Year Ahead -- this Thursday evening or Saturday morning -- is your opportunity to learn more about ways our District can serve you and your club in the coming year. It's a chance to speak up about what your club needs from our District and to learn how other clubs are serving their communities and the world in fellowship and friendship
You are invited to join fellow members of our 48 clubs as well as club and District leaders on one of two optional occasions, for 90 minutes via Zoom:
A. Thursday, April 28, 2022, 7:00 PM;
B. Saturday, April 30, 2022, 9:00 AM.
AGENDA
• District strategic plan, to support you as club leaders and members
• How the District can support you and your club
• Why Diversity Equity Inclusion is an important strategy for Rotary
• Learning and Development needs of club leaders and members
• Criminal Record Check, purpose and process
• Rotary Club Central, valuable features for your club
• Open discussion: please send me your topics in advance or bring them with you
OPTION A: Year Ahead, Thursday, April 28, 2022, 7:00 PM
The Vancouver Young Professionals Rotaract Club is going to be helping with garbage cleanup and graffiti removal with the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association.
All Rotarians are invited to volunteer and help out. However, the organizers need to have enough equipment on hand so kindly email Amrit from the VYP Rotaractors, amritran3@gmail.com, to register.
* come in person to celebrate with Purdy's chocolates!!
Last Meeting Apr 26, 2022
Wayne Fraser, President, chaired the meeting
Nadja Gehriger, Secretary, hosted the ZOOM meeting
Jill Pennefather, Sergeant at Arms, introduced our guests
Miya Otake played O Canada on the harp via video
President’s Announcements:
Thank you to all of you who came to Tuesday’s meeting. It is wonderful to see you all, both those in person and those attending virtually.
Coming up on May 14th, the Vancouver Young Professionals have invited us to join them volunteering to help the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association remove graffiti and garbage from Chinatown. Everyone is welcome to get out and help. See above for more information.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Special announcements and members' moments:
Nathan Hesketh, provided an update for the hoop-a-thon held on Saturday April 23rd. The annual event was organized by RC Vancouver Sunrise. After a couple of year hiatus on in-person events, they could finally host a live event. How many hoops? Well, they were just shy of the record, with a total of 27 baskets for our club. Please get your donation/pledge in as soon as possible. Contact Nathan Hesketh if you need help with this. As a total fundraiser, they are looking at somewhere north of $50K. Our club donated $5,000 of that plus all of the member donations and pledges coming in. A sincere thanks to those who came out to support the event and the participants.
John Bathurst provided an update about the Foundation Dinner, 17-18 of our club members attended. They were greeted at the door with Philippine appetizers, and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner, a silent auction, and a dessert auction (the best part!). A great young band entertained everyone. It was a really enjoyable evening.
Joan provided an update about the Ukraine fundraiser. Intimately involved were two Rotaractors who had moved from Ukraine to Vancouver in 2018 – they were so grateful and overwhelmed by the support shown for them and their countrymen. A sincere thank you to all who helped support this great cause. They raised over $3,500. Stu Bird added that basically, our district's overall support for Ukraine has shown us to be very much a world leader with donations. As of last week slightly over $8M has been raised for the Ukraine, all of which will be distributed by the end of June. There continues to be huge demand for all kinds of support and so many are working diligently to overcome obstacles. Case in point it is illegal to export protective military vests; the Canadian & U.S. governments are making an effort to overcome this and allow it legally. N.B., Stu was president of RCoV when 6 Rotary Clubs were instrumental in chartering the 1st RC in Kiev.
If you'd like to donate and do not have the link to do so, contact Carolyn.
Franz Gehriger promoted the April 27th business networking event. Always new things to invent and we are looking to incorporate the wonderful ideas of our younger members. For our more senior members who may be retired, please remember that younger professionals are wanting to learn from senior professionals, retired or not. You have a lot of life and professional experience -- please consider sharing your wisdom.
Sandra Lowe provided an update on a global grant project related to Hispaniola Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Team (HHART). Sandra has volunteered with HHART since 2018 and continues to do so. HHART missions are led by RC of Wasaga Beach, Ontario. The mission is to improve communities and lives of disadvantaged and impoverished people (primarily of Haitian heritage) by providing medical, dental and community development services. Most of the people served live near Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic.
The global grant, with an approved budget of US$110K, was used to build a community centre that included space for a health and wellness centre. HHART worked with Amigitos, a Norwegian NGO, who had been granted the land from the Dominican government. The local host sponsor was RC of Sosúa, and the international sponsor was RC Wasaga Beach. Our club, RCoV, along with 4 other Rotary Clubs each contributed US$3,580, very substantial contributions! The grant funds were used specifically to build and equip two clinics within the facility and also to provided related vocational training.
Congratulations to all involved on a very worthy, successful global project.
Program:
Rene Abi-Rached introduced Cindy Morrison, grant writer, & Marley Stevens, volunteer & recruitment coordinator, from Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland joining us via Z00m.
Big Sisters works to "ignite" the potential in young women who may not have strong female role models in their lives. Their mission is to enable life-changing mentoring relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people.
Three of their programs:
Big Sisters program, a one-to-one mentorship for 7-17 year old girls. Through regular outings a relationship is developed built on trust and common interests. It can, and often does, result in life-changing experience for both the Big & Little Sisters.
Study Buddy program, a weekly one-to-one mentoring relationship that focuses on school work. Results show academic improvement and also higher levels of self esteem.
Go Girls program, a group mentoring program for 10-14 year olds, promoting active, healthy lifestyle choices.
The youth that Big Sisters help face a number of adversities, shown by the following statistics.
Economic issues
54% come from single parent homes
30% report learning or literacy issues
up to 87% come from low income families
Social issues
47% have been bullied
1 in 5 report harming themselves
18% suffer from anxiety
Emotional issues
40% struggle with mental health
11% have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in youth aged 10-14
The investment in youth programs, such as Big Sisters, has a phenomenal return -- $1 : $23 to society. Mentoring youth has historically shown incredible results for quality of life, in communities, and professionally.
In life
81% report financial literacy
98% report making good life choices
80% pursue healthy lifestyles
In community
87% have strong social networks
50% are more likely to volunteer
13% are more likely to give charitable donations
At work
47% hold senior leadership positions
17% are more likely to be permanently employed
13% receive higher earnings to the tune of approx. $315K more lifetime earnings
Marley who has been employed by Big Sisters for about 8 years, spoke about her experience as a young lady who was fortunate enough to be part of the Big Sisters organization. She came into the program when she was about 12 years old on the recommendation of a social worker. Her family was a single Dad family and she had a younger sibling with developmental difficulties. At Big Sisters Marley was matched with a perfect Big Sister. They shared a lot of common interests and maintained a relationship through to Marley's adulthood. Marley contributes her healthy life to the relationships she was fortunate enough to benefit from through Big Sisters.
Links of interest:
Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland website, CLICK HERE
Upcoming Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland events, CLICK HERE
Meeting adjourned with a toast to the Big Sisters of the BC Lower Mainland and all the work they do.
The Vancouver Young Professionals Rotaract Club is going to be helping with garbage cleanup and graffiti removal with the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association.
