Announcements:
Birthdays:
Paul Puopolo - Celebrated a milestone birthday (70!) - Sept. 23
Karin Voisin - Sept 26
Andrew Williams - Sept 26
Judy Narin - Sept 26
Liz Flewwelling (spouse of Brandon Flewwelling) - Sept 25 - To which the club quickly jumped into a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, only for Brandon to advise it was Liz's birthday and not his... But still well done and message passed on!
Wedding Anniversaries:
Jerome and Karen Freiburger - Sept. 24
Chris and Sarah Ainsworth - Sept. 26
Bill and Edi Stevens - Sept. 26
Other:
Hike for Hospice was held on September 22. Judy thanked all those who volunteered with an extra special shout out to Simon Adler who was the worker bee that could do it all! The Hike raised $55,000
John Vickery - Reminder Oktoberfest Opening Luncheon - Oct. 11. Still some tickets available.
Guess the Member:
Clues included that this member was a pilot for the RCAF and helped to establish crime stoppers! Tim Braddich with the winning guess of Gord Ferguson. Gord was in attendance at the meeting and was spry as ever.
Speaking of Gord - Gord had provided a thank-you card to the club thanking everyone for the well wishes on his recovery. He was very moved at the out pouring of support.
50/50:
We had a big pot this week of $630.50 cents. The anticipation was electric. First up was Tom Jeary. Before picking a marble Tom reminded the club that he built the marble box 25 years ago and has still never won. Well, unfortunately that streak continues. Next up with Neil Aitchison, following some heckles, boos and cheers, Neil also showed us all how to avoid the black marble. Finally, Jerome Freiburger gave it the college try, but he too was unsuccessful. The pot grows (see you all next week - not many marbles left!).
Guest Speakers:
Lisa Talbot and Linda Kenny - Update on KidsAbility
Lisa opened with a review of the past year at KidsAbility. Last year KidsAbility served over 11,300 children. They had over 900 volunteers and over 1000 kids additionally served as a result of donations. There still remain over 1400 kids on the waiting list.
Successful programs included - I Can Bike (teaching kids to ride a bike), Laurier overnight experience - allowing youth to see what is involved in going away to school and a successful Arts Express Experience which includes all in drama and dance opportunities.
Upcoming events include seasonal experiences with Halloween and O - Christmas - Free - to be held on Dec. 1, 2019. Volunteers always welcome for this.
Linda - Looking to the Future:
The landscape is changing for KidsAbility. Have always focused on pre-school children. However, a need to support youth also exists and KidsAbility is working to widen the goal-posts to support a larger age demographic.
Changes in Provincial Government Funding have forced KidsAbility to review their service delivery model. Fee for service options are now on the table. The focus of KidsAbility will always be on serving individuals and families needs.
Government cuts will likely result in laying off 20 - 25 employees. However, Linda was very clear that KidsAbility will not waste a good crisis. They will evaluate their service delivery options and will find the appropriate avenues to continue to serve the children and families that they have always served. A blended business model will be required as funding cuts are hard to reserve - in Linda's words "its hard to put the tooth paste back in the tube".
Linda sees the challenges, but also sees the opportunities to overcome.
The closing message is that KidsAbility will not waste a good crisis and will never cease trying to be awesome.
Everton Wilmot thanked Lisa and Linda on behalf of the club.
