RCO Meeting (May 05, 2026)

Greeter was Amin Kawar who provided us all with a warm welcome

There were 23 RCO members in attendance

The 4 guests included our guest speaker Marc Clare from the Halton Learning Foundation, Gloria Kurera from the Rotary Club of Mississauga, Lori’s son Dylan and our friend Nikki

6:30pm: Lynn rang the bell and declared “Welcome Rotarians and Friends”

Lori Holmes led us off with the Land Acknowledgement
Frank Morewood led us in the national anthem
Lynn had us all toast King Charles the Third and Canada
Bob Miskelly provided us with an Invocation

Lynn announced that the members who will be celebrating a birthday in the month of May include Susan Shepard on the 11^th, Neeraj Nulu on the 28^th, Jean Wettlaufer on the 28^th, Joe Joseph on the 29^th, and Mike Fisher on the 31st of May. Happy Birthday all!

We all enjoyed a buffet chicken dinner with vegetables and some delicious cookies as dessert.

Tonight we had a new member induction, Amaka Samuel Okan. Lynn shared with us that Amaka’s application for membership was approved by the Membership Committee and the RCO Board. Ralf was asked to come up as her sponsor and was proud to present Amaka with her Rotary pin and her Rotary Club of Oakville name badge. Amaka was very enthusiastic about becoming a new member of Rotary.

Amin collected happy bucks from various members which included Frank Morewood who was happy to have played golf today and actually walked 18,000 steps, James participated in a bowl-a-thon in Oshawa on the weekend, both Steve and George Vincent were happy that the Montreal Canadiens won their first round playoff series, and Ed was happy that the Interact club from the Iroquois Ridge high school made a $1000 donation to Safety Net via the Districts grant writing initiative.

Then Mike introduced our keynote speaker, Marc Clare, CEO of the Halton Learning Foundation. Marc shared with us a PowerPoint presentation about the good work that the Halton Learning Foundation (HLF) does for students of need throughout Halton District School Board. HLF was created by the Halton District School Board (HDSB) and became a registered charity in 2004.

1 in 8 students in Halton live in poverty, 50% of those children live in Oakville.

This past year HLF helped 563 students in Oakville alone.

Marc stated that HLF does not receive any funding from governments or ministries, they raise all the funds themselves.

Marc shared with us the new backpack initiative, “Carrie the Back Pack”. In the back pack were a variety of important items that are given to students in need, such as pair of boots, school supplies, clothing such as T-shirts, etc. These items also had tags with inspirational sayings: Self Esteem, Dignity, Equity or Hope attached to them.

Another student support program is called Laptop of Hope. Marc shared with us a touching story where he visited a school and the vice principle had asked whether they could support a high school student who was struggling due to lack of resources. HLF provided the student with a laptop so he could keep with his schoolwork load.

Two weeks later when Marc visited the school and the vice principle asked whether Marc would like to meet the student who happened to be in his office. Marc chatted with the student and was impressed with how personable and responsible he seemed. The student mentioned that thanks to the new laptop his grades were improving plus he was also able to generate his own resume. This resulted in him getting a job and in addition to being a full-time student he was now working and able to support his family. A great example of when providing a necessary tool to help a student’s education and the ripple effect is how he can help support his family.

Marc shared with us numerous ways that we can help, including:

if we know of a family that needs help to encourage the student and the family to go to the school to apply for support from Halton Learning Foundation
to spread the word about what HLF is doing throughout Halton.

Bob Miskelly thanked Marc for his presentation and reminded us that HLF is the primary benefactor for the Rotary Golf Tournament on September 14^th. All funds raised will be going to the Halton Learning Foundation!

Before the meeting ended Lynn made various announcements which included:

Sharing a letter that was received from a Rotarian in the Rotary District 3020 in India congratulating our club for its 101 anniversary.
Lynn encourage anybody who has a time to please volunteer for the Rotary Rib Fest hosted by the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar. Dates are June 25^th through to June 28^th. There are various jobs that people can volunteer for. Sign up is done online: https://oakvillefamilyribfest.com/volunteers-2/
Susan mentioned a couple of news releases that were in Inside Halton including the student bursaries in Oakville for 24 students who will receive $5,000 each, plus cheque presentations to both Erin Cafe at Erin Oaks as well as Shifra Homes
Bob reminded us of the Golf to Give tournament scheduled on September 14th 2026 at Pipers Heath. Volunteers are needed for that day. We are all encouraged to reach out for sponsors for the event. See: https://www.oakvillerotaryevents.com/

Please note our next meeting will be on May 25th at the Holiday Inn Bronte, not at the Oakville Golf Club.

At 8:07 Lynn led us through the Four Way Test, followed by us all raising our glasses to toast Friends and Rotarians around the world.