Rotary News Today

September is Rotary Basic Education and Literacy Month

Basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s six areas of focus. In 1985 Rotary declared basic literacy to be a pre-condition to the development of peace.

Rotary’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.

Sixty-seven million children worldwide have no access to education and more than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate.

Rotarians are encouraged to raise awareness of literacy issues and to organize literacy projects at home and abroad such as our shipping of school supplies to Haiti and South Africa and our dictionary and Start2Finish programs in London.

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun on Saturday, October 27^th

Join us for a chill filled, spine tingling and fun time for a 3 course dinner and Murder Mystery Night at the Marienbad. Costumes encouraged….but not necessary. Prizes for the best get up.

All for only $50 per person.

Need to have your interest indicated by TOMORROW to reserve the venue or this event is dead!!

Please respond to Heather Broadhead at: heather@bfg-inc.ca

Start2Finish Running & Reading Club Volunteers

Start2Finish is looking for volunteers to help, on a consistent basis, for our after-school program. The program runs at 5 TVDSB locations:
Wilton Grove (Adelaide and Southdale) - Tuesdays
Wilfrid Jury (Sarnia and Wonderland) - Tuesdays
Woodland Heights (Springbank and Wonderland) - Wednesdays
FD Roosevelt (First and Oxford) - Wednesdays
Trafalgar (Trafalgar and Hamilton) - Wednesdays

All clubs run 3:30-5:30. The first half of the club is devoted to physical activity and the second half is literacy. All volunteers are not runners - there are ways to support the kids without actually running.

The highest needs, for volunteers, are at Wilfrid Jury and Wilton Grove. In particular, at Wilfrid Jury. They have a high percentage of UWO students, who are away most of December, reading week, and from spring exams on. Those times they are extremely low on volunteers at that club.

Start2Finish will be having a one-time orientation before clubs start (the beginning of October), and anyone is welcome to attend that. This information will be passed on when it's solidified.

Please forward any questions on to Kristan who is happy to answer anything! kristan.verhaeghe@start2finishonline.org
Heather Broadhead has a Volunteer outline for those who wish more information. heather@bfg-inc.ca

Local Lager - Rotary Beer Fundraiser

Here’s where you can stock up on your Rotary beer for all those upcoming summer BBQ’s!!!”

Only at these Beer Stores:
1199 Oxford St. W, London
1080 Adelaide St N., London
1005 Wellington St., London
1225 Wonderland Rd. N, London
1014 Talbot St., St. Thomas
Local Lager is also available at the Marienbad Restaurant.

Breakfast of Champions Award Recipient
This past Tuesday at the Breakfast of Champions, organized by St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and the Middlesex branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), the two Champion of Mental Health Awards were presented by CMHA Middlesex. They recognize a group and an individual who make significant contributions to mental wellness in our community.

Mental health advocate Kristen Legault-Donkers, a psychology student at King’s University College, received the ‘individual’ award for the series of books she published on depression, anxiety, ADHD and bipolar disorder geared to children. Through a partnership with our Rotary Club the books will be distributed to 100 elementary schools in the Thames Valley District School Board. Congratulations Kristen!

District News:
The 2019-2020 RI Foundation Training Seminars

Saturday - October 13 2018 - Mildmay - Mildmay Community Centre

Saturday - October 20 2018 - Imlay City - Countryside Banquet Center

Saturday - November 3 2018 - London - BMO Centre

To register - log onto the District Website - www.rotary6330.org - click on "Calendar" - click on the event you plan to attend. Registration fee ($ 40 CDN, $30 USD) to be paid at the venue.

The agenda is being prepared by incoming DEFC, PDG Martin Ward and DGE Tony Sheard. Sessions will be devoted to information about the Rotary Foundation; training on grant applications and additional information that will be of value to all attendees and their Clubs. All Rotarians in District 6330 are invited to attend.

Attendance by will qualify clubs to participate in the District Grants and Global Grants programs for the 2019-2020 Rotary year. If questions, please contact your Assistant Governor; Doug Burnard DRFC at dburnard@sympatico.ca (519-471-7789) or Martin Ward at martin.a.ward@gmail.com (519-671-6340).