The Grindstone - May 13, 2024 (May 12, 2024)

President Joanne Serkeyn welcomed 20 Lincoln Rotarians & Special Guests Meredith Marino & Jennifer Toews.

Pod #2 member, Terry Kotwa, opened the meeting with the land acknowledgment and followed by reading our club's MISSION STATEMENT...

The Rotary Club of Lincoln is a dynamic club that strives for "Service Above Self". As a club, we endeavour to make a difference in our local, national and international communities. Our club supports Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We strive to increase the awareness of and make a positive impact on the environment through our actions. We support and develop leadership skills to facilitate the growth of our youth.

Terry invited a toast to our great little club and great country.

John Lundrigan's Point of Pride (POP) featured Vernah Fleming and the leadership she has provided in her work with the Town of Lincoln to advance significantly the town's policies related to trees. He reminded that tree coverage is one of Lincoln Rotary's top three environmental priorities and explained that Vernah along with Liz Benneian and Jane Woolsley have been meeting as a working group with Councillors and staff for several months. Following years of research, the three citizen members prepared a 50 page report with recommendations, which are serving as the foundation for the group's discussions and policy development. The Town is in the process of updating its Official Plan and it's apparent that Lincoln's Tree Canopy is a priority. John also gave a shoutout to the very successful Great Lakes Watershed Clean-up event on April 13 with West Niagara Secondary School staff and students and a hardy group of Lincoln Rotarians, led by Sue Foster, along with great support from Stephanie Hicks, Downtown Bench Beamsville.

HAPPY BUCKS

Barb - for a great time serving pizza to the polite & well-mannered young adults on garbage duty at the Downtown Tidy event yesterday

Margaret - to welcome Jennifer Toews today

Jennifer - she’s awake and recognizing many familiar faces at her first meeting

Sue - for a great clean-up yesterday with a toilet as the best haul in the total 103 kg of trash collected

Maria - proud of our club and looks forward to doing more hands-on work

Lindsay - to be avoiding the road construction and resulting traffic jams in Beamsville...and the Traffic Camera!

Deb - that her granddaughter will soon be a full-fledged police officer working for NRPS

Dale - about the fine weather and summer camping season coming soon

Terry - to be getting in shape for his 2-day ride for cancer (June 8-9, 2024). Click here to support Terry’s ride

Martha - to announce that RCL’s incoming Rotary Youth Exchange student is coming from Taiwan.

A family willing to host our student is needed to complete the complement of host families

John K - to report that Life is Good as he rides his e-bike about the countryside

Phil - will be happy when the Leafs win

Alice - pool is open!!!

Andy - offered an IOU for his Happy Buck but Alice saved the day by gifting him a buck

Brenda - that their new bathtub has been moved from their living room to a bedroom & should be installed permanently in their bathroom soon + Son Jon's diabetic cat is doing well thanks to the loving care from family

John L - with the success of RCL’s 4-part Ecoseries & Phil’s steadfast volunteering with Trout Unlimited tree planting

Bob - to be home from vacation & back at Rotary

Rob - for the speed camera on Victoria Ave, the one that keeps disappearing

Vernah - for John L’s tribute & all involved with the Downtown Tidy event

Paul - thankful & happy that Gayle is doing much better following a recent brief spell in hospital

Joanne - to announce that her daughter, Skye, is off to work in Alaska for the summer

50/50 DRAW

Brenda had the winning ticket & pulled the Queen of Spades

PROGRAM

Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara

a safe place to help, heal, end child abuse for Niagara's children & youth

GUEST SPEAKER

Meredith Marino, Development Director

Rob Foster welcomed Meredith as guest speaker and explained that the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara will be the primary beneficiary of Lincoln Rotary’s 2^nd annual Bike the Benchlands scheduled August 24, 2024.

Meredith is a communications and marketing professional with experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors. She joined the Advocacy Centre team of five full-time and a few part-time employees in July 2022. In expressing her appreciation for the club’s commitment through our upcoming fundraising event, she explained that there is no core regional, provincial or federal funding. Grant funding from any Government level is project-specific and time-limited with no assurance of renewal. Therefore, the centre depends on the support of donors, funding partners & fundraisers to support the centre’s operation and services. While there are Child Advocacy Centres (CACs) in locations across Canada, the closest ones to Niagara are in London and Toronto.

Transform Trauma into Triumph

It isn’t easy being a kid today…

The Challenge in Canada…

1 in 3 girls & 1 in 5 boys will experience some form of physical or sexual abuse before they are 18
4 in 10 children & youth have been abused by a family member
33% of children & youth abused by a family member have been sexually abused. 67% were physically abused

The Challenge in Niagara...

Niagara Regional Police (NRP) report that at least one case of sexual or physical assault on children & youth is investigated each day in our region
Before the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre existed, children were interviewed in police stations, which can be intimidating & cold spaces. Children often had to repeat their interviews over & over again.

The Centre opened in September 2008 and became the primary location for all NRP and Family & Children’s Services (FACS) interviews with children who have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, or witnessed violence. In 2014, with the support of the French family, the Centre was renamed in honour of their beloved daughter, Kristen.

For a child who has experienced abuse, A TRANSFORMATIBVE ACT OF BRAVERY

is telling their story at the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre

and starting their journey to healing.

A safe & nurturing, child-friendly & feels like home space is the environment. Applying trauma-informed practices, children & their families feel empowered to share their experiences, reclaim their voice & thrive beyond their trauma.

Since 2008, some 5,000 Niagara children & youth have exposed their experiences at the centre. With higher quality evidence collected, law enforcement has been enabled to serve more criminal charges and convictions against those responsible.

The centre’s Brave Hearts Campaign supports the following programs, which average approximately $10,000 each to run annually…

One-on-One Mental Health Counselling
Kids First Project
Therapeutic Afterschool Programs
Camp Acorn, Niagara’s First Trauma-Informed Day Camp

Check the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre Niagara website for many more details - https://www.kristenfrenchcacn.org/