Sergeant at Arms David "Brom" Bromwich opened this week's meeting by acknowledging that Calgarians live, work and play in the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 First Nations and the Metis Nation. President Rick Erven welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Michael Pierson and Manon Mitchell led the singing of O Canada, and this week's greeter Bev Blair delivered the invocation.
President Rick thanked our meeting volunteers Jill Conroy, Doug Webb, and Bill Clapham.
Jennifer Lavier Jankovic welcomed several guests and acknowledged two club members celebrating birthdays this week.
Do you know that US hotel guests discard two million bars (250,000 pounds) of partially used hotel soap and that Canadian guests throw away 400,000 bars (50,000 pounds) of partially used hotel soap every day?
According to the World Health Organization, providing the planet's poorest people with soap could save millions of lives. Several organizations around the world recycle and distribute hotel soap and hygiene products internationally and locally.
Soap for Hope is administered by Disaster Aid Canada and supported by the Rotary Club of Ladysmith and other Rotary Clubs. Rotarian Michelle Edgar started an Alberta chapter of Soap for Hope four years ago at her kitchen table in Airdrie and now has moved into a warehouse space in Calgary.
Soap for Hope supports over 40 different shelters, transitional houses, community centres, churches and schools in the Calgary and Airdrie area helping homeless individuals regain their dignity and health while protecting the environment.
Announcements:
Manon Mitchell presented the club with a banner, brought back by Manon and Kurt Kowalchuk, from the Rotary Club of Pursat. She and Kurt are active in the Cambodia Literacy Integrative Project (CLIP), featured in this COG Bulletin.
David "Brom" Bromwich and Tom Tait addressed charitable giving and Paul Harris Fellow Recognition. Representing the Foundations Committee, Brom spoke on the importance of recognizing those who make regular donations to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) or the Calgary Rotary Clubs Foundation (CRCF). First, recognition is our way of saying thank-you to those who donate their time, talent and treasure to advancing Rotary projects. Second, recognizing those who have made contributions encourages others to do likewise, thereby growing the community of active contributors. Finally, the recognition of our donations helps the community at large achieve unity and helps Rotary in realizing its ideal of Service Above Self.
Tom Tait outlined the mandate of the Paul Harris Committee, which receives nominations of individuals to be recognized for their contributions to the community and makes these recommendations to the Board for the awarding of Paul Harris Fellowships.
Rick Erven provided an update on the search for a new Stay-in-School Program Coordinator. The club's Human Resources Committee has received resumes from interested applicants and is currently reviewing the resumes received.
The Rotary Club of Calgary West's 6th Plant Sale fundraiser is underway. The plant sale's hanging baskets, and planters feature big, beautiful blooms, with proceeds from the sale shared between RC Calgary West projects and NSTEP. The plant catalogue and order form are available on the rotarywestfundraising.ca website. The deadline for placing orders is Friday, February 14th.
The Cambodia Literacy Integrative project is the next phase of an education project funded through a global grant, which started two and a half years ago. The project’s two main objectives are to decrease dropout and illiteracy rates in Cambodian schools as well as increase the interest and funding from communities in their schools.
During a recent trip to Cambodia, Rotarians Manon Mitchell and Kurt Kowalchuk witnessed several project successes. However, drop out rates continue to be a problem for economic reasons. As there are fewer jobs, parents move to Thailand, taking their children with them.
Innovations and best practices were identified and can continue to have a substantial impact in this rural area of Cambodia with the implementation of another project starting in the fall. Further collaboration will expand the project to include Kindergarten. Our club has been funding Tuk Tuk Charity for the last three years. TTC seeks to empower teachers and increase educational opportunities for disadvantaged communities in early childhood education. Our club’s recent donation provided funds to hire a graphic artist and purchase the technology required to create a series of books. Jack the Giant is a bilingual (Khmer and English) book.
We are looking at integrating Tuk Tuk Charity into the next education project so that we cover all grades from Kindergarten to Grade 6. Another innovation Tuk Tuk brings to the table is the inclusion of low cost solar-powered “raspberry” devices accessible through a Wi-Fi hot spot, which enables teachers to access resources and upload their own. Our partners in Cambodia are currently engaging in community assessments, and Manon is hard at work looking for funding so that we can start the project by October 1st, 2020.
The ability to read well is essential to success in life. Strong reading skills can lead to increased earnings, higher education, and more social capital. On the other hand, children who struggle to read by the end of Grade 3 are at considerable risk for low self-esteem, learning challenges and high school non-completion, leading to a variety of adverse life outcomes.
Calgary Reads has volunteer opportunities for what hopefully will become a regular group activity. As Rotarians, this is where our service can make a significant impact!
Madeleine King will be organizing a foundational meeting between our volunteer group and Calgary Reads’ Manager of Volunteers at the Inglewood house. Please contact Madeline by email or call (403) 400-4404 to add your name to our list!
Bring your family and friends to our annual Ski and Stroll on March 14th. The $30.00 price for bus transportation includes hot chocolate and treats, but does not include lift tickets. Our 7:15 am departure will be from the Canadian Tire store at Richmond Road and Sarcee Trail, and the bus will return by 7:00 pm.
Doug Webb introduced Ken Keelor, CEO of Calgary Co-op. Mr. Keelor's presentation provided a brief overview of Calgary Co-op, which focused on his five years leading the co-op. On joining Calgary Co-op, Mr. Keelor developed a strategic plan to guide its continued evolution. The co-op's vision is to touch the lives of our community by being respected as the best, most trusted place to shop every day. It works to realize this vision by delivering exceptional customer experiences, products and services that sustain and grow its business and communities. Calgary Co-op's core values include service, caring and excellence.
Service: customer expectations drive the delivery of exceptional shopping experiences.
Caring: passion for people (team members, member-owners, customers and communities).
Excellence: a winning attitude in everything it does.
Its values can be seen in the co-op being able to celebrate one of its employees achieving his fiftieth anniversary with the cooperative. Additionally, Calgary Co-op received recognition as one of Alberta's Top 75 Employers in 2019.
Its community contributions include Stuff a Bus (Calgary Food Bank), Time for Turkeys (Meals on Wheels), and Turkey Ham Jam (Mustard Seed).
In response to customer feedback, Calgary Co-op's recent expansions include the acquisition of Community Natural Foods, reinvigorated pharmacies, increased natural product choices and creation of the Sunridge Home Health Centre.
Recreational consumption, comprising liquor and cannabis, is another focus area for Calgary Co-op.
The co-op offers wine tastings, sommelier education, and wine lockers at several of its locations. It also offers over 1200 varieties of scotch at its World of Whiskey store. It entered the cannabis business to allow customers to buy a needed product in a safe, trusted environment with knowledgeable staff.
Innovation is crucial to Calgary Co-op. It has eliminated single-use plastic bags from its stores, which amounts to a reduction of 33 million bags annually. In the last five years, the co-op has rolled out new pharmacy software, online membership signups, a new rewards program and a liquor e-commerce program.
In the next five years, Calgary Co-op will focus on sourcing more food locally, continuing to build out its real estate portfolio with new stores and renovations to existing locations, the continued growth of its whole health initiatives, and the evolution of its retail gasoline operations. Its strategic imperatives for the next five years will include delivering exceptional customer experiences, improving its operational efficiency, optimizing its assets, inspiring all team members and achieving product leadership.
In August 2019, Calgary Co-op announced a switchover to the Alberta warehouse of Save On Foods as its primary food distributor. It took this step to improve its financial position, and to source more of its products locally. What will not change as a result of this transition is its commitment to the Calgary marketplace as it remains a uniquely distinctive Calgary cooperative.
After an informative question and answer session, Bill Redmond thanked Mr. Keelor for his presentation.
COG Staff - January 28th, 2020
Editor
Craig Henderson
Photography
Ralph Lundberg
Rotary Club of Calgary - Chartered April 1914 as Club #949
Suite 305, 105-12 Avenue SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2G 1A1
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