Kentville Rotary: Paddy’s and Zoom meeting

 

Due to changes in permissions (on Facebook) our meeting was only available in-person at Paddy’s and via Zoom this day. If you missed the meeting continue reading below for highlights.

 

 

O Canada led by Sue

 

Rick welcomed everyone to the meeting including guests: Gillian Yorke (guest speaker) and visiting Rotarian Rod McMahon (Calgary West) via Zoom.

 

Guest Speaker: Gillian Yorke

Ellen introduced our guest speaker. Following graduation from Acadia with her Bachelor of Education, Gillian was employed by the town Kentville in the Parks and Recreation department.  She is currently a Councilor for the Town of Kentville,

 

As a community volunteer, Gillian is part of the team that has overhauled the KCA cafeteria into one that serves nutritious, delicious and affordable food to students. She serves as choir director for a children's choir of thirty school aged children, sits on a board of education and volunteers as a Sunday school teacher and nursery programmer.

 

Gillian has three children and lives in Kentville.

 

Gillian thanked Rotary for inviting her to speak about the Cafeteria programs at KCA (Kings County Academy). Did you know Nova Scotia has the highest poverty rate across Canada? 30% of families in the Annapolis Valley live in poverty and as a result are considered food insecure. In 2019, KCA opted out of the school food service contract in an effort to provide an inclusive cafeteria where “no child goes hungry”. As a result of this action, KCA lost all schoolboard funding and had to go it alone.

 

One of the program goals was to provide a fair and living wage to their employees (including benefits). This program dedicated to food insecurity hired a Red Seal Chef to create and overall the cafeteria, offering food to include gluten free options, vegan options and other food sensitivities resulting in an inclusive cafeteria. When the program began in Sept 2019, they sold about 70 meals, that climbed to 110 in the second week and just last week (April 2021) that number was 960. Meals are available to both staff and students.

 

“No child goes hungry” and $4.00/meal are parameters the cafeteria operates within. Last month alone they gave $200 in meals to those who were unable to pay (for whatever reason). This leads to the question: “How can the program move forward in a sustainable way?”. Fundraising has been the answer. They have had their own burger wars. Through this initiative they were able to donate $700 to the campaign for kids. Students partook in the fundraising and giving back. Covid has also increased costs and hampered volunteers. The KCA cafeteria is PTA operated and its success is being watched by other schools.

 

The breakfast program runs separate from the Cafeteria program. It includes in house baking and cooking. The school covers the cost of the Chef. Many farmers in the community have been generous with food donations.

 

Wally thanked Gillian for providing details of the programs. Hopefully at some time in the near future the School board will recognize the program and resume funding.

 

On behalf of the Community Services Committee of the Kentville Rotary, Shelly (committee chair) presented $2000 towards the Cafeteria program and $2000 towards the Breakfast Program to Gillian

 

 

 

Rick: Happy (?) to pay his $$ to the town to cover a parking ticket received last week for parking more than 2 hours in one spot. Folks may want to take this into consideration and may need to move cars to avoid these penalties.

 

Garth: Happy his daughter has moved back to the Valley

 

Sue: Happy she is scheduled for her Covid shot on Thursday (doing the Covid Tourism thing and traveling to Truro to get it!!!) and her son in Ottawa is on the list for a shot.

 

Jeff: Happy his son was in the semi-finals which went to a shoot out and he scored the winning goal. Celebrations all round!

 

 

Bill welcomed guest Rotarian Rod. He acknowledged the past weekend marked the grim one-year anniversary of the mass shooting in NS.

 

Clean up day was cancelled due to weather. Stay tuned for an alternate date.

 

April is Maternal and Child Health month. It seems appropriate that we donated to the Cafeteria program today (in support of Child health!)

 

The virtual training session was held on the weekend with a few Rotarians from Kentville participating. As always there is something new to learn. Over 70 people in total attended.

 

Don’t forget about the upcoming Rotary Foundation virtual Gala, the District Conference and AGM all coming up in May.

 

Secretary’s Report: nothing new to report

 

Illnesses: It was noted Peter’s mother passed away last week.

 

 

Valley Faces (Phil): We are in the middle of the campaign and continue to track ahead of last year. That said; we still have a way to go before reaching our goal. Please follow up with your contacts and get the contracts signed and returned ASAP.

 

 

WHAT CAN YOUR $500 CONTRIBUTION TO THE ROTARY FOUNDATION DO?

Your $500 contribution to The Rotary Foundation can help provide a watch repair business for six disabled workers in the Philippines, purchase safety equipment for a boat providing public health services to isolated river villages in Peru, provide prosthetic limbs for 12 disable people in Thailand/Cambodia, or buy five small sewing businesses to give poor mothers in Mexico a better ability to lead self-sufficient lives.

Will you commit today to donating $500 per year to The Rotary Foundation and start making a difference in people’s lives?

 

Chase the Ace – Lucky ticket belonged to our newest Rotarian Brian!!! Unfortunately he drew the 4 of hearts for a consolation prize. With 9 cards left in the deck for next week, the pot is growing. It’s a roll over.

 

The Four Way Test was led by Bill to conclude the meeting.