 President Janeane welcomed everyone to our 6th weekly zoom meeting since the pandemic lockdown. The majority of the club members were in attendance. As people signed in, they had the chance to answer a fun poll with a Mothers’ Day theme.Birthdays and AnniversariesPresident Janeane wished a Happy Birthday to Jane Curry and a Happy Wedding Anniversary to: Norman & Barbara Myden for 51 years on May 10; Umesh & Shasha Lal for 27 years on May 12; Donna & Robert Hais for 26 years on May 14; and to Frank & June Shoemaker who will celebrate 43 years on May 14. Centennial Celebration A video created by Joe Wittkofski featuring the 40.4 km run by president-elect Bob Janes on Friday the 1st in honour of our club’s 100th anniversary of its charter was shared. The run was an impromptu event to replace the long time planned Centennial Gala which had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Approximately 25 Rotarians and spouses attended to cheer Bob on while keeping the mandated 2 metres apart for social distancing. The run will no doubt be remembered by everyone for years to come.  President Janeane then called on Bob Janes to say a few words. He recapped how the decision to do the run came about after he and President Janeane had a brainstorming session a week prior to the anniversary. They couldn’t see the day come and go without some kind of “marker”. In true Rotary spirit, they decided the event should raise funds for those in need due to Covid-19. In the end, Bob agreed to run 100 laps around Rotary Bowl which works out to a marathon. They asked Laurie Bienert to create the donation platforms, Denise Wittkofski to give it public image, Rebecca Taylor to create and send a media release out and Lucie Gosselin to keep track of donations. So with one week notice Bob started training by running 10 km on Saturday, 7 km on each of Sunday and Monday, 5 km on Tuesday, rested Wednesday and Thursday and pulled off 40 km on Friday…. Amazing!!!! He closed off by thanking those who helped with the logistics and his Rotary “family” for the great support.  Lucie gave a financial tally of funds raised by that event. A grand total of $8,340 was raised by the event with some going to our local charity Nanaimo Community Foundation and some going to our international charity the Rotary Foundation. In addition to this, the club and its members have also contributed $3,250 to the Nanaimo Community Foundation Rock for Relief campaign in April. Lucie suggested we feel proud of the $11,590 the club gave to the cause and then congratulated Bob Janes for the generous gesture. Guest Speaker – Egor Kowalski Inbound student Egor Kowalski from Poland gave us a report. He started by giving us some information about his country and specifically about his city Olsztyn. He then reported on his past year. He was lucky to have participated in a few organized student events such as the California trip and a ski trip before everything came to a stand still due to the Pandemic.  He has been doing home schooling since the lockdown and says he feels lucky to have host brothers to help him pass the time. He is sad to be leaving soon but says Poland is starting to go back to normal after their lockdown. Ghana ProjectsCarey McIver showed an overview of all the projects our club has been involved with in Sunyani, Ghana since 2007. Because of matching grants from the Rotary District and RI, the Canadian Rotary clubs’ $200K was leveraged to $1M. Today she told us of two projects in Sunyani which the clubs in the mid-Island of VI are looking at funding. The first one is for equipment and furnishings for a newly constructed 40-bed Hospital Maternity Ward for $270,000 USD. The second project is for refurbishment of the Nsoatre School including renovations, microflush toilets and a mechanized borehole well for $60,000 USD. The mid-island group realized they had to phase it down to a manageable size so the first phase is $120K USD for the Hospital project of which $28,525 CAD will come from participating Canadian clubs. The Rotary Club of Nanaimo, being the international partner, is expected to contribute $15K CAD of that amount. Once we approve our contribution, the Mid-Island Group will apply for a global grant. Carey listed the criteria and the many steps which must be completed to obtain such a grant. There also needs to be a MOU between the “host partner” - Rotary Club of Sunyani East, the “international partner” - Rotary Club of Nanaimo and the Sunyani West Municipal Assembly. There will be a thorough community assessment before any funds go over as part of the due diligence process. Notice of MotionThat the Rotary Club of Nanaimo make a contribution of $15,000 CAD towards the Sunyani Municipal Hospital global grant project to purchase equipment for their maternity ward as well as other equipment to combat COVID-19. Carey explained that the last part referring to COVID-19 was added to increase our chances of getting the grant because COVID-19 is the current priority for global grants. The motion will be brought to the club for a vote on May 22nd. Happy Bucks Happy bucks were pledged by Yvan Gosselin, Denise Wittkofski, John Salem, Brenda Grice, Wayne Anderson and Wendy Pratt. When your tally of happy/sad buck pledges exceeds $20, please remember to send an e-transfer to nanaimorotarypayments@gmail.com.Next MeetingDon’t forget to attend our meeting on May 15th when we get to witness a virtual new member induction. Another first.
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