Rotary Club of Burlington Central Thursday Morning Breakfast Meeting - 23 January 2020
Presiding: David Roscoe
I apologize for omitting the guests’ names.
Announcements: there will be a club social dinner at Water Street Cooker on Thursday, 30 January at 6:30. These social dinners in local restaurants are to pay back for the tremendous support shown by these restaurants to our club’s annual Lakeside À La Carte. There will be a set menu and an email has already been sent out with details.
Bryce Leggett announced Rotary Rides, an event on Friday, April 17 at Cedar Springs Racquet Club. You're invited to get teams together and to participate or to support 30 minute spinning sessions, which can be as hard or as easy as you wish, the goal being to have fun and to make money through pledges for what could be a very good fundraiser. Any age is eligible as long as they can reach the pedals! The funds will be split 50-50 with the Burlington Food Bank.
Rotary Rides Flyer
Andrew Gaydon announced the first meeting of the golf committee. They are looking for a new charity to be partner for this excellent annual fundraising event.
Nancy Penny announced the District Conference in Kitchener at Bingeman's on Saturday May 30.
Gerry Willard asks to save the dates March 25 and April 23, Women and Men As Career Coaches they are looking for coaches for students with whom they can share ideas.
Dave Loveline from the Rotary Club Lakeshore announced a Four Club event at Turtle Jacks on Thursday February 6 an event celebrating wine, for which there will be 100 tickets that will cost $20 each “plus the donation of a very good bottle of wine”. There will be a raffle for a case of this wine.
Yahel had an excellent week as usual. She learned of the new Australian exchange student who is now living at her home in Switzerland, sleeping in her bed, eating her favourite food, you get the idea… but she’s not upset. She thanked Glenn Warnika for paying to have her bike repaired. She is leaving for Montréal on Saturday and was happy and grateful to the several club members who chipped in to pay for her ski rental.
David Roscoe is still looking for speakers for February; some people have come forward.
Sgt at Arms. Rod Collard reiterated the importance of supporting the local restaurants and gave particular praise to Greg Kowalchuck will be hosting the first such dinner at Emma's Back Porch with a $54 set menu. Greg has been very generous, and invariably quiet about it, in the community.
Peter Thoem, who is currently in Africa, will be in charge of soliciting restaurants for next Lakeside À La Carte and hopes that members can suggest restaurants or caterers whom he can contact. In an attempt to stay local, Oakville restaurants who have applied have been declined. Rod then went on to do a number of random fines including a fine for Dave Beckett who had the temerity to have a stent inserted last week! Well it was an opportunity to congratulate Dave for weathering that so well and for looking so healthy today.
Randy Reeve introduced Frederick Dryden founder of Liberty for Youth.
Frederick was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and came as a teen to Collingwood. He was abused as a teen and determined to set up a foundation to help troubled and wayward youth. The club started for young men and after eight years a girls program is started and the proportion is 70 boys to 30 girls.
He has gone on to receive numerous awards: a Paul Harris Fellowship, 2011 Top 40 Under 40, and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012. In 2018 he ran a 21 day Marathon, a total of 700 km incorporating 72 separate speaking engagements along the way. He then went on in 2018 to write his first book Running for Their Lives, his own story and the story of Liberty for Youth. He is a strategist and a visionary, a mentor to his staff and to Youth in Hamilton. He has four children with his partner Tanya.
With him today came Zach and Matthew, two fine young men who are working with him in this program. Frederick came with a big thank you for the support given by this club on a number of different occasions including twice when Frederick was afraid that the organisation might have to fold owing to lack of funds.
His goal is to empower, but not to force, youth to turnaround and by doing it for themselves to own their own success but also their failures. He started by relating the statistics of high school graduation of 76% but asked what about the remaining 24%? Typically many of these youth will fall victim to gangs, guns, and drugs, suspension and or incarceration.
His organisation provides the following programs:
Bright Choices: Education over Incarceration; the provision of scholarships to graduates from the public and Catholic schools who have been able to stay out of trouble. Sadly three quarters of offending youth will reoffend and end up institutionalised in the end, and what a waste at $280,000 per year per incarcerated inmate!
The Prodigal Sonz: Athleticism vs Anger; this fine basketball team travels all over and competes regularly and at some time along the way they end up playing against the police who arrested them!
Character Development: Faith vs Fear; groups have been to Central America to build a centre for youth and have returned astonished by the disadvantage of Third World youth now appreciating how fortunate they are.
Mentorship/Shadowing: Creativity vs Crime; the provision of certificates and scholarships thanks to donations such as the generous support given by Randy Reeve and his wife that have provided 700 youth with more than $110,000 of post secondary scholarships. 51% have gone on to get good employment.
Frederik has future plans for the club branching out from the centre of the city to a rural setting, something which many of these youngsters need to experience, sometimes for the first time in their lives. They have bought a plot of land and developing a ranch, all this with the enthusiastic support of the youth who, it has to be said, must want it in order to own it. There will be a 24 week programme of equine assisted learning and confidence building and the learning of empathy of which, we are informed, one is only born with 25% indicating that it must be learned along the way.
Young Matt spoke about the joy of his first experience of fresh air and despite his terror of horses – many inner-city kids have never seen a live animal except in a zoo, so certainly not up close – found the whole experience to boost his confidence, to build his trust and pride in doing something right outside his comfort zone.
With the expansion of the club has come an increase in their transport from 2 to 4 vans. There are four program staff.
The scholarships are contingent on non-reoffending after the programme is finished; there are 10 kids who receive $1000 each for three years.
Andrew Gaydon thanked Frederick for his inspiring talk.
Anthony Ford-Jones
