Anne is a long-time Rotarian, joining the Rotary Club of Vancouver in 2006. She joined Rotary after learning about the end polio campaign. She recognized that if an organization, Rotary, can indeed tackle a task that many thought impossible, then she wanted to be associated with that organization. This is certainly in keeping with Anne's determined spirit.
The list of awards she has earned is incredibly long and impressive. Among them being awarded the QEII Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012, and the Order of BC in 2014.
She started her career as a clerk at the Royal Bank. Constantly surpassed by men, many of whom she trained, because she was a woman. In those days it was unheard of to have women leaders. Anne did not relent in her pursuit to advance her career. Finally in the mid-70s the bank realized that they needed to have women in management. Anne was the one chosen from BC to fast track to a management position. A leader, a trend setter, a fine example for all women!
Thank you Anne! For all you have done and continue to do to make this world a better place for us all.
* come in person to celebrate with Purdy's chocolates!!
Last Meeting September 27, 2022
Kendall Jessiman, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Sandra Lowe, Secretary, introduced guests and hosted the Zoom portion of the meeting
Joan Posivy, stepped in as Sergeant at Arms to introduce guests
Miya Otake played O Canada on her harp
President’s Announcements:
Thank you to all of you who came to enjoy the companionship of your fellow club Rotarians.
Fellowship is a vital way for our members to connect and have fun while doing so. It has been way too long since our last event. We look forward to holding regular events through the year moving forward. Anyone that would like to organize an event please do so. It can be anything that is of interest: a learning to curl lesson (perhaps we can invite the Squamish or North Van club to participate); a Whistler ski weekend as we’ve had before or a ski day on a local mountain, pub nights at various downtown pubs. Really the limit is only one’s imagination and energy to organize.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Special announcements and Members' Moments:
Reminder World Polio Day is October 24th. See above.
The 2023 District 5040 Conference is in Vancouver and our club is taking a lead role in organizing the event. CLICK HERE to view their promotional video. See above for the link to register.
Phil Webber let us know that registration for the 2023 Ride for Hearing event will open on October 1st. The team is hoping for a greater number of corporate teams to register. If you can support by promoting the event and perhaps organizing a team with your organization, do so!
Anne Lippert was interviewed by Franco Gallo. Always enjoyable to learn more about our fellow Rotarians. See above for a small snippet of info from Anne's interview. Anne left us with a few words of advice when it comes to fundraising:
Have a sincere passion for the cause
Know what your potential donors' passions are to be sure they align with what you are promoting
Don't give up! One will receive a lot of "no", but eventually you'll be successful if you follow the 1st two tips.
Guest Speakers:
Gerry Glazier introduced guest speakers from the Rotary World Help, Jerry Zdrilij, President and Dan Gallant, Warehouse & Transportation Officer & Director.
Rotary World Help, a bit of history from the RCoV website:
The concept for the RWH started in 1992 when a group of Vancouver Club Rotarians were in Kiev, Ukraine helping to set up a club charter. This group from Vancouver saw the poor state of the medical facilities in Kiev and decided they had to find a way to help.
In 1993, Bill Richwa, Ralph Towsley and Ted Segodnia organized the first shipment of medical supplies and equipment to Kiev. By 1997, the project was so successful it became too large and complex for one club to handle. From this beginning, the RWH was born under the leadership of its founding President, Bill Richwa, a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Vancouver. It was established as a registered society in September 1997.
One of the key features of this organization is that it acts as one central clearinghouse for the province wide collection of usable materials and medical supplies. All donating hospitals and organizations are able to deal with one organization rather than numerous clubs. This makes the collection and distribution of supplies very efficient.
Jerry got involved with RWH after he attended a presentation. He experienced the passion that goes along with the work and wanted to help. It’s a fantastic organization that he is honoured to be associated with.
RWH delivers medical and educational supplies to the developing world as an international service of Rotary. Their mission is helping communities help themselves. There are no paid staff, it is run under all volunteer power.
To date RWH has shipped 436 containers to 61 countries. Kiev was the 1st to receive one and also received the 400th container, with yet another getting ready to go. In all 26 containers have been sent to the Ukraine over the years.
Each container has an estimated replacement value of $350,000. This amount to approximately $149M worth of goods sent around the globe to help those who need it most. As an added bonus, all of this equipment would otherwise be sent for disposal. RWH can be considered a recycling organization; one of the highest order.
The Rotary Club of Vancouver was instrumental in the formation of Rotary World Help.
Dan is the guy who travels all over the lower mainland and sometimes beyond gathering the donations in the truck. For several years they rented trucks at quite a large cost to the organization. Recognizing there may be a better way, Dan approached a then business client, Argus Transport, to see if they had a truck that RWH could purchase. They did and generously sold it at a greatly reduced price in 2012. That truck is still going.
Another example of the great generosity of donors was a lady from whom they received a donation of $60,000. This has been invested to cover costs as needed and to provide a bit of a cushion for unexpected expenses.
The magnitude of what is offered in terms of equipment is vast. They’ve had unbelievable support from the health care system and colleges, e.g., Douglas College. They receive a lot from St. Paul’s and care homes. Over the summer they received a call from Fraser Health in Surrey, stating that they will be replacing care home beds in facilities from White Rock to Chilliwack. 450 beds and mattresses in all. They are now working on an empty Safeway location as a place to store the beds until they can be shipped to whatever locations need them. So much of these donations would otherwise go to land fill or recycling, it is good to know that they can be put to good use through RWH.
When you see the joy that these deliveries bring to the recipients, it feeds the passion to keep it going. This club is special not only as a founder but by being always there when needed. Our club has members who always show up to help with loading such as Kaz Kadono (heavy lifting every time) & Gerry Glazier as well as many others who help as they can.
RWH is the legacy of its founders as noted at the beginning of this article. Thank you to Bill Richwa, Ted Segodnia, and Ralph Towsley for this gift to Rotary.
Some links of interest:
To view a pdf version of the presentation, CLICK HERE
An intro to RWH circa 2018, CLICK HERE to view video
RWH loading of the 400th container destined for Ukraine, CLICK HERE to view video
Anne is a long-time Rotarian, joining the Rotary Club of Vancouver in 2006. She joined Rotary after learning about the end polio campaign. She recognized that if an organization, Rotary, can indeed tackle a task that many thought impossible, then she wanted to be associated with that organization. This is certainly in keeping with Anne's determined spirit.
