Rotary Club of Vermilion
Meeting Minutes, April 18, 2019
7:00am-Club Room, Vermilion Regional Centre
Call to order
O Canada
Rotary Grace
Four Way Test
Rotary Garage Sale Celebration: Brenda: Today we celebrate, recognize and thank all the support we have received before, during and after the garage sale. This morning the non-rotarians outnumber the Rotarians in the room. All fundraising from the garage sale stays within the community, other organizations take our leftovers which helps those organizations and keeps items out of the landfill. We are amazed by the community support towards Rotary, how like minded people work towards a common goal. The garage sale builds goodwill and better friendships, and is beneficial for all. We are grateful for the strength of our partners, and many non-rotarians who moved furniture, unpacked, washed, merchandised, receive cash, all necessary tasks to our project.
Thank-you to our spouses; we need their perspective, energy, they are the best part of us. Our youth volunteers: we had 8 St. Jerome students along with Mr. MacMillan come Thursday morning to collect and set-up tables. The Girl Guides, Vermilion Dance Association, J. R. Robson students, St. Jerome students, staff, leaders, teachers, and parent volunteers all really amped up our ability to receive donations. And the two Latter Day Saint (LDS) men offered a hand with pick-ups and were ready to haul equipment, and helped with the final delivery Monday morning. Every year we have a sentinel to show authority, make eye contact, greet and thank people for coming. We were thrilled to have Mr. Chase and Mr. MacMillan provide that for us. The pack-up went smoothly with 10 Fire Training School students,and the LDS men. Thank-you to the Rotary garage sale committee for insight, direction, this is the go to crew.
The Garage sale’s continued success is due to the community, we are seen as a beneficial service and the project has been embraced. We maintain this by being good stewards of donations, which are cleaned, sorted, and displayed for maximum fundraising; we have a deep respect for the communities donations. We are grateful to our partners that take our leftovers and we are able to help keep items out of the landfill; we are caring for the earth and passing potential on to other organizations and their causes.
As the garage sale grows so does the workload. In the last two week about 1450 volunteer hours have been put in. Thank-you to non-rotarians for getting up and coming and sharing in this mornings celebration. The final tally is remarkable-for 12 hours of selling we fundraised $33,413. An increase of over $4000 from last year. The Garage Sale supports initiatives in our community. Our commitment to our signature project the St. Jerome’s inclusive playground includes two pieces of equipment to a maximum of $20,000. The first $5000 of the garage sale goes towards this commitment.
All I can end with is... shall we do it again next year?
Presentation of cheques to St.Jerome’s School and youth organizations.
Sergeant’s Report: My job is to fine people who are out of line. I am not going to fine anyone today, but if I was it would be - Brenda for rock’in the Garage Sale, Shawn being the camera guy, Rebekah for being president and cashier, Laurel, or whomever, for the chili with the bite, Darlene for being all over and everywhere during the whole garage sale. Thank-you, and next time I will make you pay.
Meeting Adjourned
Upcoming Meetings:
April 25-Flag Project Launch & 2019/2020 Update
May 9th-No regular meeting: Town Breakfast