Minutes of the Rotary club meeting 10th of March 2016.
Pres. Bryce Leggatt opened the meeting. The Four Way Test was recited by Cathy Thomas prefaced by: "minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day and year by year, Rotarians consider the following in all they think say and do: ..."
President Bryce was at the breakfast programme at Tecumseh School where rather a similar sentiment was put up for all to see: "Be nice, work hard, serve your community."
Gerry Willard introduced our guests Kaitlin Gordon from the Burlington Women's Place, our speaker for the day. Also joining us were our exchange student Augustina and outbound student, Camilla.
Last night the club social supper was held at Purple Heather, a continuation of our support for local restaurants who participate in the Lakeside a la Carte, and there was a good turnout.
Last Tuesday was International Women's Day. This has been held since 1907 and only Russia has the day off to mark this important day of the year. Lawrence Leung was the only person to know this factoid and as a result won a round of golf at a local golf club. Not being a golfer he was happy to auction it off and Cameron Osler won this.
Catherine Brady introduced the slate of club officers for 2015 - 2016. There are two weeks remaining for nominations and the slate will be approved on March 24.
President – Mike Molloy
Past President – Bryce Leggatt
President Elect – Janet Canavan
Secretary – Nancy Brady
Treasurer – Rob Sybersma
Rene Papin
Owen McElhinney
Jim Brindle
Allan Ramsay
Sheila Welham
Rod Collard
Barb Hislop
Lesley Allison
Peter Skoretz is on the board of the Carpenter's Hospice; they are seeking nominations for a new member of the board.
Jim Brindle was awarded a recognition for bringing a new member into the club, Dimitre Atanassov.
David Beckett was awarded his fifth Paul Harris.
We are being asked to remember that the food banks have issues in the summer with declining contributions but the need to does not go away. We are asked to consider trading in our grocery store loyalty points that can be converted into gift cards for giving out to those in need.
The next meeting will be in honour of St Patrick and our speaker will give us a history of St Patrick.
To mark St. Patrick's Day we are asked to wear some green.
Today is Bernard Scrivener's birthday.
Augustina regaled us with stories of her skiing and skating exploits and what sounds like a very full calendar. She is now on her school rugby team. It's reassuring to hear that she does find some time to go to school!
Sgt at Arms, Bernie Hannah did his best to accumulate as much money as possible and was quite successful. Catherine Brady's father has had a very difficult time in hospital but having struggled through, is due to go into a long-term-care facility before long.
Deanne Mayall had surgery yesterday and is recovering nicely. Mae Radford's granddaughter is an accomplished athlete having won competitions in mini trampoline and tumbling and is on her way to a Canadian championship.
Kaitlin Gordon, today's speaker from Halton Woman's Place was introduced by Dave Beckett. She is the development coordinator of fundraising and awareness. Halton Woman's Place in Burlington has 30 residents and is also the host of transitional services. Right now it is at overcapacity at 34 residents. The organisation is partly funded by COMSOC but $700,000 has to be raised annually to supplement this through fundraising etc. Safety is the byword for this organisation that takes in women and their dependent children up to the age of 18.
One in four women are abused in one way or another in Canada and some say that is a lowball. They served 12,000 people last year. The crisis line was used 1100 times. Abuse can happen to anyone, anywhere, there are no boundaries of age, race or creed. All ages are represented typically from 17 to the 80s. Elder abuse or long-term partner violence is represented. There is financial abuse where individuals are controlled, often by their offspring in the case of elder abuse, or women controlled by their partners through money.
No one is turned away from the shelters. There is cross referral between shelters when there is an over census. The typical range is from 8 to 12 weeks stay though this is being gradually increasing over the years.
Women and their families' basic needs are taken care of along with counselling, the provision of transitional workers, and for as long as needed. There are court support workers to help clients to deal with their court experiences, form filling etc. there are outreach workers for non-residential clients in need of help.
Children comprise 43% of the residents. There is an excellent recreation program and daily activities. They have movies, art therapy, outside activities, yoga, mindfulness training, therapy dogs program. The place is calm, clean and homey. There is a huge backyard for people. The kids have a special room and the teens their own room to relax. There is a big family sitting room and a large kitchen which residents are free to use at any time. They have free access to the pantry and can cook at any time they like. There is no cost to them. There is a housekeeper who helps to maintain the programme.
There are three teachers who run a healthy relationships programme. Both school boards are represented. People are taught appropriate social behaviours and management of social media. They are helped to break the cycle of violence that so often occurs victims of violence. They presented to 5000 students aged 6 to 12 and there is a K to 5 program in development.
Although men are not involved with the day-to-day running of the shelter they are very much encouraged to become involved in fundraising and the various activities that relate to the shelters. They are usually mostly represented in the annual Cross Winds golf tournament, June 21 this year. Men in High Heels is a fundraiser that has raised $455,000 over the past six years.
Financial support is provided for public education programmes and mental health training for the staff. Group volunteer projects are funded through corporations and companies with opportunities for volunteers to do gardening, cleaning and restocking. There is a donation drive.
This is a vibrant organisation that wishes it did not have to exist. Rotary has been very helpful in supporting it over the years. We are encouraged to continue to lend our support.
Kaitlin was thanked by Jim Brindle.
The meeting was adjourned.
Anthony Ford-Jones scripsit.
