President Lynn Childs Welcome Rotarians and friends to the meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lynn read the statement: Guests, today is the Annual General Meeting for the Charitable Fund.  You’re welcome to observe however, any voting required will be done by Members only.

 

Fund president Sid Joshi welcomed everybody and confirmed that with members present there was quorum and the AGM meeting can proceed. There was no conflict of interest with the members present

 

foundation Bylaws were read for a reminder and good order

 

The minutes of the last AGM were reviewed.  A motion was made by Sid Joshi to approve the minutes of last meeting held on May 5th of 2025, Ralf Soeder seconded and all were in favor

 

Two new members have been nominated to join the board, namely Silvia Dimitrova and David Angus. Ralf Soeder moved a motion to approve electing the new members to the board Susan Shepperd seconded and all were in favor 

 

There was a suggestion to change the term to be up to four years instead of three to allow continuity.  Jo White  moved a motion to approve changing the board term to 4 years, it was seconded by Susan Shepperd, and all were in favor

The financial statements were reviewed and discussed with the members present. A motion was moved by Lynn Childs to approve the financial statement. It was seconded by Ralf Soeder, and all were in favor

 

There was proposal from the board to re-appoint our auditors Brownlow and partners as auditors for the foundation of 2026. They are good and reasonably priced. They are also the auditors for the RCO fund making them very familiar with governing structure.  A motion to approve the appointment was moved by Stephen Brown. Mike Henry seconded and all were in favor

 

Meeting was adjourned

 

 

The committee was glad to report that there will be 24 bursaries provided to qualified students of 5000 dollars each this year from our club. The committee received 45 applications that were thoroughly reviewed and final selection of candidates was made.

 

Our club will be sponsoring one student to go to Ottawa for adventure citizenship.  The students joined candidates form other clubs in the area on the trip as was shown in a very nice presentation

 

The chair gave a full account of the committee’s activity. It is becoming ever more proactive in responding to requests from organizations active in the community with budget of 190k

 

A total of 87100 dollars was donated to 13 organizations from funds plus another 35000 for the golf tournament. Examples include Acclaim Health, Kerr Street mission, Shifra homes and high school robotics teams to name few . A full list is available

 

The committee will target 4 charities for each half of the year with 8 in total with 80 percent of the funds going into proactive donations

 

Extremely active with 90/100 k spent in 2025 with 120k planned for 2026

 

Projects executed include execution in child support in India, Technology in Panama, orphanage in Cameroun and water in Mexico

 

Projects in the pipeline include ambulances for Guatemala and hospital equipment in Nigeria

 

A full presentation of most of these projects was provided

 

 

 

Mike henry presented list the sponsorship packages available which were also printed and passed to all members to actively find sponsors

 

Titled Rotary to give tournament, it will be held on September 14th at Pipers Heath Club. Online registration is open at www.Oakvillerotaryevents.com. Members are asked to spread the word with their friends and contacts

 

It was also announced that one of our main sponsor Oakland Ford will be holding an event called we drive Car Clinic on 14th of June at their location between 6:30 and 8:00. It is open to all types of vehicles, and all members are invited to attend

 

Jo White gave a presentation on using a concept of strategic partnership to approach sponsors for the Golf Tournament. The idea is to change mind set from “asking for Sponsorship “to “Offering an opportunity to support”. The idea is to act as advisor to the potential sponsor.

 

Rod Craig advised that information is being posted and updated regularly on social media including the golf tournament details. He asked all members to share those posts as much as possible

 

 

 

Million Dollar Gala was a successful event that raised over the 1000,000 dollar target. It was attended by Ralf Soeder, Michael Conway and James Montague from our club

 

We received an email from council candidate Jerome Adamao recognizing and thanking the club for the good work done in the community

 

The Plant Swap event is set for Sunday may the 31st at Bronte Heritage Park, 2340 Ontario street, Oakville

 

Ralf Soeder announced that the next Global Medic hand on event is set for June 20th between 930 AM to 1 PM. However, we should have discussions about if we want to continue with this activity or merge the activity with the Burlington club as way may not have enough volunteers

 

The Ribfest has requested volunteers. An email has been sent to all and if anybody has the ability to please register

 

Next Meeting will be a social event on June 1st, 2026 at The Pipes and Taps Pub