Technical difficulties delayed the start of the meeting to 5:56 PM. Courtesy of Nancy Morris’ i-Phone, O Canada was sung in the Chinese Mandarin language to start the meeting. This was followed by a private moment of silence.
President Doug provided guidance to members on the use of the microphone during the Covid-19 pandemic:
Do not touch the microphone or stand
Speak directly into the microphone so that our Zoom members can hear us (having the microphone at chin level works best).
Allow Sarge Mike to bring the microphone over to you
ROTARY NEWS
Peter provided a brief advertisement of “Talking Rotary” and the first podcast with David Newman.
Peace Days in Manitoba are being celebrated virtually this year. A schedule of online events can be found on Facebook at peacedaysmb.
An email sent out to all District 5550 Rotarians by Signe Holstein last Thursday outlines the plans for a virtual workshop taking place on Saturday, October 17th, 2020 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Manitoba and Ontario. Finalized topics are: “Community Engagement”, “Member Engagement”, and “Fundraising During and Post Covid-19”. Registration is required to set up the breakout groupings. The registration link (https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEld-qpqT0rHtP4REt1V43htXqPmYVootWj) takes you straight to a ZOOM registration.
At the Charleswood Rotary board meeting held September 1st, the following were discussed:
Iain Scott has fabricated Rotary branded, floor Covid-19 distance stickers – the type you stand on for proper distancing. The plan would be placement in area schools.
Dave Morris has been working behind the scenes raising funds for the club. To date, corporate support for club operations has come to $3500.
Other possible fundraising options were also discussed – an online auction, 50/50 ticket raffles, lobster and chicken dinner sales to be picked up, asking for direct donations. Other ideas from members are welcome.
Glenn Campbell has been working on developing credit card payments for dues and events being made directly to the club bank account as well as a ‘Donation’ link to the club’s foundation account (RCCCF) wherein a Charitable Tax Receipt, generated by Clubrunner, will be automatically sent via email to the donor.
The board voted to support two international projects - $250 to support a school in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh (initiated by the Rotary Clubs of Dryden, Kenora and Winnipeg-Assiniboine and supported by a District Grant) and $290 CDN ($220 USD) to purchase a kit consisting of gardening supplies (seeds, seedlings, fertilizer, tools and a “Hippo water roller” for easily hauling 90 liters of water at a time) to be given to one of 1000 South African villages for a project titled “1000 Survival Gardens” initiated by a Rotary Club in South Africa and supported by clubs in Canada (e.g. Rotary Club of Winnipeg), Australia and USA.
Jack reported that he is working on a potential partnership with Ecole Charleswood School (a Middle School - Grades 5-8).
BRIEF FUNDRAISER
Sarge Mike was appointed auctioneer for a brief club fundraiser – the sale of a pint of Hawthorn Jelly, prepared by PDG Elaine from haws picked by PDG Ed and two grandsons in the Thompson`s urban forest. The highest bid ($11.00) was that of Rotarian Lyle.
PDG Nancy briefly introduced Greg Wiens as having come from Domain, MB and currently living in what was the first Morris home on Haney Street. Greg went on to briefly describe his family and current three jobs:
Faith-based coordinator for Global Vision 2020 (which very recently received a Patents for Humanity award from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office “for the innovative way it is helping people in the developing world perform eye tests and obtain inexpensive prescription eye glasses.”
Working on eyeglass projects with the Mennonite Brethren Churches
Lead pastor of the Westwood Community Church in Winnipeg
Fifteen years ago, Greg was executive director in International Development which handed out aid to developing countries. He discovered it was difficult to match lenses and frames to the needs of people with poor eyesight living in countries with no optometrists. A better way to assess the vision needs of a person was to adapt a technique used with binoculars. Users turn a dial until they can clearly see the eye chart, thereby selecting their own prescription. Lenses matching the prescription are then popped into an inexpensive frame and voila! – vision restored! Studies carried out by researchers in Johns Hopkins University and New England School of Optometry found that technique matched an advanced technology technique’s results in 92% of the cases. In the remaining 8% of the cases, other issues (e.g. cataracts, etc) were involved. Greg first read about this technique in the National Geographic and it resulted in his having the same dream three nights in a row. Contacting the inventor, Kevin White (with the US Military), Greg was appointed the spiritual mentor working with scientists to train locals in Rohinga communities in Myanmar, in a monastery (which started a dialogue for peacemaking), in Bethlehem (testing was done by locals), and in a refugee camp (55,000 people living in a 3 square mile area) in Malawi in November 2018 (where two Mennonite Brethren churches are located). Charging $6 for a pair of glasses, enough money was saved to make a down payment on 92 acres of land where farmers are growing gardens and soybeans (seed from Domain, MB!) – giving the refugees a hand up and not a handout! It’s been determined that improving the vision of a person results in a 20-30% increase in the person’s income.
Each kit consists of 550 pairs of glasses, one U-See Tester and two eyecharts, costing $1800 US (works out to be $3.27 per pair of eyeglasses).
(Global Vision 2020 is a member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the arm of the United Nation’s World Health Organization that oversees eye care.)
In response to questions, we learned that the kit contains two different frame sizes, which are manufactured in China (previously in India). This organization does not take old glasses any longer, as they do not come with a prescription.
The meeting was then turned over to Sarge Mike to introduce our guest (Greg Wiens, our speaker for the meeting), then to call for Happy Bucks and birthdays or anniversaries,
Mandy was pleased that there had already been 100 downloads of the first “Talking Rotary” podcast
Ed Thompson had a Sad Buck (his computer was “down”) and a Happy Buck (he was going to be golfing on Tuesday)
Dave was delighted to report that there were 216 beer cans In Jim Forestell’s garage that was donated to the club for Rotary’s support of Polio eradication.
Nancy Morris was glad that her two grandsons have completed their 14 days of isolation, having come from Alaska to play hockey in Neepawa.
There were no birthdays or anniversaries to celebrate.
There were no fines assessed since the raffle for the Hawthorn jelly had produced $11 for the club.
The first 50-50 draw produced no takers, so a second draw was made and the ticket number belonged to that of our speaker, Greg Wiens. And yes, he did draw the lucky blue marble!
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will take place on Monday, September 21st. President Doug asked that if you make a reservation to come to the meeting, please remember to attend!
