November is upon us…and the holidays are only seven weeks away! We’re also a third of the way through our Rotary year! Yikes!
There was much to be thankful for last month. Aziz and I have been enjoying visits to various Rotary club events and have now completed eight Cluster Celebrations with the final two events scheduled this month. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from attendees with many saying that similar events to connect the clubs and members should be part of our regular schedule. If we are Rotarians first - with one vision, one dream and one voice, we will ensure Rotary Connects the World!
On October 24th, World Polio Day, we attended the flag raising event at Guelph City Hall. Remembering the extraordinary effort put forth since 1978, and the 16 million people that have been spared from paralysis or death from this dreaded disease was inspiring, and has been a reminder for me that we cannot give up now. Our goal is to reach every last child with polio vaccine to ensure a polio-free world for future generations. We must press forward to fulfill our promise to the children of the world. Together, we will succeed.
We also attended the Halton Rotaract Polio Day Dinner, held at Boston Pizza, Oakville on October 26th and it was a great success! DGE Dr. Michael Lawrie and Rotarian, Dr. Liliana Chocarro shared their professional insights and experiences on our progress in eradicating polio. The event was sponsored by the Rotaract Clubs of Oakville and Burlington.
We hope you have an amazing November packed with fun, vibrant meetings and events. Talk soon!
Halton Rotaract Polio Day Dinner - October 26th, 2019
Quote of the Month
"No act of kindness,no matter how small,is everwasted.”– Aesop
November is Foundation month and what better time for clubs and members to think about supporting our efforts to End Polio Now, and the awesome projects we do here and around the world. Check out these short video clips on Rotary’s six areas of focus: https://vimeopro.com/rotary/causes-english. Each video is about 100 seconds long with the first 20 seconds being repeated, after which each video goes on to speak to a different area of focus. They are great reminders of our causes, and also terrific meeting starters!
A Message from the District Rotaract Representatives: Pari & Jananee
Rotaract 2019-2020 Survey
Rotaractors, the 2019 Council on Legislation amended the constitutional documents of Rotary International to include Rotaract clubs as a membership type of Rotary International. The Rotary International Board of Directors wants to hear from you about what you think would be a fair amount for Rotaract club dues and what product and services would enhance your experience. We encourage every Rotaractor to take some time and fill out the survey that will help initiate important conversations. Click here to access survey.
Rotaractor wanted on the District Membership Committee
The District Membership Committee is currently in the process of developing district membership presentations that will be given at Cluster and Club meetings. The Committee is currently looking for a Rotaractor to be involved in the development of these presentations. Please email rotaract7080@gmail.com for more information.
October Fundraisers for World Polio Day:
On October 26th, 2019, both Rotaract Clubs of Oakville and Burlington hosted the Halton Polio Day Dinner. The MC Frank Morewood of the Rotary Club of Oakville, had visited India on a trip to give polio vaccinations. He introduced the wonderful guest speakers: Dr. Michael Lawrie, retired family physician, and Liliana Chocarro, PhD, who worked for the World Health Organization.
This wonderful event hosted around 40 guests including Rotarians and Rotaractors, at Boston Pizza in Oakville. The event served as a wonderful opportunity to learn about the debilitating disease Polio. It was announced that 2 out of 3 Polio strains have been eradicated as of Oct 24th, 2019. The event raised more than $1000 dollars in donation which will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and will be donated to the Polio Plus program.
History of Poverty in Ontario - Wellington County Museum
With thanks to Diana Janosik-Wronski and Livingspaces & Life Styles for their permission to share this article with our members.
The Poor House: Officially built as the Wellington County House of Refuge and Industry in 1877, it was a place of refuge for the poor, homeless, and destitute people in Wellington County and operated as a Poor House and Industrial Farm until 1947. Then it became a County Home for the aged, not dissimilar to the building where my husband’s grandmother lived her last days, in Athens located in eastern Ontario. In 1974 it was transformed into the Wellington County Museum and Archives. A new Archives wing opened in 2010.
Message from Norm Bindon - District Rotary Foundation Chair (DRFC)
The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. We have certainly been living up to that mission.
Since the new Grants System was introduced in 2013, our members, our clubs, our District have not just been donating to Foundation, we have been using the money in support of the mission. We have supported 83 Global Grants, sometimes as the International Partner Club and sometimes just with a donation to someone else’s project. Proposals currently in draft format include incubators, cleft palette operations, and latrines and toilet blocks. The 83 projects cover an even broader array of ideas from dairy cows to drinking water to e-learning and economic development.
District Grant projects have also been significant. This year we have seven in progress, six around the world in Haiti, Africa and Sri Lanka and the seventh right here in our District. In the previous six years we did 83 District Grants. Now is the time to be planning for your 2020-2021 District Grant Projects.
Promises Made – Promises Kept. We told you at Foundation Qualification Training last November that it should be the last face-to-face FQT. We now have the online FQT in the beta test phase and expect to roll it out to everyone within a month. We are not reinventing the wheel. Most of the material, except for Canadian and District specific items, is already on the Rotary Learning Center. We are selecting which modules to use and creating our own seminar package. More news soon.
Polio - National Immunization Day India - January 2020
Message from Brian Bennett - District 7080 Membership Director
Rotary conducts the Membership Experience Feedback Survey every year to monitor trends in membership. The information from former members cite their top three reasons for leaving Rotary:
From Ainsley Brown, Rotary Club of St. Andrew, Jamaica
Rotary is a wonderful global movement that allows individuals to come together and take actions that are an expression of our collective will to make this world a better place. Our members are our greatest strength, and membership matters. But our greatest strength is also our greatest challenge. Like a lot of clubs, we struggle with membership. How do we recruit new members, retain existing members, transition members of Rotaract into Rotary, and re-engage current or former members?
A story from the Rotary Club of Sarnia about community engagement, club vibrancy,growth and change.
Their President Sandra Graham says:
“Aside from the vision and energy that continues to drive Rotarians, there’s also an acknowledgment of a need to reinvent the club for future generations of those who have a desire to serve. It's one reason that Rotary International, the formal governing body has relaxed rules such as having one member per profession in a club and even attendance rules that at times has handcuffed clubs rather than serving as a way to sustain them. ln order to sustain Rotary, you have to change and that's been a common theme for us."
We need your help! We are in desperate need of a Marketing/Communication Lead for our 2020 District 7080 Conference Committee. You will lead the marketing plan and communication releases, provide advice to the District Governor and District Conference Chair, and ensure that the event is well publicized and communicated before, during and after the conference. Please contact Jennifer Ngo at adgrotary@gmail.com.
We are also looking for 8 more Cluster Champions to help us with this unique, exciting and fun event. Our thanks to Brenda Halloran (Kitchener & Waterloo), and Richard Delongte/Susanne Zbinden (Dufferin/Erin/Caledon) for stepping up to help as champions for their clusters! If you want to join the team, please contact Jennifer Ngo at adgrotary@gmail.com.
Registration and video release are targeted for November 1st! Keep an eye out on the district website and take advantage of the Early Bird registration special available until December 31st, 2019.
Interact Chair
Please join us in welcoming Uche Okugo as our new D7080 Interact Chair. Uche is also the Youth Service Chair for the Rotary Brampton. We are delighted that Uche has joined the D7080 leadership team to support the development of our Interact Clubs and will be working with our Youth Service Director, PDG Will Pugh, and the other Youth Service Chairs. Uche can be reached at Uche.Okugo@gmail.com.
Friendship Exchange
Eva Quijano, D7080 Friendship Exchange Chair says: “Remember in Rotary there are no strangers, only friends we haven’t met yet!” Our friends from D4130 in Mexico arrived yesterday and will visit with us until November 7th. Please join me in extending a warm welcome. There’s still time to meet them and join some of the activities. Click here for the agenda, and please connect with Eva Quijano at RFE7080@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Eva also asks: "Are you planning to go to the international Rotary conference in Taiwan? Would you be interested in visiting Rotarians the week before the conference? For more information email me at RFE7080@gmail.com."
World Peace Conference 2020 - Ontario California - January 17th - 18th, 2020
