Rotary Club Of

Richmond Hill

Serving our community for over 69 years

Monthly Magazine 

August 2020
Editor Nash Azam
 
Welcome to another issue of our monthly magazine!  COVID-19 has not stopped us as we are people of actions, we continued engagement with our members by conducting regular Mondays meetings, Board and committees meetings through Zoom online facility.
Announcements
 
Rotary International
  • Jennifer E. Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, has been nominated to become Rotary International’s president for 2022-23, a selection that will make her the first woman to hold that office in the organization’s 115-year history.

    A current Rotary Foundation trustee, Jones has been a member since 1997 and has served Rotary as vice president, director, training leader, committee chair, moderator, and district governor.
     
    She would 6th Rotary International Present from Canada -
    We are so proud and exited!
    Other previous Rotary International Presents from Canada as listed:
Membership
  • August is Membership and Club Development Month, a time to focus on and appreciate our members, and celebrate their contributions.   Go ahead – We are thankful to our members for making a difference!  The reason why Rotary is such a successful organization is because it is full of members that have one trait in common - the passion to make a difference in the world.
  • Rotary Club of Richmond Hill proudly inducted LISA LI as our new member, Lisa is a resident of  Richmond Hill, she works as Sunlife business development partner, likes to do Hiking and walking her dog, her classification as Rotary member is Business coach.  
Upcoming Community Event
  • Virtual Terry Fox Run - September 20th 2020 - 40 years of Hope
Cancer is a complex disease and the battle will not be finished until every cancer patient can enjoy the best possible outcome. We cannot rest until we realize our shared goal of a world free of cancer.
DONATE TODAYhttps://terryfox.org/
 
Current Events and Activities
  • As all scheduled physical activities have been cancelled, however we are endeavoring to find ways to conduct online fund raising, continuing our support both International and local communities
  • Are you ready for some fun and community engagement? Join clubs across the District as we hold a Rotary Community Bottle and Food Drive on Saturday September 26. This will be an opportunity to promote the great work and “endless opportunities” of Rotary from Etobicoke, right through Toronto and east to Picton and Belleville and from downtown Toronto north to Alliston and Newmarket. Each club will be responsible for the details and logistics of their event; the District will help promote on social media.  Don’t forget to tag @rotary7070 and #rotary7070 on your own Club social media posts. Let’s make this happen!!!! 
 
Stories
Supporting Ongutoi, Uganda
Yesterday, Rotarian Richard Mewhinney of the Rotary Club of Newmarket, Ontario presented at our weekly Rotary club meeting (via Zoom).
 
For many years, Richard has been championing the support of Ongutoi, a village in central east Uganda – and the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill has been actively supporting Ongutoi too. 
 
Ongutoi had a languishing local economy and poor access to healthcare until Rotary-sponsored projects created a medical centre and transformed barren ground into a grove of Valencia orange trees. 
 
The most recent project was to build a local economy around an water project / agricultural crop with sufficient export value to fund the operations of a medical centre.  Here is the update/outline of the project:
 
Phase 1 of the water project began in the fall of 2018 with installation of a water collection platform, cistern and 381 Valencia orange trees.  Drip irrigation was used to water the trees during the dry season.  The trees tolerated this well.
 
Phase 2 commenced in the spring of 2019 with the expansion of water storage in tanks and a further planting of 404 trees.  An orchard of 3,000 trees is expected to provide full sustainability.  The Soroti fruit processing plant can put through 6.5 metric tonnes of fruit per hour.  A demo garden showing how drip irrigation can be set up for smaller applications is helping to educate local farmers about options for watering crops.  Concerns about monoculture have also been offset through the establishment of an apiary and the sale of honey.  You can view the most recent update here:  
 
Phase 3 is started in the spring of 2020.  The hope is to increase water storage to 225 million litres with additional crestanks and to plant a further 1600 trees.  Funding will consist of $250 thousand US from a RI global grant, plus donations from local Rotary Clubs and the project partner, Uganda Rotary Water Plus.  This will be the last major infrastructure project in the area because by it's completion, the medical centre will be self-sustaining.
 
Richard, thank you for sharing your experiences at our meeting.  But we particularly want to you for your hard work and dedication to the people of Ongutoi.  We at Richmond Hill Rotary are happy that we were able to participate.
 
Club meeting:
 
 
Richard presenting to the club:
 
Read more...
Yellow Brick House
 
 
Covid-19 has hit our community hard.  Not only has it had a huge impact on people, it has also had a huge impact on our social services.
 
The Yellow Brick House is an organization that supports woman and children in abusive relationships.  Our present Covid-19 situation is forcing us into social isolation and social distancing.  With woman so isolated from the community, some of them seem to be under a more difficult situation than before.  With Covid-19, there is an increased need for the services of Yellow Brick House.
 
The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill asked Yellow Brick House how we could help?  Their request was for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment, such as gloves.  Our small contribution was to source and deliver gloves to Yellow Brick House.
 
Thank you to Yellow Brick House for all your great work!
 
For more information on Yellow Brick House, go to https://www.yellowbrickhouse.org/
 
 
 
52 West Beaver Creek Rd., Unit 4
Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1L9
Tel: 905-709-0900
Toll-free: 1-800-263-2231
Fax: 905-709-1308
donor@yellowbrickhouse.org
 
 
Dear Noeline,
Thank you for your generous donation of 10 boxes of gloves to Yellow Brick House from your organization! Donors such as you provide life-saving support services and prevention programs to meet the diverse needs of individuals, families, and communities impacted by violence.
 
Your generous gift supports our four core programs including two emergency shelters, a 24 hour crisis and support line, public education, and community counselling and support services for women and children
 
Over 5,300 women and children annually are empowered to rebuild their lives and live free from violence because of you.
 
Thank you,
Lorris Herenda
Executive Director
 
Donor ID: 7073
Read more...
Presentation on Advanced Zoom Features
Last week, Ron Scott, Director of Pre-Sales Support at Alithya, www.alithya.com, a Management Consulting firm specializing in Digital Transformation, was our guest speaker.  Ron joined us from Atlanta, via Zoom, to give us a great presentation on some of the more advanced capabilities of Zoom meeting software. 
 
Ron showed us many useful capabilities of Zoom.  One capability allows you to show presentation slides effectively.  That really does advance what we are able to achieve in our weekly Rotary meetings.  Another feature, how to have the software automatically touch up the way you appear on-line, is something that is not really something that I need nor took note of.  (Mind you there are some more vain club members who I suspect did take note!)
 
Ron thank you very much for an interesting and educational presentation!
 
Cam Smith
 
 
 
 
 
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Cam Smith.  He was the beloved husband of Yvonne (nee Hughes) of 64 years.  Cam was a member of the Richmond Hill Rotary Club for 55 Years, who exemplified the Rotary motto of “Service above Self”.
 
He was well known in the community for his work with the Boy Scouts, the Arena Board, the Library Board, the United Way and was Chair of the Actifest Festival (Ontario Senior Games) when it was held in Richmond Hill.  Cam was the long-time Manager for Bank of Nova Scotia's Richmond Hill branch at Yonge and Lorne Streets.  After his retirement, he continued working part-time for Magna International.
 
As a Rotarian, Cam was a Past President, a long term treasurer and Board member. He participated fully in most club projects and
along with his wife Yvonne, administered the Rotary scholarship program for local high schools for many years. He was recently
received, the first ever, life achievement award from the Richmond Hill Club for outstanding service to Rotary.
 
During the first Richmond Hill Rotary Club meeting following the death of Cam, the Club held a moment of silence in his memory.
When the silence ended, members of the Club spontaneously paid tribute to Cam.  Some members recalled how Cam always kept his cool, no matter the situation, others remarked on his love of sports, and others on his genuine interest in them and their families. Still others remembered that Cam was always involved in Club Activities, always ready to help and always there when needed Cam will be sadly missed.
 
As an expression of sympathy and in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Richmond Hill Rotary Club Foundation (mail to Richmond Hill Rotary Club, PO Box 30589, 10660 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON, L4C3C9, or to the Richmond Hill United Church.
Read more...
Turnover
Last week, Gordon Vandyke, Richmond Hill Rotary Club President for 2019-2020 "Turned-Over" his responsibilities to Noeline Paul, Richmond Hill Rotary Club President for 2020-2021, and her new board.  For the very first time, our club did the turn-over on-line via Zoom.  Here is the line-up:
 
Noeline Paul - Club President
Richard Housen - Secretary
Dave Tate - Treasurer
Nash Azam - Director, Club Services
Jason Cherniak, Director, Community Services
Paul Vyrostko - Director, Vocational
Glen Waugh - President, Richmond Hill Rotary Foundation
Rajasri Sriskandarajah - President Elect
Gordon Vandyke - Past President
 
Some additional board members are to be approved in July.  Congratulations and good luck to all our board!
 
Upcoming Events
Rotary Board Meeting
Aug 12, 2020
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
 
Rotary / DG Visit - Multi Club
Aug 31, 2020
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
 
No Meeting - Labour Day
Sep 07, 2020
 
Terry Fox Run event Online due to Covid 19
Sep 20, 2020
 
View entire list
Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Secretary
 
Treasurer
 
Director, Community
 
Director, Vocational
 
Director, Club
 
Director, International
 
RH Rotary Charitable Foundation, Secretary
 
Director, Membership
 
Director, Youth
 
RH Rotary Charitable Foundation, Treasurer
 
Past President
 
Director, Public Relations
 
RH Rotary Charitable Foundation, President
 
Rotary Links
Rotary International
RI President Home
Rotary Global Rewards
Joining Rotary
Rotary History
Rotary Foundation
For New Members
RSS Feed

Jennifer Jones, of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2022-23.

 

These clubs keep things fresh with new ideas and new members.

 

Binish Desai began working on an eco-friendly brick made out of recycling and waste, when he was 11. The former Rotary Youth Exchange student, inventor, and entrepreneur credits Rotary with giving him the support to pursue his dreams. Now he’s giving back through a new Rotary club.

 
Russell Hampton
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