|
President Iain called the meeting to order with a Land Acknowledgement and O Canada. Rotary Moment World Polio Day is tomorrow. Over the past 35 years, cases of wild poliovirus have decreased by more than 99%, from 350,000 cases per year to less than ten annual cases of wild polio. 80% of variant polio cases are in only four subnational regions. Polio is a highly contagious disease affected by the polio virus. World Polio Day was established to eradicate polio worldwide and to ensure a polio-free future for everyone, develop high immunization coverage, implement high-quality observation to detect any presence of the virus and plan for an outbreak response. Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999 and wild poliovirus type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As of 2022, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. Our club foundation, RCCCF, donates $1,500 annually to this cause. Chair Announcements Iain heard from David that Nancy is now home and recovering. Peak of the Market has emailed a very last-minute request if there is anyone from our Rotary club available from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct 24th. They could use the extra hands packing for a party. This was a fun event that we did before with members of the Blue Bombers. It was also our way of saying thanks to the generosity of Peak for their bags and potatoes. Thank you to Lyle, Jim Chuck and Lloyd who have volunteered. Iain has a copy of the 2024-25 grant certification webinar registration form. This is the annual first step in becoming a certified club to be able to apply for 2024-25 district grants between Jan 1, 2024 and April 15, 2024.
Such grant applications apply to post secondary scholarships, youth programs (RYLA & inbound long term youth exchange students), district and international projects. For our club to apply for those grants, we require 2 members to be registered. Dates of web session webinars are November 16th, 18th, 21st and 29th. Thank you to Glenn for offering to register. The Charleswood Historical Society has informed us that a new “Welcome to Charleswood” sign is being investigated and Councillor Evan Duncan is contacting sign companies for their interest. A question was asked about how our club’s logo and or branding should be included. Cathy and Iain attended MITT last Wednesday for the volunteer fair arranged by Volunteer Manitoba who reminded us they have resources to help all volunteer groups. Cathy reported that President Iain actually danced for the group in attendance. One person at the volunteer fair stated that they will be coming out to a meeting soon. A $5 donation was also collected. On November 8th they will be doing this again at RRC Polytech. This is a great opportunity to talk to members of other organizations. Our club is fortunate to have the Assiniboine Forest promote and talk about. Please keep in mind that guests are always welcome. If you speak to someone that would like to speak to our group, please share their contact. Ed Thompson reported that the wayfinding signs will be installed this week in the forest. Mandy Kwasnica & Anya reported on the Bridge of Hope project. There was another very successful event held this past Saturday. There were 25 to 30 volunteers that showed up. Dave Wiebe arrived with a semi-trailer full of mattresses and couches. These items are removals from households that had ordered new goods. Some were in good enough shape to pass on, others not so much, and were discarded. These items originated from the Morden / Winkler area.
Twelve families were assisted on Saturday. To date there have been 137 families helped through this effort. This is the one year anniversary of the Bridge of Hope project. The pastor from the Oasis Church came out to view the event and help out. He was interested in how to operate a program like this.
Bridge of Hope is close to being able to move into the rental space on Portage Avenue. Easy to get to via car or transit. $500 sublet space of nearly 1700 sq.ft. The owners of the property seem positive about the Bridge of Hope taking the space. The last item to look after is liability insurance for the location. Dave Morris is looking into insurance coverage.
Elaine Thompson made note of two ladies in a vehicle packed with goods from the event as they were driving away. Then she heard, “don’t forget I can come out and help!”. The people we are helping are very grateful. Ed Thompson received a letter from a visitor (Alice) to the forest. The writer indicates that she moved to Winnipeg in 1977. Her first visit to Assiniboine Forest was 2 weeks ago. Stated that the forest is an “absolute gem”. She made a $20 donation to maintain and save the forest. Rod Delisle received a contact through the club website (Leanne). The Assiniboine Forest is of great interest to her. Rotary clubs in Winnipeg are involved in all types of projects. However, Charleswood Rotary's support of the forest has her ready to come out to a meeting. Leanne even stated that she would be available on Oct 30th. A final thought before the meeting meal:
A little misconception…
You do not need a parachute to go skydiving
You need a parachute to go skydiving twice. |
There was no guest speaker, however we did have a very important event with the induction of 2 new members, Caroline Wild and David Soper..png)
