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On Tuesday, Oct 11, our executive reported on results of the recent Membership Survey and also on their plans for the upcoming year. President Dimitri Papanicolas presented the results from the membership survey. It showed that nearly all members are happy with the current meeting times, format and cost. We will try to work in a few meeting at other venues in the spring or summer months to change things up a little. Our membership also preferred electronic communications over paper. We also approved of the current membership initiatives and the projects that we support financially and are willing to put in sweat equity and time to support our current projects. We are not interested in taking on more projects that require sweat equity. We are interested in partnering with another rotary group to support common projects.
Hans Granholm encouraged all of us to use the ClubRunner website more, especially the more computer challenged among us, as it is a great resource for Rotary information in many ways. He said that he will gladly help anyone interested that needs some guidance on how to sign in and use the web site.
Graham Gilchrist spoke to us about how Rotary International is encouraging clubs to come up with clear guidelines on which types of projects they are going to fund, which groups of people to fund, issues to address, and clear long term goals for outcomes, so that they ensure continuity. This would also help our present and future executives with strategic planning when deciding how to apportion our efforts.
Donna Hutton gave us a financial report which showed that we made just over seventy-five thousand dollars from the casino this spring, which must be used up within the next two years. The budget for this year has been set and was done conservatively as we did not have the final number of casino funds at the time it was set. It follows previous year’s budgets pretty closely in terms of funding allocations.
Dimitri Papanicolas added an update on the now defunct wheelchair procurement and assembly project and a breakdown of the remaining funds and we discussed ways to deal with remaining funds received from other groups. We did send a letter to all donors stating that the project is no longer going forward and asked them to reply if they would like their funds returned. Only one group responded and their funds have been returned. Some others said that they were happy leaving the funds with us to be used in some other type of project.
Rick Harcourt gave an update on the Community Services and Allocation Committee projects which we have funded and there are no major changes planned for these.
Eric Germain reported on our Membership Recruitment efforts, which seems to be working successfully. We have gained twelve new members since January last year.
Carin Van Vuuren reported on the Youth Services Committee. She told us that we have funded six scholarships and three district awards for youth leadership.
Patrick Gibson gave a report on the International Services committee. We plan to continue to support the same groups we have in the recent past, such as AMARAK, Hearts 4 Children, Shelter Box, KIVA microfinance and the New Hope School in South Africa. We are also looking for ideas for new international projects.
Hans Granholm reported on our public relations efforts and said that he has submitted several reports on our club and district activities to Rotary International.
Hal Quilliam reported on behalf of Campbell Chow for the Rotary Foundation committee. He encouraged everyone to make their contribution to the foundation this fall if possible. He also said that both he and Campbell would be happy to help anyone who would like guidance on making a contribution to the Rotary Foundation.
Ken Germain reported on behalf of Vince Campbell on the Wheelchair Program. His report repeated the statements made previously by Dimitri, that the procurement and assembly project is now defunct.
Dennis Freeman reported on the Canadian Flag project, which has been a good fundraiser for our club in the past. We do need someone to come forward to help him with marketing and sales for this project. We could also use some new ideas on other ways to market this project.
There were some good discussions on many of the issues that were brought up. Although the meeting was a little longer than normal, it was a good way for club members who are not involved with the work of a particular committee, aware of the issues at hand, as well as how and where their funds are being used.
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The Rotary Club of Edmonton Strathcona
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