Club of Richmond Hill
Welcome to Our Club! celebrating 69th anniversary
SERVICE ABOVE SELF
We meet In Person
Mondays at 6:30 PM
Sheraton Parkway Hotel
600 HWY-7 E
Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B2
Canada
Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B2
Canada
Due to Coronavirus COVID 19
Our meetings are done through Zoom/online
contact us if you would like to join
In light of the new province wide shutdown, the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill has reluctantly decided to postpone our Bottle and Food Drive. It was not an easy decision because we realize that the need of the Richmond Hill Community Food Bank does not go away just because of the shutdown.
We will let you know about a new date for the Bottle and Food Drive as soon as a decision has been made.
On Saturday, April 10th, the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill will be holding their 2nd “Bottle and Food Drive” to collect alcoholic bottles/cans for deposit refund, and packaged food.
The money collected will be used to the benefit our community and international programs in desperate need during the Covid-19 pandemic. The packaged food will go to the Richmond Hill Food Bank.
Please help by dropping off your beer cans and liquor bottles, or making a packaged food donation, on Saturday, April 10th, 11am-4pm at one of four drop off locations:
- Dr. CP Giri Dental Office - 9791 Bayview Ave, Richmond Hill, L4C 9X7
- Upper Yonge Place (Loblaws mall) – 10909 Yonge St. (at Bernard Ave), Richmond Hill
- Richmond Hill Board of Trade – 376 Church St South, Richmond Hill
- 29 Bedford Park Ave – off of Yonge Str, Richmond Hill
Last night we had two fascinating presentations at our weekly club meeting.
Our first speaker was the Hon. Bryon Wilfert, former MP for Richmond Hill, speaking about the military coup in Myanmar overthrowing the democratically elected government. People are sacrificing their lives every day for the democratic freedoms that we in Canada take for granted. Bryon has suggested that we let our MPs and MPPs know about the importance of placing sanctions on the military in Myanmar. Thank you Bryon for that very informative presentation.
Our second speaker was Rotarian Peter Szoke with his classification talk. He spoke about TruePulse, the company he founded 19 years ago. TruePulse is a broker of equipment used by telecommunication carriers around the world. Over 90% of TruePulse sales are exports. Thanks Peter. It is interesting to learn about the business' of our own members.
The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill is very happy to announce that the Winner of the First Annual Richmond Hill Women of Inspiration and Leadership Award, or WILA, is Sajida Habib.
Sajida has contributed to the Richmond Hill community since arriving as a newcomer from Pakistan to Richmond Hill in the 1980s. As a volunteer leader, she has served as a parent volunteer on local school board associations, worked as a facilitator at a York Region kindergarten, as a principal at the local Sunday school, led civic engagement in local marginalized communities for the 2015 and 2019 federal elections, sponsored and supported Syrian Refugees, started the Homework club in Jaffari Housing, and founded a non-profit Muslim Women for York Region that provides food and essential needs like PPE to foodbanks and shelters throughout the GTA. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has helped over 13 shelters food banks, donating in excess of $170,000 with support from 140 Richmond Hill volunteers.
Noeline Paul, President of the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill said, “Sajida exemplifies the wonderful qualities that the WILA seeks to recognize. She balances the challenges of family responsibilities while building a career and giving back to the community. In doing all this, Sajida has also inspired others to contribute to improving the wellbeing of our fellow community members and making our community a better place in which to live. Our club is thrilled to announce Sajida as the first recipient of the WILA”.
As part of her award, Sajida will be able to select a charity of her choice to receive a $1,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill.
Sajida will be honoured at an award presentation on Monday, April 26, 2021 over a Zoom meeting. Anyone wishing to join the presentation, please register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lc-ytpjsvHtKdOnC2U7yTdV7E8s-TLL5c
The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill is thrilled to announce a $1,000 donation to Richmond Hill’s Home on the Hill!
Kathleen Mochnacki, President of the Board of Directors said “It is such a shot in the arm to get support from the Rotary. Thank you for your consideration and again a huge thank you to the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill!”
Home on the Hill, http://www.home-on-the-hill.ca/, is a Charitable Organization founded by the families of people with serious mental illness. Home on the Hill supports their families, too, who are still not considered part of the “circle of care” by the formal system. These individuals often do not access service from mainstream mental health agencies. Many have the symptoms of anosognosia and lack insight that they have an illness, so believe that they do not need service. Home on the Hill supports their families, too, who are still not considered part of the “circle of care” by the formal system.
The Nomination Deadline for the Richmond Hill’s first annual Women of Inspiration & Leadership Award, or WILA, is this Friday, January 15th
The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill is very happy to launch its first annual Women of Inspiration & Leadership Award, or WILA. The award will recognize a woman who has contributed to the greater good of the Richmond Hill Community through her leadership, achievement, and example of distinction. She may have done so through her contribution to a corporation, government, not-for-profit, start-up, or service to the community.
If you know someone who is worthy, please nominate them by completing the form at https://rotaryrh.wixsite.com/womensinitiatives/programs
Today, the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill held our final meeting of the 2020 year. One of our speakers was Rotary Past District Governor, John Van Laar and his wife Cora. John and Cora gave an update on the Back to School project in Cebu, the Philippines. It helps poverty-stricken children to attend school with necessary items such as a school uniform, shoes and school supplies. Donations also help fund the Mobile Eye Clinics, the Mobile Dental Clinics, and a Mobile Library. They also assist young adults to get the vocational training that they need to get jobs. John and Cora have now been running this project for 16 years. The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill has been a proud supporter of this project for 15 of those years. John’s hard work and dedication at age 92 is an inspiration to us all. Keep up the good work John and Cora! Below we see John speaking to our club.
Long-time Richmond Hill Rotarian, Glen Waugh, was awarded the status of Rotary Major Donor. This really is an honour! Particularly now with Covid, so many community groups in are in need, yet many of our club’s regular fundraising efforts are curtailed. So donations by club members are so very critical. Glen, you are showing a great example for all of us to follow. Thank you very much! Below is a photo of Glen accepting his award.
Another long-time Richmond Hill Rotarian, Bryon Wilfert has been named to the Board of Directors of the NATO Association of Canada, https://natoassociation.ca/. The role of the association is to “Promote Peace, Prosperity and Security through Knowledge and Understanding of the Role of the importance of NATO”. I predict an upcoming provocative presentation on NATO to our club. Congratulations Bryon!
The Richmond Hill Rotary Holiday Party was last night. In spite of the physical constraints imposed on us, we still got together for some laughs, and many toasts to the Holidays and beyond! Best Wishes to all our friends in the Richmond Hill community for the upcoming year...we enjoyed a toast to you as well!
