The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays:
Helen Graham
September 15
Randy Borisenko
September 17
Paul Gagnon
September 17
Ken Moraes
September 17
Ryder Spence
September 20
Chris Marra
September 21
Jim Gilliland
September 22
Robert Brookwell
September 23
Melanie Gaston
September 23
Shondell Sabad
September 23
A Message from President Madeleine
Wow! This is such an engaged and active club – it’s quite tough to keep up with everything that’s happening!
We are delighted to welcome a new director to the board to replace someone resigning for personal reasons at the close of last year. Bruce Yorga is now our director responsible for community service and fund-raising activities. Thanks to Bruce for taking this on!
Jo-Ann and I had a very good meeting with the Palliser regarding our lunch meetings. We renewed our commitment and they agreed to a transition back to buffets, about which we’re delighted. Also, coffee and tea will be at a side table rather than served, in order to increase social opportunities among Rotarians. The hotel will be undergoing renovations in the early months of 2023, so we will relocate temporarily to the Ranchmen’s. Watch out for the information!
For some time we have thanked our guest speakers by making a contribution in their name to CAWST. The board agreed to add a contribution to the Community Hubs program as well, to recognize the importance of our founding partnership and the impact of their ongoing work.
This past week has seen the ground-breaking for the Braun Family Foundation Rotary Mental Health Park that our club supported. As well, our club hosted an excellent BBQ for Calgary Reads, a great way for us to familiarize ourselves more with the Calgary Reads Big Book Sale and its many volunteers. And Saturday saw ten of us doing the annual highway cleanup in Kananaskis, and enjoying great Rotary fellowship.
Hoping to see many of you this Tuesday at the Ranchmen’s for a very special Volunteer Fair and budget presentation.
Legacy Projects/Funding Review Task Force
By Randy Topolnitsky, Director, Community Services
Do you want to be part of building the future of the Club? This is your opportunity to volunteer for a very important Club initiative.
At the recent Board meeting, the formation of a Legacy Projects/Funding Review Task Force was approved. The purpose of the Task Force is to:
Determine the role Legacy Projects might play, if any, in maximizing Rotary’s influence and impact in the community,
Evaluate the role they might play within the Club and its overall funding strategy,
Find alignment with other funding areas of the Club,
Establish governance processes to source, develop and evaluate potential projects,
Fully engage Club members in the process.
Over the past 10 years our Club has made a combined contribution of $7.0m to the Rotary Mattamy Greenway, Rotary Flames House, and Community Hubs Legacy Projects. As a result of our changing and evolving community, we wanted to step back and evaluate how we make significant contributions and ensure they have the most impact and are the best for the Community, our Club Members and Rotary. A Terms of Reference has been developed and approved by the Board to help guide the work of the Task Force.
If you are interested in being on the Task Force or have any questions, please send me an email indicating your interest, at rtopolnitsky@gmail.com or give me a call at 403-690-8325. This opportunity to volunteer on the Task Force is open to all Club Members. Final selection of Task Force Members will be approved by the Board. Please contact me by Friday September 16th if you are interested.
I look forward to working with the Task Force Members on this very important Club initiative.
Educating African Youth Committee
By Diane Macdonald and David Bromwich
The letter below came from one of the students supported by a project overseen by our Educating African Youth Committee. This project was initiated several years ago by the family of Curly Galbraith, one of our Club members, as a way to honour his life. The funds are used to provide post-secondary education to AIDS orphans and others living in poverty in Uganda – students chosen by a small group of Rotarians from three Clubs in Uganda working with the local schools.
The heartwarming letter below is from one of the current students in the program.
On this past Saturday morning, 10 members of the Club headed out to the Kananaskis and picked up trash along our designated 5km stretch of the highway. Of special note – half of the group are over the age of 80. This is a challenge to the younger members of the Club: next year, let’s get a few of you out there and try to lower the average age!
It was an absolutely beautiful day in the mountains. We finished our trash-picking in an hour or so, then gathered at Wedge Pond for a picnic and some Rotary fellowship.
2022 Calgary Reads BBQ
By Diane Macdonald
On Thursday last week, Steacy Pinney had arranged with our Club to provide the food and drink service for a Thank You party for her Calgary Reads volunteers.
About 30 Club members and their families helped to prepare and serve hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs and drinks to 150 guests at the Alexandra Centre in Inglewood.
It was deemed a great success by Steacy and her colleagues, so a big “Thank You” to everyone who came out to help.
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