickets at our next meeting.