On February 26, 2024 Charleswood Rotary Club held a special fundraising meeting in support of Rossbrook House.

For this occasion we moved the meeting to Centro Caboto where we enjoyed a dinner of chicken parmesan and gelati from Nucci’s Gelati on Corydon. It was delicious!

The meeting was opened by a group of eight delightful young powwow dancers, and their leader Matt, from Rossbrook House. It was a great way to begin. That was followed by our land acknowledgement and the singing of O Canada.

Following dinner we heard from two speakers, and one ‘speaking pair.’

Cathy Skene began by telling how the dinner came about, and thanking the folks who bought ‘sponsorship’ tickets so that the powwow dancers were able to eat with the group, the donors, and Morris Insurance (the lead sponsor.) She also thanked Rossbrook House for guidance, and the loan of posters and table linens to make the venue feel special.

She also explained that the event was held as part of a district grant application. There will be a $1500 district grant, which will be matched by the club, and the proceeds from the dinner, raffle and donations going to Rossbrook. She shared that Rotary’s theme for this year is Create Hope in the World, and that both Rotary and Rossbrook are committed to doing this.

Next up was Brenda Hasiuk, past president of the Rossbrook board. She graciously stepped in to take the place of Patty Mainville, director of Rossbrook House, who was unable to attend due to a personal emergency.

Brenda shared some history of Rossbrook, and its vision and mission. Rossbrook was founded by a group of three nuns who saw children living on the streets and in need of a safe place where they could stay warm, be fed, and be nurtured. Later Rossbrook developed three off-site schools, providing education up to grade 12 for children who struggle in a traditional school setting. They have some inspiring success stories.

Then we heard from our keynote speakers. Jim Thiessen and Bonnie Emerson.

Jim is a retired police officer and now founder and volunteer president of Sleep in Heavenly Peace Winnipeg (SHP). Bonnie is Jim’s life partner, and the vice-president of SHP, and works as a superintendent with the Winnipeg Police Service, where she is responsible for Community Engagement. Bonnie is also a Rotary Peace Scholar.

They spoke of the shared goals of Rossbrook and SHP. Both organizations are deeply committed to caring for vulnerable children. SHP builds beds for children who don’t have one. The beds come complete with a new mattress, bedding, (usually a homemade quilt), and often a ‘stuffie.’ Jim shared a story of a little girl who received a bed from SHP. He noticed that she was clutching her new pillow, and she told him that the pillow was the first thing she had ever had in her life that was all hers: neither a hand-me-down nor shared. SHP has built 950 beds and has a waiting list.

SHP is completely volunteer run. They had ‘build days’ where groups come together to build beds, have committed quilters who provide them with colourful new quilts, and accept donations of new bedding and cash.

Bonnie shared that having a bed means having a safe sanctuary for a child. They are able to sleep better, and a better sleep leads to better educational outcomes. She told us that completing grade 12 dramatically decreases the chances of a child ending up in conflict with the justice system.

Both Rossbrook House and SHP help children stay safe, stay healthy, and complete their education.

To learn more about the organizations visit their websites and facebook pages. The smiles of the children cared for by both organizations will delight you.

And when you visit Rossbrook’s website you’ll see that they have a No Child Left Alone dinner coming up on April 25th. It will also be held at Caboto’s. Please buy ticket(s) if you are able. There will be some club members going so let’s see if we can fill a table. When we say ‘in the spirit of reconciliation’ we should walk that walk as well as talking the talk.

It was a Rotary meeting, so of course there had to be a 50/50 draw. Chuck held the winning ticket, and for this occasion no marble pulling was necessary.

Then the silent auction winning bids were announced. We were a small group resulting in all winning bidders walking away with a bargain!

And the meeting closed with the ringing of the bell.