As usual, we had an enjoyable meeting. This week we welcomed guests Brian Lott (RCoLC), Shannon Tito, Genevieve Taylor and Judy Taylor (Genevieve’s grandmother). Wayne, John, Allan, Brendan, Anthony, Stephen, Gertrude, Rudy, Navnit, Lana and Bob attended.
Rotary Announcements
Allan (Judy), Carl (Gay), Jorda, and Wayne attended the memorial service in Burnaby for Kari Kutvonen. Former member Len Hall (Jane) also attended.
The Ribfest organizing committee is looking for more sponsors and volunteers.
Brian Lott spoke about the 50/50 MegaDraw (and Ribfest) and says we are off to an encouraging start. “Things are looking good right now.” Ticket sales were $6000 on the first weekend.
Wayne and Allan joined Les Clay for lunch after Les toured the arboretum. Geoff Clay (son) and Liz (grandkid) completed the lunch grouping, while Jorda and Rudy joined in for the earlier walkabout.
Charles Owar Foundation
Shannon Tito spoke about Uganda and the Charles Owor Foundation that he and his sisters started in honour of Charles who was assassinated by the Ugandan government for criticizing President Musoveni about election rigging. Uganda, once called “the pearl of Africa”, is a beautiful country with lush greenery and is rich in mineral resources. The temperature is not above 30 degrees, rain falls in the morning and then the afternoons are sunny. Unfortunately, it is not a democracy and criticism of the government is not tolerated.
The Foundation was started in 2000 to carry on the humanitarian work that Charles Owor had supported. Shannon, a teacher in Surrey, emigrated to Canada in 1979 and describes himself as a former refugee now helping refugees. The disparity between the wealthy and the poor in Uganda is stark, and there is no safety net for the poor. The Foundation helps children, has set up an orphanage, and has built a school. Call Wayne if you would like to see more photos of the slides Shannon shared with us
Scholarship Recipient Update
This week we heard from Genevieve Taylor, one of our six scholarship winners. She represents a first for our club as her brother William won a scholarship in 2021, making them the first siblings to win our awards. Genevieve was also a finalist for one of the SASSY awards.
She spoke about her life, early family struggles (her mother abducted her when she was four years old), and mentioned her father’s illness. He’s currently participating in a clinical trial at UCLA where is receiving his fifth brain operation for his stage 4 cancer. Genevieve is an active volunteer, besides helping her dad at home by cleaning, making special meals for him and comforting him after brain surgeries.
She also volunteers in the community, doing shoreline clean up, tree planting, singing at a retirement home, making and serving meals at a homeless shelter, painting salmon on storm drains, and cleaning the graves of our soldiers at the Fort Langley Cemetery. Her volunteering led to her receiving the Girl Guides of Canada highest award "The Canada Cord".
She also volunteered in the classroom by Peer Mentoring Grade 10 students at Mountain Secondary. During the pandemic she could no longer volunteer in the community as people were isolated and her dad is Immune Compromised. Knowing how people were hurting from being isolated she decided to do something about it. Being a talented artist she decided to create her Art Outreach Project. Over a period of a month per artwork she would create custom artwork for people. Genevieve has made nineteen custom art pieces and delivered them to family, friends, teachers, and peers. Each person was touched deeply by the artwork and the great part of this project is that they would feel connected and that someone cared about them whenever they look at the artwork.
She has been accepted to Trinity Western University and will study and train to become an Elementary School Teacher. Her Grade 4 teacher and others since have inspired her to become a teacher as she knows first-hand how much of a difference a great teacher can make in someone's life. The program at TWU is a 5 year concurrent program where she will receive a B.A. after 4 years and then a B.Ed. after the 5th year. She knows it will be a lot of work but she has faced terrible adversities in her life and she says, “Nothing will stop me. I am so grateful to the Rotary Club of Langley for this incredible award that will be a great help in my Post Secondary Education costs. Thank you!
Foundation Moment with Wayne
Next we were on to the Foundation Moment read by Wayne.
WHAT CAN A $500 GIFT TO THE ROTARY FOUNDATION DO?
A $500 donation to The Rotary Foundation can help six disabled workers in the Philippines start a watch repair business, provide safety equipment for a boat that brings health services to isolated locations in Peru, or help women in Mexico start five small sewing businesses and be more self-sufficient. Can you commit to donating $500 per year to the Foundation to make lasting change?
The Light Touch
This was followed by The Light Touch, which featured three short ones.
Have you heard about Murphy’s Law? Yes, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. How about Cole’s Law? No? It’s julienned cabbage in a creamy dressing.
What did the green grape say to the purple grape? Breathe, man! Breathe!
I got my husband a fridge for his birthday. His face lit up when he opened it.
Other updates
More Rotary News
Our Installation Meeting for President Rudy and all executive members be held on June 29 at the Rotary Interpretive Centre. Our incoming district governor and our assistant governor will be joining us that evening. Light refreshments are in the plans.
Lana announced that she will be leaving the club at the end of June and will be rejoining the North Delta Club. She is moving and her former club will be closer to her new home.
Happy and Sad Dollars
People pledged money to Polio Plus for the following stated reasons: Shannon’s presentation; the great presentations from Shannon and Genevieve (multiple times); the passing of Pyaro and Kari; the great work that Rotary does in the community and the world (thank you); Jorda serving as chauffeur to the memorial service earlier today; Lana leaving the club; having a speaker from Uganda; wishing Genevieve all the best; and catching up with a refugee Ukrainian friend.
We toasted Canada, and more great photos were taken.
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