Welcome back, President Stephen. After his opening comments about us being the first Rotary club in Langley, chartered in 1958, we sang O Canada. “Well-done. Wonderful rendition,” were the comments heard. Self-congratulations are almost always positive. The singers were Wayne, Stephen, Rudy, Anthony, Nora, Allan, John, Brendan, and Nav, while Bob, Lana and Gerty may have participated from their homes. Regrets were received from Byron. Nora is celebrating a birthday tomorrow, but asked that we not sing for her. Hmm. Stephen is still working at finding the document that shows our agreement with the Township for our use of the RIC. We welcomed Noemi Victorino, our special guest speaker, to our meeting.
Announcements included hearing that Rudy attended a Langley Central Club luncheon and he brought greetings from Guy Tousigneault who was also visiting. We were encouraged to get out and vote on Saturday. Stephen remains on the board of the Rotary Clubs of Langley Charitable Foundation but the current chair, Brendan Martin, is stepping down.
Low Entropy Foundation
What is Low Entropy? Well, it’s good for you. Entropy is the measurement of disorder. The state of chaos and disorder is considered to have high entropy, whereas the state of stability, order, and balance is considered to have low entropy.
Noemi Victorino, Director of Fund Development for the Low Entropy Foundation, told how they help people, especially with personal development. When they deliver groceries to people (and they do, to over 100 families), they don’t just drop them off with a “Here are your groceries” comment. They ask, “How can we help you?” and listen to the answers. Change starts from within and many people need to develop self-confidence. When people feel isolated in the Tri-Cities, Low Entropy is there to help. They offer a life coach to address the root cause of an individual’s problem(s) and offer employment services. Founded in 2017, Low Entropy has a whole army of 1100 volunteers with three staff members and has affected 9589 lives. However, they have a shortage of sponsors.
Currently they are on a Give a Smile three-month campaign under their CARE program. They hope to help people such as Elder Marie Hooper (see photo) be able to smile with new teeth. We thanked Noemi for her presentation and cheerful question and answer period
Rotary Moment with Wayne
Wayne shared Rotary information about Rotary’s areas of focus.
WHAT ARE ROTARY’S AREAS OF FOCUS? (2 of 2)
Rotary is dedicated to causes that build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever. We talked last week about peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; and water, sanitation, and hygiene. Our other areas of focus are:
• Maternal and child health: Nearly 6 million children under age five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
• Basic education and literacy: More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
• Community economic development: We work with communities to create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women.
• Environment: We develop projects that conserve and protect natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. We empower communities and spur innovation to address the causes and effects of climate change and environmental degradation.
How do you want to get involved in the causes you’re most passionate about?
The Light Touch
Wayne then shared The Light Touch for this week.
A woman reported that one of her husband's duties as a novice drill instructor at Fort Jackson, S.C., was to escort new recruits to the mess hall.
After everyone had made it through the chow line, he sat them down and told them, "There are three rules in this mess hall: “Shut up! Eat up! Get up!"
Checking to see that he had everyone's attention, he asked, "What is the first rule?"
Much to the amusement of the other instructors, 60 privates yelled in unison, "Shut up, Drill Sergeant!"
Other updates
Stephen shared information about his most recent trip to Russia, which happened while a Ukrainian family was living at his house in Langley. Despite Russian claims that they are only trying to recruit or mobilize men who have had previous military service, Stephen’s brother-in-law was sought for military service fighting in Ukraine, and he’s never served. Prisoners are being let out of prison if they sign a contract with the military. Stephen had no difficulties while visiting, and was not asked to enlist.
All twelve members attending the meeting pledged happy or sad dollars for: good to be back in Canada; our free democratic elections where we get to vote without a gun being held to our head (unlike in the Russian-claimed lands In Ukraine); cracked ribs (ouch); railing at Brookswood Seniors Centre needs to be repaired; finding new resources for patients (Low Entropy); many medical appointments and problems, with wife in hospital for seven weeks; Nav, Noemi, Stephen and election; Noemi’s talk and Stephen’s presentation (twice); Marina; our guest speaker and Stephen returning safe and sound (twice); and for Anthony’s family finally back in their own house after water damage repairs.
We closed with a toast to Canada and wished each other a good evening. Hybrid meetings will continue and we welcome more members to attend in person again.
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