The Rotary Club of Calgary comprises professional and community leaders brought together in fellowship to make a better future.
Birthdays:
Rotary's Birthday is February 23, 1905!
Garth Toombs
March 2
David Bromwich
March 4
Barb Lutz
March 4
Trevor Axworthy
March 6
Howie Shikaze
March 12
Message from President Madeleine
As I mentioned at last week’s zoom Rotary meeting, at our last board meeting we approved granting $300,000 from the Marmie Hess estate funds to Youth Centres of Calgary to help purchase and renovate their new youth centre in Dover, subject to a formal agreement. This grant aligns with Marmie Hess’s wishes as expressed in her will as it will help enhance the Stay-in-School Program. Her grant to our club a few years ago for Stay in School was about $900,000. The 1st grant from this enabled us to transfer our Tom Jackson Stay in School program for indigenous students to be managed by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary.
This grant to Youth Centres of Calgary follows prior grants from Major Donations as well as meetings between their Exec Dir Jane Wachowich and our Community Services members and Sean Baylis representing Stay-In-School. Jane Wachowich won the award for Calgary’s Citizen of the Year last year for the impact her organization is having with her exceptional before and after-school programming at her Ogden house.
We are excited by this collaboration and are looking forward to sharing a fuller presentation at our in-person meeting March 14. And at that lunch meeting you’ll also hear from Ken Lima Coelho, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters about the stay-in-school program for indigenous students.
Buy your tickets NOW for our March 14 lunch!
Small Donations Committee Putting our Funds to Work at Diversecites
Diane Macdonald
The Diversecities Community Services Association is a group that assists new citizens with integration into our community. They offer English as a Second Language programs with practical English language skills but they also give the students real-world opportunities to learn how to access services available in the community, such as public transit, the Calgary Public Library and the health care system.
In the past, Diversecities has worked largely with those from an Asian background but with the influx of refugees from Ukraine, they felt they were in a good position to use the infrastructure they already had in place to assist these new residents to integrate more quickly into our Calgary community. The Small Donations Committee approved $2,000 for them to set up a project to operate their program for a group of Ukranian newcomers and we’re pleased to pass on part of their initial report. Alex Monteil, the Chief Executive Officer of Diversecities, wrote:
We have onboarded an ESL instructor for the Ukrainian refugee group. He is a very experienced ESL facilitator who also teaches at the University of Calgary.
We have 21 registered participants and a wait list with other interested participants.
After a conversation with participants, it was decided that the Diversecities office was more accessible and better equipped to deliver the in-person sessions.
The course began on February 2nd, and it will run every Wednesday and Friday from 4 pm to 6 pm
The lesson plan consists of 10 ESL lessons (2 sessions per lesson) and five employability lessons (group format).
DIversecities staff will offer additional support for resume writing, job search and mock interview for participants who complete the program but need additional support.
Svetlana Miftahov Rapoport, Human Resources Instructor at Bow Valley College, will be providing some of the employability lessons for the group
Diversecities will provide transit pass tickets to participants who need support to communicate the lessons or attend job interviews.
Diversecities will be providing free resume printing services and accessibility to computers, webcams and a quiet place for job interviews to all participants who needed.
As a result of the excellent reception that the project had, we were able to approach the Alberta Association of Immigrant Service Agencies (AAISA), which administrated the Ukrainian Grant Support program in Alberta, to request additional funding not only to continue but also to expand this project adding more groups to fit interested participants on the waitlist. We also included the Ukrainian ESL group as a permanent group in our fund proposal with Calgary Learns for the 2023-2024 circle.
Thanks to the generous support of the Rotary Club Calgary Downtown, Diversecities was able to showcase the necessity of this service for the Ukrainian community in Calgary and create momentum to consolidate and expand this community service.
In Service to Youth
David Leslie
Below is an outline of the upcoming Opportunities our club has available for youth. Please take a moment to review the following program descriptions and consider whether anyone in your world might be a candidate. If you would like more information please get in touch and will forward more detail.
1. RAYAC
This week- long program in late August focuses on providing youth 13-15 an opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills. Candidates are lodged near Elk Island south of Medicine Hat for a hands-on experience in business planning, production and marketing a product of their own creation. Perhaps you have great skills as an entrepreneur and would like to share them with kids who’d have a passion for strating their own business. Contact rayec@rotary5360.ca or visit https://www.rotaryayec.ca/
2. YOUTH EXCHANGE
Short term exchanges are available this summer. Rotary pairs high school students with those from another country in the interest of providing a unique cultural experience. Each is billeted with the other family for 2-3 weeks over the summer holidays. Want to host a student? Know of someone who might be interested? Visit https://rotary5360.ca/page/rotary-youth-exchange for more information.
3. RYLA
This camp for 13-17 yr. olds will run in May for 3 nights at a camp near Chestermere. This camp will appeal to students interested in furthering their leadership skills so those currently involved in a leadership capacity either at school or in the community will find this one most rewarding. Email questions to Program Administrators HERE or read more about the program HERE
4. RYPEN
This 3 night camp for 13-17 yr. olds will also run in early May at a facility west of Vulcan. This enrichment camp is typically attended by students who have overcome some kind of adversity in their lives and will focus on developing basic leadership skills and enhancing self esteem. The camp is facilitated by former RYPEN attendees! FOR MORE INFORMATION Email
5. ADVENTURE IN CAREER AND FINANCIAL WELLNESS
This first year camp will run in late June for 14-17yr. olds has a focus on helping students transition from school to work or post secondary while developing financial skills.
Other Canadian Clubs are gearing up camps relating to agriculture, health, technology, forestry and mining so if your student has an interest in any of these areas we may be able to help.
6. New Generations Service Exchange
NGSE is a short-term, customizable program for university students and professionals up to age 30. Participants can design exchanges that combine their professional goals with a humanitarian project.
What are the benefits?
Make connections with service-minded community leaders in another country
Learn another language
Build your professional skills and gain international experience
Travel and explore a new culture while giving back through service
Friday April 14th 2023 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm We are excited for our community to join us again on April 14th for our next Community Perspectives Lunch and Discussion. Our speakers for the upcoming Recovery Housing panel are:
Bruce Holstead: Executive Director - Fresh Start Recovery Centre
Robin James: Chief Administrative officer - Lethbridge Housing
Earl Thiessen: Executive Director – Oxford House
Martina Jileckove: Chief Executive Officer - Horizon Housing
Sandra Clarkson: Executive Director – The Drop-In Centre
Jim Moore: Chief Executive Officer – The Dream Centre
Lunch will be provided, and the panel will be held from 12:00 to 1:30 pm at Fresh Start Recovery Centre. (411 41 Ave. N.W.)
Don’t worry if you cannot make it in person. Please send an email to: bruce@freshstartrecovery.ca and indicate if you wish to attend IN PERSON or VIRTUALLY.
We are looking to include the entire community as each of us has a different perspective but ultimately the same goal. We will engage attendees to share their perspectives after the panel time permitting. We would be delighted to have as many perspectives as possible after the panel. Let us help break down the stigma together and create a larger conversation.
We are grateful to use our space as a safe place to gather and share thoughts and experiences with the community, and we are confident this, like our Fresh Perspectives.
Community Perspectives will gain momentum and allow us to showcase the many perspectives and strong voices in our community.
We look forward to seeing you all there!
Bruce Holstead CCAC Executive Director Fresh Start Recovery Centre
Rotary Resources Helping you in Business
Manon Mitchell
Did you know that your account on My Rotary provides you with 31 courses to help you in business? Many of these professional development courses are offered to you as part of your membership in Rotary. Here are some examples of the titles you’ll find in the learning centre:
Building Consensus
Develop a Speech
Deliver a Speech
Essentials of Understanding Conflict
Interpersonal Communication & Networking
Leaderships Basics and Fundamentals
Leading Effective Committees
Resiliency
… and more!
You don’t need to complete the course in one sitting. Just leave it when you have to and when you return you’ll be able to pick up where you left off.
How do you get access to these great resources? Just go to ROTARY.ORG and sign in to My Rotary with your email address (if you can’t remember the password, there is a link that will email you the instructions to reset your password).
Once you’ve logged into My Rotary, hover your mouse over LEARNING & REFERENCE and you’ll see a sub-menu that will take you to Learning by Role or by Topic or just go to the LEARNING CENTRE.
Great resources at your fingertips when you have time to learn!
Fellowship Committee
Diane Macdonald
A few weeks ago, Ginny Sparks-Kellough and the Fellowship Committee organized a Family Skate Night at Bowness Park.
As Ginny said, “Not the best turn-out, but fun none the less”. Watch for future Fellowship events and let’s support their efforts!
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