Kentville Rotary: Paddy’s and Zoom meeting

 

Rotarians continue to have three ways to join our meetings: In person at Paddy’s, On Screen via Zoom or Watching on Facebook Live.

 

 

O Canada led by Sue 

 

Pierre welcomed everyone to the meeting. There were no guests today.

 

 

Sue is happy for wonderful Christmas and New Year celebrations with family, whilst staying within all the NS provincial COVID guidelines.

 

 

Bill welcomed everyone back for the New Year. Please note: due to unpredictable numbers, if you plan to attend our Rotary meetings in person, we are asking you to advise Rick Graham by no later than Sunday evening. Rick will coordinate with Paddies to enable them to plan accordingly.

 

Bill is looking forward to the calendar year ahead and the hope a COVID-19 vaccine roll-out provides for the end of the pandemic.

 

Secretary’s Report:  Nothing new to report. Rick continues to self-quarantine until the 16/17^th of January (following a terrific trip west to be with family for Christmas).

 

Illnesses: no new to report

 

Speaker: Jeff Kelly – Flower Cart progress report

 

Pierre introduced Jeff, no stranger to our club. He is a long-standing member of our Persons with Disabilities committee, and is currently serving on our Board of Directors. Jeff is the Executive Director of the Flower Cart Group and has been with them since May 2014.

 

 

Jeff: The Flower Cart Group is in the midst of a multi-million dollar capital campaign. The planned new building will 23,000 sq ft all on one level and completely accessible (as pictured in the rendition below). Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, as of January 4, 2021 a total of $4.3 million has been committed towards the project. This means The Group continues to find creative ways to raise the final dollars required to finish the project. The formal capital campaign was kicked off on Nov 27, 2020 …a very significant anniversary ... marking 50 years to the day of the first four participants coming to the Flower Cart.

 

Designs for the building are currently being refined and early site preparation is underway. They are working towards early June for breaking ground (though it is early yet to set it in stone). Stay tuned!! There is a sign at the new site and once opened the intention is to sell the two current Flower Cart campuses.

 

Jeff recognized with thanks the contributions from the Rotary Club of Kentville. Other major contributors include Valley Credit Union and Nova. In recognition of Nova's significant contribution and of Joe Gillis' positive work ethic and ever present smile, Flower Cart will name their new board room “Joe’s Room”. For the full story – check out this writeup in the 2020 Valley Faces of Business edition (pictured below).

For anyone wishing to make a private donation, a page has been set up on the Flower Cart website: https://flowercart.ca/donate/ Every donation small or large is greatly appreciated.

 

Jeff once again thanked the Rotary Club of Kentville and offered to provide further updates as the progress continues.

 

 

Program Committee (Ellen): Meeting Friday Jan 8. Please reach out to Ellen or any other member of the committee at any time if you have suggestions for speakers or topics to be presented to the club.

 

Scholarship Committee (Kim): The process has started to find deserving candidates for the 2021-22 school year. It is likely that the graduation ceremonies will be limited again this year, so the committee is looking to repeat last year’s virtual scholarship presentations. Everyone is encouraged to attend… you'll learn more about this in the spring as we approach the June ceremony.

 

Valley Faces of Business (Phil): Meeting Friday January 8, 2021

 

Rotary Foundation Minute: (Phil)  DISTRICT GRANTS - HELPING AT HOME

 

A Rotary club in Connecticut, USA used an $1,800 District Grant to help purchase supplies to make 10,000 meals and 1,000 essential item kits to distribute to needy families in their community. Clubs worldwide use these grants to support similar short-term humanitarian projects in their communities.

 

Every Rotary club has the opportunity to create positive change their community with the help of The Rotary Foundation….one project at a time.

 

What do we want to accomplish in our community?

 

Note: the Rotary Club of Kentville has been the recipient of District Grants, including most recently a grant for the Mask project.

 

Foodbank: Thank you from Pierre for Rotary’s support of the local foodbank. There are volunteer opportunities available to perform deliveries (on Thursdays). Talk with Pierre if you’d like to know more. He also shared good news – less households, families and children needed to access the food bank in Dec 2020 when compared to Dec 2019. 

 

Chase the Ace – Lucky ticket “684” belonged to John Lohr. He did not draw the Ace and therefore the pot rolls over another week. Heather was happy to learn the consolation prize was a bottle of wine!

 

Karen led the club in the four-way test.