Thank you in advance for your participation in helping raise funds so that we are able to help so many help themselves. This year's auction will involve the following clubs:
Rotary Oakville Trafalgar
Rotary Oakville
Rotary Oakville West
Rotary Georgetown
Rotary Mississauga Meadowvale
Rotary Mississauga West
Rotary Kitchener
Rotary Burlington North
Rotary Milton
As you know, the need this year is great due to the ongoing effects of COVID and we need your help now more than ever. Our need to raise funds through the Rotary Online Auction is even greater than previous years since we had to cancel Ribfest due to COVID-19.
This year obtaining auction items will take some imagination. Brainstorm with fellow Rotarians, friends and family to see what new innovative ideas we can come up with.
Last year’s online auction raised some of the monies that allowed us to help fund the good works of our Community Service, International Service, Indigenous Persons and New Generations Committees.
We need your help to acquire items for our online auction that will run from November 7 to November 21, 2020. We are asking every member to acquire 1 or 2 items and/or aim for at least $1,000 worth of items.
Where can you acquire items? Begin by making a list of the businesses and restaurants that you frequent. These are all potential sources of donations or auctionsponsorships.
Every business has the potential to provide us with an item(s) and/or a $250.00 sponsorship.
There are a number of tools to help you acquire donations or sponsors. The following items are available for download at www.rcot.ca under the Online Auction tab.
2020 Donor & Item Form where donor and item information can be recorded. The form has been amended to make it easier to submit items that are the same from last year.
2020 Donor Letter that can be shared with donors
2020 Online Tip Sheet that contains tips on acquiring items
Business cards will be printed and available soon. Please let Bob know how many you would like to have.
This year we need to have all items logged in our database and in our warehouse by Thursday October 31st.
Every member will soon receive an email with a list of items you acquired in last year’s auction in order to assist you in this year`s acquisition. Once you have acquired items please contact Bent or Bob and we will arrange to collect the items from you. Like last year gift cards and certificates will go to Bob Gardner and physical items will go to Bent Fink-Jensen.
Thank you for your assistance and if you have any questions please speak with any one of the members of the Auction Committee. This year’s RCOT auction committee members include:
Ashok Kochhar (Chair)
Ken Coulter (Procurement)
Liz Behrens (Marketing)
Bent Fink-Jensen (Logistics)
Raj Phalper
Lauri Askainen
Raymond Jackson
Bill Kerr
Remember – for our ACTIONS to result in a successful AUCTION – we need U!
A key benefit of being a Rotarian is having access to Rotary International’s array of online learning resources. My.Rotary supports an extensive list of online courses focused on running an effective club and/ or leading a committee. It also offers material focused on building essential leadership skills. At the District level resources are also available.
Aug 29 Facebook 101 - Signing Up, Privacy Settings, Finding Friends, Creating Posts - Watch the video at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaBX6VPvw5c
Aug 30 Facebook 201 - More Privacy Settings, Customizing Your News Feed and Posts - Watch the video at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqbXgnyQy0k
Upcoming ZOOM Sessions
Sep 26 How to Refresh Your Club's Website in a Few Simple Steps
Oct 24 Using Instagram to Increase the Reach of Your Club's Message
Nov 28 Tips for Shooting & Editing Great Video for Social Media
Let’s face it, a bottle drive isn’t exactly a new or exciting event.
That didn’t stop the Oakville Trafalgar Club and clubs within their cluster from making it a true success. To date, over $9000 has been raised from community donations of returnable bottles and cans. At 20¢ a bottle and 10¢ a can, that’s a mountain of returns!
What makes this event an inspiration is how well it was executed by the Oakville Cluster. Whether it was the coordination required to staff the 3 pick-up points, or collect large donations at people’ homes, or cart the containers to the Beer Store, it was truly a “hands on” project for many Rotarians within the Oakville cluster.
The cluster’s effort to promote the event was also best-in-class. The fundraiser was featured in “Oakville News”, “Inside Halton” and “Snapd”. The event was also posted on Facebook. That post was then shared to community Facebook Groups by local Rotarians. The list included Oakville Talk, Bronte Village neighbours helping neighbours, Oakville- Anything and everything! SEOakvilleMoms, If You Grew Up In Oakville, Oakville Past Present and Future. In total, over 3000 people saw the post for the Bottle Drive on Facebook. That’s excellent exposure targeted at community-minded readers! All it took was a few simple clicks. Best of all, it was free!
Hats-off to the Oakville Cluster for demonstrating the power of a simple, well executed idea!
When COVID-19 reared its ugly head in our community the four Oakville Rotary Clubs immediately came together to discuss projects and fundraising efforts that might meet the emerging needs. An Oakville Rotary Relief Fund was formed and to date has raised over $45,000, including a district COVID-19 grant of $5,000. The Rotary Club of Oakville, Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar, Rotary Club of Oakville West, and the Passport South Rotary Club, with donations from the general public made at www.rotaryoakville.ca continue to impact profoundly the Oakville community.
Step 1 – Late March - Assistant Governor Bent Fink-Jensen and D7080 Community Service Director, Norma Gamble, and the four club Presidents met on zoom to determine if there was a way to work together in the face of COVID-19. Immediate decision was to form an Oakville Rotary Relief Fund which identified necessities in food, PPE, and education/technology as our main focus. We continued to meet weekly and soon four service organizations received funding.
Step 2 – The Presidents decided that further funding decisions should be made by the club Community Service chairs since they usually received requests for funding and knew the needs within the community. With some Presidents staying on the committee, the Community Service chairs stepped up and determined the recipients of the second and third rounds of funding. With regularly input from the Oakville Community Foundation, United Way and the Town of Oakville, we continue to help identify those who may have slipped through the cracks in getting immediate help.
Step 3 – Wouldn’t we need our PR/Communication chairs to publicize all of this great news? Absolutely! So the PR/Communication chairs soon started their zoom calls and so began a well-oiled machine within our Oakville Rotary Cluster.
Recently our members were asked whether they had found this coordinated approach helpful. A resounding “Yes” was heard from all and a strong desire to continue to work together in the future. Due to the success of this cluster initiative we might well add another cluster zoom group of Membership Chairs in our effort to increase membership in the four clubs. We’d encourage all clusters to work together to maximize effort and results.
While COVID-19 has been a serious challenge to all, we have recognized the positive side of things. We might never have discovered the incredible power of working together had we not been challenged by this pandemic.
In the long history of governments democracy is a fragile plant. For thousands of years, and today, rule by powerful charismatic leaders, kings, queens, presidents, dictators, Caesars, and conquering generals has been the natural form of government. The list of countries ruled by dictators today includes Cuba, China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Hungry, Iran and many others. It is well to reflect on the fact that in the 20th Century three nations in Europe, Spain, Italy and Germany selected, or allowed, strong charismatic dictators to rule them.
The history of democracy is short. The idea that the people should pick their leaders, that the leaders should serve them, and the people could remove the leaders if they didn’t serve, came through long and complex struggles. Much of the struggle took place in Britain. It started with the Magna Carta in1215 when King John was forced to share power with the barons. It took 400 years, a civil war, and the execution of King Charles I, to break away from the idea that Kings had a divine right to rule; and to establish the rights of the people, of parliament. It took another 350 years before women could vote and hold offices. And today the UN charter of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, is given lip service in most countries of the world.
Democracy, “of the people, by the people, for the people”, is a new, exciting, yet fragile idea. It needs to be protected, nourished, valued, defended and constantly renewed or it will be swept aside by those who love power or undermined by those who don’t care.
Recently, we have been faced with three different responses to emergency situations – the Australian Bush Fire, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Beirut explosion on August 4th. To support our efforts as we move forward, a D7080 Disaster Advisory Response Group (DARG) has been established with the objective to support D7080 Clubs as a resource clearing house to communicate, connect and coordinate information and requests for assistance on disaster initiatives. To be clear, this group will not involve themselves in projects, nor help raise funds. Rather they will communicate, connect and coordinate information and assistance to promote effective responses and avoid duplication of efforts. The core group comprises PDG Norm Bindon, DGE Rudy Habesch, International Service Director Rajbir Mann and IPDG Lesley Barmania.
Updates and questions can be emailed to darg@rotary7080.org. The group is currently working on processes to ensure information is disseminated effectively, accurately and as quickly as possible. In the interim several clubs have been working in response to providing relief to the Beirut community. A brief summary is below. Contact darg@rotary7080.org for more information.
Rotary Brampton is liaising with the CEO of Paramount Foods, Mohammed Fakih, as part of the Humanitarian Coalition. He and officials from Canadian Government Global Affairs are in Beirut this week. More information will be available in 7-10 days once the on-ground site review has been completed.
The Canadian Government will match donations up top $2 million made to the Canadian Coalition – a group of 12 established aid organizations working on the ground in Lebanon – or to one of the coalition’s members until August 24th. Online donations with CRA tax receipts can be made to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/12109.
Woodstock-Oxford have acquired several skids of medical equipment. 5 skids of the most urgent equipment were shipped this week. More skids are being trucked to Vancouver for immediate shipment to Beirut. Opportunities for clubs to become involved:
Woodstock-Oxford needs financial support to pay for shipping. Donations should be sent to www.Woodstock-Oxford Rotary.org. CRA Tax receipts will be issued. For more information, please contact PDG Doug Vincent at vincent@execulink.com.
