RCO Bulletin February 22

RCO Meeting February 22, 2021
 
Rotary Club of Oakville
Meeting of February 22, 2021 – via ZOOM
 
President Mike Henry: 
  • Called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM
  • Welcomed everyone in attendance
  • Special welcome to:
    •  Oakville - Trafalgar Rotary Club
    • Kayla Sunshine – Recipient of Rotary Indigenous Scholarship Award
    • Sue Wigston – CEO - Give Some
    • Corine Berman – Environmental Defense
    • Claire Conway – RCO guest
    • Noted 36 participants
  • Toast to the Queen and Canada
 
Joe Joseph:
  • Invocation
 
President Mike Henry:
  • Called upon Cliff Thompson – Chair of the Oakville Trafalgar Rotary Club – Indigenous Committee to introduce their 13 guests.
 
Cliff  Thompson:
  • Introduced Kayla Sunshine,  the 2020-2021 Recipient of the Rotary Indigenous Scholarship Award
  • Cliff noted:
    •  Kayla had dropped out of school in Grade 9 and noted her dream had always been to attend University.
    • On her application she noted she wanted to further her education so she could become involved in the Indigenous Community and help others.
 
Kayla Sunshine:
  • Lives in Welland Ontario, has attended Mohawk College in Hamilton, and is currently studying at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
  • Kayla’s ancestral background is from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation , Plains Cree from Alberta
  • Kayla acknowledged the
    •  “Haudenosaunee “  (Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga)  which is the land Halton/ Burlington sits on and
    • “ Anishinabewaki” which is the land Sudbury sits on. 
  • Kayla talked about dropping out of high school in Grade 9 as she was always told she would never amount to anything.   Her dream was always to attend university.   She was the first person in her family to attend post secondary education. 
  • Kayla first attended Mohawk College in Hamilton and graduated with a diploma in Health, Wellness and Fitness, hoping to use her skills to help other indigenous people.  
  • Kayla then enrolled at Laurentian University, with the goal of acquiring a BA Degree in Indigenous Studies.    
  • Rotary’s scholarship program is helping Kayla achieve her goal.
 
 
Kayla Sunshine ( Cont’d)
  • Kayla has written and Laurentian has published her paper on “Calls for Justice.”  a document as a corollary to the Murder and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls report
  • Kayla met Jagmeet Singh, and discussed the issues of safe drinking water in Indigenous communities.
  • Kayla noted there are 39 Indigenous communities that have 57 Long term drinking water advisory’s.
  • Kayla talked about the effects residential schools have had on her life and the life of many Indigenous peoples. She noted her Grandparents and father all were in residential schools.
  • Kayla talked about reconciliation and the work accomplished by Indigenous - Justice Murray Sinclair
  • Kayla acknowledge Justice Murray Sinclair’s statement:
    • “ Education is what got us here and Education is what will get us out”
  • Upon Graduation  Kayla wants to work in an area that concentrates on Indigenous Education
 
Ralph Soeder:
  • Thanked Kayla for an outstanding presentation and congratulated her for having the determination to drive for her goal and wished her continued success.   We look forward to hearing from Kayla in the future.
 
President Mike Henry:
  • Called to order for the regular club meeting to continue and asked for announcements.   
 
Jean Wettlaufer:
  •  “Adventures in Citizenship”  -  Program   -  Virtual Presentation
  • Jean noted the Ottawa Rotary Club has been running this program since 1951
  • Rotary Clubs across Canada have the opportunity to recommend one (1) student between the ages of 16 and 18 to participate in this program. 
  • Participants travel to Ottawa to meet with Politicians, review the parliamentary system, visit the parliament buildings and have the opportunity to meet other participants from across Canada.  
  • Jean noted there could be a wait list generated for a 2’nd student to participate.
  • Key dates:
    • Feb 24 – Pre Registration
    • March 8 to 22 – Registration
    • May 1 to May 5 – Program participation
  • Members are asked to email Jean if any interest by students.  Currently looking for candidates.
  • Jean’s email address  -   jwettlaufer@cogeco.ca  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
George Vincent:
  • Virtual Presentation – Speaker Series -  March 9, 2021  - 6:45 PM
  • Keynote Speaker The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin ( 17th Chief Justice of Canada)
  • First Woman to hold that position – Longest Serving Chief Justice
  • Keynote Address  - “The  Challenges of Leadership Today”
  • George noted there was an article in the Toronto Star about the potential for Retired Chief Justice McLachlin to be the next Governor General of Canada.   
  • This information has been added to the Rotary website announcement for this event in hopes it will attract more participants.
  • The panel discussion will be moderated by Sandra Pupatello – Former Minister in the Ontario Government – from 1995 to 2011
  • Jennifer Jones – President Elect of Rotary International will also participate in the panel
  • Funds raised will be for Indspire  -  Indigenous Youth Education
  • George requested we continue to advise people of the event and urge people to register.
 
President Mike Henry:
  • Waterside Cleanup on April 24th, Earth Day.   More details will be forthcoming
  • The board has looked at the potential for an “ In Person “ meeting going forward, but have decided we are not at that stage yet.
  • Feb 25,2021  - 7:00 PM, the Golf Committee will meet to discuss the upcoming Golf tournament on Sept 20,2021 at Piper’s Heath,  
 
Frank Moorehead:
  • Happy Bucks and Fines
  • Fines accessed  to Rod Craig, Mike Henry, Riona Naidu and Joe Joseph
  • Happy Bucks – Ralph Soeder, Mike Henry, Rod Craig, George Vincent, Richard Roberts, Mahendra Shah
 
Ralph Soeder:
  • Introduced Guest Speaker Sue Wigston – CEO  “Give Some” - to talk about the Future of Fundraising
  • Previously Sue had 25 years with Eagles Flight – Guelph
  • Sue is a recent new member of Rotary in Guelph
 
Sue Wigston:
  • “ Give Some” is a new start up organization designed to launch and support a generosity journey.
  • Sue talked about why people are not giving
  • “ Give Some”  are focusing on creating communities of giving
  • It is essential to create a platform designed for the giver
  • “ Give Some” criteria and focus
    • Zero admin fees
    • Small donations
    • Authentic  video footage and stories of giving
    • Tangible projects
    • Track the impact
 
 
Sue Wigston ( Cont’d)
  • Corporate giving / donations
    • There is a willingness by corporations  to provide funds for projects
    • Align generosity through employees and customers.  
    • A Strategy by “ Give Some” is to have the corporation provide funds to employees / customers  so they can pick key project/charities of their liking to support.   This is designed to engage the employees / customer so they in turn donate as well.  
  • Future of Fundraising:
    • Build a digital infrastructure
    • Diversify and maintain a diversified pool of funding support
    • Continue to invest in impact sharing and story telling
 
Ralph Soeder:   
  • Introduced guest speaker  Corine Berman from  –  Environmental Defense
  • Graduate of Western University - Ivey School of Business – Masters Business Administration
 
 
Corine Berman:
  • Environmental Defense ( ED) is an Environmental Charity
  • Corine’s presentation  -  Innovative Fundraising
  • There are 27 Environmentalists working for Environmental Defense with offices in Toronto / Ottawa
  • Currently there are 5 programs ( ED) is focused on
    • Climate – Clean Energy
    • Yours to Protect
    • Safeguarding fresh water
    • Eliminate plastic waste 
    • Eliminate Toxic Chemicals
  • Corine talked about who donates
    • Individuals – Monthly / Single Donation / Majors
    • Foundations – ie Grants
    • Corporate Partners
  • Fundraising key/critical aspects
    • Stewardship
    • Retention
    • Integration with programs
    • Specifics on where donations are going
  • Innovative Fundraising Approaches
    • Webinar Series –
    • Virtual Fundraising events
    • Legal giving
      • Ie  -  Name the Charity in a will
  • Corine wrapped up her presentation with a summary of Environmental Issues near Oakville
    • Bill 229 – Reduces the powers of Conservation Authorities to protect wetlands. Non science based decisions on wetlands
    • Stop highway 413 - Highway north of current 407
 
 
Vivian Naidu:
  • Thanked both Sue and Corine for their insightful presentations
 
 
President Mike Henry: Meeting Wrap Up
 
  • March 1, 2021  -  Next Meeting
    • Classification talks 
      • David Peters and
      • Hasan Bin Sohail
  • March 9, 2021  - Speaker Series Presentation
  • March 15,2021  - Club Assembly
  • Meeting Concluded at 8:30 PM with a toast to friends and Rotarians around the world