The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays:
Laurene Wilson
April 26
Murray Young
April 26
Bill Kaufmann
April 27
Barb Young
April 28
Gord Graham
May 3
H. Frank Hall
May 6
Peter Harrison
May 6
Walley Temple
May 8
Message from President Madeleine
I believe this is always a busy time of year for our club, and this is certainly no exception!
At last week’s board meeting we nominated Greg Stevenson to replace outgoing CRCF director Mark Starratt; this will be voted on shortly by club members as per bylaws. Big thanks to Greg for agreeing to take this on. And Past President Rob Brookwell will become CRCF president. Most of our club’s wonderful projects, both here in Calgary and around the world, are paid for from generous donations to that foundation. CRCF stands for Calgary Rotary Clubs Foundation; check it out online and see how much money is stewarded for our club – it’s quite something!
The board is also working towards next year’s budget, and glad to share that we are trending positively against this year’s budget.
Thanks to the many Past Presidents attending last week’s annual dinner. It’s wonderful that so many of you continue to contribute to the continuing success of our club.
Our fellow James Wheeler Davidson club in Melbourne will be installing a Rotary Peace Bell in a prominent location to celebrate their hosting the International Convention next month. Our board agreed to contribute a $2,500 donation to this worthwhile project.
We have several community BBQ’s coming up in May and June, and they will each need volunteers. Please watch for the dates. They are always such a great way to serve our community!
Major Donations Update
Franco Savoia
The Major Donations Committee is recommended to the Board that the following project be approved:
Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK) Project: Moving from For to With $25,000 towards the $392,285 Moving from For to With research project.
This 14-month longitudinal research project with 50 families will expand upon previous qualitative learnings and work to reveal essential insight directly from families experiencing food insecurity in Calgary. This project will use a human-centered, developmental evaluation approach to connect kids who are experiencing food insecurity to the food they need. Families in the pilot phase of the research are being surveyed monthly and involved in the development of a larger-scale income-based support pilot program that is being created and adapted in conjunction with the families involved. This approach will provide opportunities to create, evaluate and refine inclusive, iterative, and responsive approaches to food security supports that are unique in Alberta’s food security sector. The research will help uncover effective new approaches to food support program design that can help transform the way that food security programs are designed and delivered across the sector.
The Rotary Carl Smith Stay-in-School (SIS) Mentor Gathering
Alana Sargent
The Rotary Carl Smith Stay-in-School (SIS) Program enjoyed a mentor gathering at the Ogden Youth Centre on Saturday, April 15th. Jane Wachowich, ED of Youth Centres of Calgary (YCC), talked to the mentors about the amazing activities held for youth at the Ogden Centre everyday after school. Students are provided with a safe and welcoming space to discover, play and grow…and eat! Jane and Sean Baylis also talked about the very exciting new project that RCCD is a partner of- the new Youth Centre in Dover. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students, and our mentors, to have a space to meet and be involved in all sorts of activities. The new centre will be right across the street from the 3 schools with the largest population of SIS students.
Manon Mitchell All Club Members Should Volunteer for Big Book Sale!
The Calgary Reads Big Books Sale is a CLUB-WIDE service project requiring ALL Rotarians to participate in some way. There are many shifts available, and we NEED YOU to get involved. It is your commitment as a Rotarian to be engaged and this event provides that wonderful opportunity to work alongside members of the public and make a difference.
Rotary is an organization of OPPORTUNITIES. Of course it’s your own decision as to what opportunity you choose to select. Every year Rotarians from our district plan and present an amazing District Conference for all of us. From personal experience here are some of the benefits:
Inspiration feeling disengaged then come to DisCon and put some “wind on your sails” Connection feeling alone in this Rotary world? Haven’t found the are you wish to be part of? Make cool friend at the conference! Awareness exercise your critical thinking muscle and hear some great talks and breakout sessions that will increase your awareness. Fellowship why not support each other at the conference? How? By visiting the House of Friendship and chatting with our own Rotarians who will be there showcasing our club’s great project. Here’s another idea: attend one of the breakout sessions offered by one of our own Rotarians. How about this one: Be there to cheer on the next District Governor our own Kurt Kowalchuk and be inspired by what’s on the horizon for next year. How about this one: Be there to cheer about our club as we hope to secure some District awards!
Did I mention that there’s also an amazing PLAY on Friday night? You won’t want to miss this one! And there’s a rumor that there will be surprise guest at Dinner on Saturday!
You see there’s lots to grab onto at DisCon and those who have been know the value. Kick start your engagement or just boost it. Register TODAY the deadline is coming up! REGISTER HERE
As a reader of the COG, is there anything you would like to see included in your newsletter? We want to make sure that the content is of interest to our Club members and we would welcome your input. Because not everyone is able to attend the in-person meetings, would a brief synopsis of those meetings be of interest? We could include any important announcements, a word about anyone who is specially honoured, perhaps some information about the guest speaker in case you want to investigate the topic further. This is only one suggestion – we really would like your ideas.
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