Notes from district:
Link to the RYE International convention 5Jun21
Note from District President:
London Ontario had tragic news this week when 4 family members a grandmother, mom, dad and daughter where killed. One of the five family members struck, the son remains in hospital. They were run down by the driver of a truck because they were Muslim. The community responded with #ourlondonfamily and by creating a human chain 7 kilometers long from the accident site to the Mosque on Oxford St where a vigil attended by several thousand citizens was being held.
A number of Rotarians have asked how “Can we help with financial support for the son who survived? “ or is there anything else we can do?
One of my insurance brokers Abdo, is part of the Muslim community. He has expressed that at this time money is not required for the boy. The family will take care of the son’s needs and the Islamic community will support them too.
A go fund me request ( https://www.gofundme.com/f/
The GoFundme Monies raised will be available to any initiative of the charity and assistance to improve the Muslim Community as a whole.
The best thing we can do as Rotarians is to understand that as a community they want to be better understood. A few years ago, I attended the Mosque as an invite from Lambeth Rotary Club and even though I work with Abdo, and we discuss the differences in our faith, it was helpful to visit and speak with the church leaders.
When time is right, I would suggest Rotarians find ways to make this part of the discussion in your diversity, equity and inclusion plan. Learning more about multiple faiths can lead us to a better understanding. I have included our district 6330 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy and I am available to help your club start your DEI plan.
Free Reading Program email:
Free Reading Program Demo Schedule:
June 10 to June 15.
Each demo is about 20 minutes with time for questions following.
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4)
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4)
Date and Time | Link (on Zoom) |
Monday, June 14 at 12:30 PM | |
Monday, June 14 at 8:30 PM | |
Tuesday, June 15 at 12:30 PM | |
Tuesday, June 15 at 8:30 PM |
Announcements:
Malcolm mentioned that Laurie Baldwin-Sands of St. Thomas City Council, appeared in Aylmer Express regarding Honouring Indigenous Peoples. Nancy and President Gerry wore orange clothing in remembrance of indigenous children that have disappeared.
Bill was in Ohio with visitor Maggie who will have hip surgery there. Best wishes go to her.
Trudy, Bob, Nancy and Ron are serving at the vaccination clinic.
Barbara spoke of the difficulty finding speakers for our meetings during the pandemic.
Malcolm recalled that one of the first RYE Rotary Youth Exchange participants from Ridgetown Mandy Howlett, recently gave birth to her first child.
President Gerry reported that he has 2 boxes of tulips from the Polio Plus Tulip sales that can be purchased.
The Board will meet after next week’s meeting (9Jun21) to sort out the details of the Changeover meeting 23Jun21.
Members of the executive of both the RCRC and our club will meet to discuss the mutual cooperation we have regarding the naming rights of the community meeting room at Hospice Elgin.
Our club has applied for and will receive Rotary International Citation this year re our participation, fellowship, District Training, Polio contributions, noon Zoom and online participation. District President set a goal of 70% participation by district clubs, but incoming President Erin’s goal is 100%. Ron recognized our history of receiving citations.
President Gerry spoke of a new member (a friend of Bob’s) who will join our club.
Re Horton Street Market: Volunteers are needed to set up a table, speak favourably about your clubs’ fundraising both locally and internationally. 2 weeks ago, Interactors raised almost $500 for the Woman’s Shelter. A discussion followed about “what organizations should we collect for?” Barbara said local recipients will be easier to collect for. Both Adriana and Malcolm asserted that money collected must go to the organization collected for which we were advertising the collection and that we should not collect at Horton Street Market without designating a recipient. Nancy went on to say that we must coordinate with the charity we are collecting for and that the information we give out about the charity matches with the charity. It was easy in Connie’s absence to ask her to do the coordination. Suggested charities are Polio Plus, Ignite (teen centre), YWCA tiny homes, St. Thomas-Elgin Good Bank, Inn out of the Cold, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Grace Café, Courage for Freedom. We are asked to provide 3 volunteers for 10 Saturdays. We are doing this every second week starting Saturday June 12th. Shifts are either 4 hours or 2 hours. Talk to Gerry re when you could help.
Questions, Answers, Comments
President Elect Barbara and husband Bob received a Magic Show kit from Dan White in the US that are “props in a box”. This gift was from their daughter in honour of their anniversary. Barbara, being the show person that she is, demonstrated the “transfixing properties” of a black pendulum and a velvet bag.
Ron: He was getting a vaccination shot at the Memorial Arena, and volunteering there but, so far, came across only 2 people he knew. This must mean that the numbers of people he knows after a lifetime here are diluted by the increasing population in St Thomas.