The Rotary Club of Winnipeg – Charleswood met online again this week through the technology of Zoom. We had 22 members sign-in by the start of the meeting at 5:45pm. There is a fellowship period, prior to the meeting, that starts at 5:30pm. Join in early to hear the open discussions that take place during this time. President Mandy Kwasnica was going to ring the electronic bell to start the meeting but was informed that Nancy Morris had a real bell to toll. This sounded a little more like the club bell at Breezy Bend; some said it sounded like Santa was arriving!
Rotary Moments
President Mandy started off with a big ‘thank you’ to all Rotarians for our hard work, big or small. She is thankful for us giving and doing what we can.
President Mandy reported on a few items from the club board meeting that took place just prior to this meeting online as well.
Westgrove- The club is able to apply for a District Grant of $2,500 for Covid-19 relief efforts. Many thanks to Catherine Moltzan for completing the application on time. Charleswood R.C. will be donating $3,500 for a total of $6,000 for the Westgrove Project.
The Rotary Club of Winnipeg, Charleswood is supporting this effort by collecting supplies and food. Club member, Paul Brault, is working closely with Westgrove to deliver supplies and food and using cash donations to purchase more. Contact Paul at 204-612-9413 or pbrault@me.com to donate food/ supplies. For cash donations, send a cheque to Ed Thompson, 787 Haney St., Winnipeg, MB, R3R 0Y7 payable to “RCCCF Inc." (Rotary Club of Charleswood Charitable Foundation Inc.) Contact Ed at 204-832-0500 or edthompson19@gmail.com if you wish to donate via bank transfer. Donations over $25 will receive a charitable receipt. Thank you for your support! [Written by Paul Brault – posted on Club Main Page].
President Mandy received a request for partial funding of the ‘Every Woman Treaty Global Grant’. Erin Thomas is a Rotarian and Peace Fellow who lives in Portland, Oregon, USA. She is working on a Peace Area of Focus Rotary Global Grant with the Rotary Club of Newberg, Oregon and the Rotary Club of Kathmandu, Nepal. For the grant to succeed, they need to raise $35,000(USD) from clubs. They have already raised $26,750 and continue to seek club partnerships to get across the finish line.
Charleswood R.C. board voted in favour of supporting this G.G. in the amount of $500.00. This money will be matched by David Newman (Wpg. Downtown R.C.) for a total of $1,000.00. Nancy Morris will be in contact with Erin Thomas to advise regarding our support as well as ask her if she could be an online guest for a future Charleswood R.C. meeting. A full description is below.
GLOBAL GRANT: Training Violence Against Women Advocates in Nepal
Peace Area of Focus: Humanitarian Project Nepal
International Club: Rotary Club of Newberg, D5100
Host Club: Rotary Club of Kathmandu, D3292
Location: Kathmandu Nepal
Dates: Completion Date: 12 months from project start date
Seeking Partnerships from Clubs, Global Grant #2098538
The global grant will train violence against women leaders and organizations in Nepal to develop skills that enable them to drastically improve the safety of women. Improving women’s security and furthering gender equity are two of the structural transformations Nepal needs to consolidate peace. This Rotary Global Grant supports the women’s rights advocates already out doing the work to end violence against women and girls in Nepal. The skills the advocates will gain—leadership, public speaking, community organizing, storytelling—allows these advocates to be the ones to steer the national conversation on ending violence against women, including: • implementation of laws already passed • creation of new laws as needed • reform of services for survivors • training for sectors such as police, judges, hospitals and healthcare providers Project Scope:
1. 5-day intensive training program for 25 Nepali leaders working to end violence against women, using a train-the-trainer model so they can bring the information back to their communities.
2. 12 months of in country coordination with a paid staff member who will create a solid network, support system and shared duties between individuals and organizations working to end violence against women.
3. 6 months of personalized coaching, ongoing training and skill refreshers, and resource materials to facilitate the work they undertake as a group.
4. 60 violence prevention education sessions delivered by these trained leaders.
5. Facilitated webinars to share experiences and practices.
Beneficiaries:
- 25 direct beneficiaries will participate in a 5-day training session, all Nepali women’s rights leaders
• The organizations and government departments that now have a trained advocate.
- The communities across Nepal where the violence prevention education is implemented. • Rotarians from Nepal and Oregon who observe the program and leverage contacts for the project’s success.
- All Nepali women - when laws are implemented.
Funding Breakdown: Newberg Club $8,000 / Albina Club $1,000 / RC Portland Peacebuilders $2,500 / RC Beaverton $1,500 / RC Wilsonville $2,500. District 5100: $35,000 / Rotary International: $52,500
Total Proposed Grant for $122,500
Additional Need from Partnering Clubs: $19,500 [as of March 19, 2020 = $8,250]
Contact Information:
Erin Thomas, Rotary Peace Fellow Class 1 • Rotarian - Albina Rotary Club D5100 Director of Strategic Partnerships Every Woman Treaty • +1-503-367-4223 https://everywoman.org/
https://www.facebook.com/everywomantreaty/ .
Iain Scott made a presentation to ask for support of a family friend Joan Leslie-Thomson, mother of 4, parent of twins diagnosed with Autism. Joan was one of the founders and first Chair of the Board for ‘Can Do People”. This program is for adults living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), other intellectual disabilities or exceptional behaviours that are not conducive to pre-requisite skills of typical adult day programs. Our philosophy is intended to meet the individual needs of each person and provide systemic supports. Individualized transport services available to individuals requiring such care. [Web site].
There are 55 individuals enrolled in Can Do People’s day care programs.
Joan’s twin sons are 22 years old now – so grown men. They require constant care and supervision. With the Covid-19 shut down, Can Do People is also closed. Joan requires some respite which could come in the way of daily activity assistance ie. shopping. Iain was advised that club members are willing to assist with tasks outside of the home. Nancy Morris will work with Iain to work our connections in government as well as other areas. Iain to report back if volunteers are to be enlisted to offer shopping assistance.
President Mandy asked if Paul would be able to video his efforts to shop for the weekly goods for Westrgrove. The 5550 Rotary Clubs have been asked to provide a video (up to 3 minutes long) showing what we are doing as, individual clubs, during this personal distancing period of time. The 10 Best (as selected by Conference committee) will be shown during the 2020 Online District 5550 Conference. This would be a fantastic effort to showcase during the conference. President Mandy advised that she is part of a volunteer group at her work that has regular video meetings with members from across Canada. She mentioned what Charleswood R.C. is doing for the 35 Westgrove families. The others in the volunteer group were encouraged to do this in their own communities by our actions. They were ‘totally inspired!’.
Paul Brault reported on the Westgrove Family support program. Paul tanked Ed Thompson for his support working with the RCCCF receiving the cash donations to enable the purchases. The total donated so far is ~$4,600 not including the gifts in kind. (~$2,000 value). Paul has talked with Valerie (Director at Westgrove) in order to make sure that we are funneling our efforts in the right direction. Val said that in May we should shift to providing assistance packages every two weeks instead of the current weekly hampers. The residents are now receiving top-up payments in GST and Child Bonus payments and E.I. payments. Paul believes that we should shift to focus back on the children that were in the breakfast program. According to Val, most in the community are doing O.K.
We will fund hampers twice in May at 2-week intervals, then focus on the breakfast program through the Resource Centre. We will shift back to cereal, milk, breakfast bars, Nutella. Cash will remain the best option to fund / supply these items. We are looking good through all of May regarding cash on hand. Please continue to E-Transfer to
edthompson19@gmail.com for future support efforts. Iain Scott has offered to help Paul shop this week, Wednesday at 7:00am Costco – McGillivray. Nancy Morris advised Paul to check with manager at Costco if we can register as a Service Club to receive a % discount on purchases. President Mandy gave ‘thanks’ to Paul for his efforts on behalf of the club. Great work!
Lloyd Talbot stated that he was glad to dee Greg Fraser back at a club meeting. It has been some time since Greg has been able to attend – for a number of varied reasons. Lloyd advised that he has had a small package from Chicago for Greg at many past meetings looking for him to arrive. Finally Lloyd is able to officially present a Paul Harris Fellowship award to Greg in recognition of Greg’s contributions to the Rotary Foundation.
