President Iain called the meeting to order with the land acknowledgement and singing of O'Canada.

Sarge Lyle introduced guests Paul Bernardin (guest speaker) Abe Villaneuva, Glen Radewich, Dan Torbiak, Lu Debreuil, Dawn Hanson.

Rotary Moment

From the March edition of Rotary magazine

As of November 2022, $14.5 Million has been given in the form of grants. $3.7 Million outside of Ukraine and 10.8 Million inside of Ukraine. Of the $14.5 Million, 444 grants were awarded. 274 Districts sponsored a grant.

With the help of The Rotary Foundation, the Rotary Club of Ukraine Unity Passport and clubs in Great Britain, Ireland, and the U.S. have purchased water purification tablets for families in frontline regions, where clean water sources have been destroyed.

Iryna Ivanova, a member of the Rotary Club of Kharkiv New Level, shares her story at a Rotary seminar, where she hopes to reconnect with her Rotary network to secure the essential supplies that the people of Kharkiv will need to survive the harsh winter. Ivanova says how the eight Rotary clubs in Kharkiv have established a large warehouse inside a Rotarian-managed shopping centre. There they receive, load, and distribute donated supplies from Rotary and other relief agencies in Europe and North America. More than 50 volunteers work daily to sort and distribute the donations. “Before the war, many people, including her Rotary members, probably didn’t understand the power of Rotary,” she says. “Now, when they see how Rotarians help people, they want to be part of Rotary.”

Chair announcements (from President Iain's notes):

The Assiniboine Forest bags have arrived. Iain has some for members to have a sample. Iain is hoping all who receive a bag tonight will use it to promote the sale of bags to the community. This is a major fundraiser for the forest and we hope to see bags being sold as a result of the samples. Perhaps Glen or Rod can add to Clubrunner?

Jack is working with committee members to compile a list of our projects for marketing purposes.

The newest copy of the Rotary magazine has some interesting articles regarding Membership Makeover.

Hayley Edwards gave a copy from the Winnipeg Foundation to share with members on the Urban Stable article

Golf tournament - Jim Forestell said that the golf committee is meeting on Wednesday morning. See the link on the club website to register. We also need volunteers for the day of the tournament (Aug 17). Sign up list circulated or contact Jim. Volunteers for the day will have lunch provided and half price for dinner (and a volunteer tee shirt). We're expecting over 80 golfers and to raise $6500 for our club and the Winnipeg Assiniboine Club. Proceeds to green projects including the Assiniboine Forest.

Paul Bernardin is a good friend of our past President Glenn Campbell who is going to talk to us regarding the Winnipeg Street Run 5000K. This is a 5000 K run in support of St Boniface Hospital. It gives me great pleasure to announce this speaker as anything that supports St Boniface is near and dear to my heart.

Paul thanked Iain for the opportunity to present and to enjoy the Rotary meeting and meal at Breezy Bend. His project recently formed a 'dream team'. Many were at the meeting as guests this evening.

Paul identifies as a partner, a father of 3 children, grandfather of 6, senior, retiree, and busier than ever as a runner. His goal is to run every street in Winnipeg and convert 5,000 km into $50,000 for St. Boniface Hospital, Cardiac Care.

Why is he doing this? Because he's alive. He's been given a second chance to give back to the community that has done so much for him. In 2006, he went on a trek to Everest base camp. Part of the trip was to trek a mountain that had an altitude of 18,000 ft. and a spectacular view of Everest. In a photo shown on the screen, he is smiling, but he was in a lot of pain. He read from his diary to illustrate that something was wrong and not realizing he had a heart attack at 15,000 ft. altitude. After he returned to Winnipeg, it was confirmed that he required immediate heart surgery and again 2 years later. His condition improved, he began running and soon completed his first half marathon. He has now completed 18 full marathons, 70 half marathons and is running the NY marathon in November. During the pandemic, Paul signed up for virtual runs which kept him active increasing his daily mileage. He then decided to pursue the idea of the Winnipeg streets run. There are close to 5,000 streets covering 4,000 km. With double backs, the total is 5,000. The distance is the same as driving to Vancouver and back to Dryden. His focus now is to increase fundraising with the help of the new committee and through a dedicated Facebook page. He posts photos of his street runs including historical notes. He started running in May, 2023 and has covered over 500 kms. How can you support Paul? You can follow/ like / share his FB page, run a few streets with him, donate when the fundraising link goes live and spread the word. 2.5 years to complete (Fall of 2025). 42 miles per week currently. He looks forward to having everyone join him when he crosses the finish line. The link to his Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/273554898417800

Cathy thanked Paul on behalf of the club, suggesting he return.

Happy Bucks

• Jim enjoyed going to Altona on Saturday to see his grandson get married.
• Iain put in $2! He, Caroline, Cathy and Moe were at Raman Talwar's (President of Winnipeg West) 75th birthday celebration at Breezy Bend on Saturday.
• Cathy enjoyed Raman's birthday party and also a trip to Gimli on Sunday to Gimli Rotary's used book sale. That was followed by a visit to the Arnes Farmers' Market to acquire some desperately needed fudge. On the drive back she followed a group of riders from the Sikh Motorcycle Club's ride from Winnipeg to Gimli to raise money to fight diabetes.
• Lyle was happy to have cleaned out some old chairs from the Rotary garage. When he learned that the landfill would charge a dumping fee he put them on Marketplace instead, and earned $150 for the club. Very happy!
• Doug was happy to be back at a meeting, and is planning to stay back.
• Paul Bernardin (the evening's guest speaker) was happy to have had the opportunity to run with the police & firefighter athletes who are in town for their games.
• Honorary member Corey was happy that Mark Stone, Vegas Knights, held a party at Breezy Bend with the Stanley Cup. There were 350 people who attended the public event and a smaller number for a private party after.

There were no birthdays or anniversaries.

President Iain noted that for August, we have openings for speakers on August 14 and 28.

50/50 - there was no winner of the 50/50 draw.

Next week - No meeting due to the August holiday.