2021-05-04-RotaTeller (May 03, 2021)

Rota Teller

May 4, 2021

Daniel Geleyn

Dear Rotary friends, spring is here, we think. Although the weather has been a bit cool, we feel the spring in the air with some flowers blooming. I know as I had to mow my lawn already.

This spring, we have a lot to be hopeful for. I know this pandemic had changed our lives significantly in the last year and we are all tired of the ongoing restrictions. But I can tell you, as one of our volunteers at the Mass Immunization Clinic at the INVISTA Centre, that there is a lot of hope, and smiles, in all those people we see coming in for their vaccination.

This effort by Rotary volunteers from all clubs in Kingston, initiated and organized by our own Mike Moore, is, in my view, the best thing that we can be involved in as Rotarians at this time. We often focus on raising money for the many organizations we support and this continues to be important, but to have the opportunity to provide helping hands for a cause that affects us all on a daily basis has been a heart warming experience. The jobs we do at the centre are not difficult and we are very much appreciated, not only by the public health staff there but also by all the members of the community coming to get vaccinated.

In addition, it gives us an opportunity (excuse) to get out in the community and show what Rotary is all about. I personally do my shifts with Trevor who put it best when he said "This is the highlight of my week. I work from home and this is the only chance I get to talk to other people outside of home." As the rate of vaccination is expected to rise in the next few weeks, I encourage all of you to give this a try. It does not only help our community, it also gives each of the volunteer a great experience.

I know that meeting online has been difficult for some. But I'm grateful for the regular attendees which continue to make our club not only interesting but also a lot of fun. I particularly appreciate the engagement of all our members and the interesting discussions we have, including our pre-meetings social time at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays. We also continue to have a great line-up of interesting speakers and I encourage you to think of your friends and family members who may provide us with interesting talks.

We were glad to introduce Randy Beck as a new member recently. Randy brings a wealth of Rotary experience and I have already enrolled him as our Membership Chair for the coming year. Welcome aboard Randy.

As our Rotary year is coming close to its conclusion, your executive has been meeting to produce a new strategic plan for the coming year. I hope to be able to share the results of this effort in the coming weeks. But it is clear at this point that all the members of the executive agree that, given the size of our club, we need to have active members. In this regard, we expect every single member of the club to take an active role in the club and be part of at least one of our committees. There are many ways to contribute and I know we can find a role for everyone, think about your role.

We continue to be active on our social media (Facebook and Instagram), thanks to Josie. Check it out and "Like and Share" our posts to give them more exposure.

This spring and summer, I look forward to seeing many of you at a Rotary event in town. The Great Lakes and Waterways clean-up event on May 29 will also serve as our annual Rotary Park clean up day so I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Our contribution to this will be our annual Rotary Park cleanup. MC provided details on how to participate.

Zoom Meetings:

We continue to meet on Zoom for now at our regular Wednesday evening time. I will continue to send a reminder every week with the Zoom link. But the link has and will remain the same every week. I include it here as you may find it easier to put it in a useful location on your computer (desktop or calendar for example):

kingstonfrontenac rotary is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Kingston-Frontenac Rotary Meeting
Time: Every Wednesdays starting at 06:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/963075341?pwd=eDdraWk3WVdWemVkYlhheU5IK1FkUT09

Meeting ID: 963 075 341
Passcode: 701855

Community Service:

Our Community Service Committee has allocated all its money this year but it continues to be active as it gets ready for the coming year. We have made an application to the District for a grant to help with our food security initiatives for the coming year. The Mass Immunization Centre is our most significant contribution to our community at this point so I encourage all of you to participate if you can.

On March 1, our own Mike Moore and Darlene Clement, from the Kingston club visited the INVISTA Centre in Kingston’s west end to plan how the many Rotarians from all the Rotary clubs in Kingston were to help. The roles of Rotarians is mostly screening and ushering individuals at the site to facilitate a smooth operation. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Diane Buchanan, Niall Kenny, Alyssa Labrie and Gail Beck are volunteering at the Mass Immunization Clinic at the INVISTA Centre in Kingston on March 16. They are all volunteering as part of a group of Rotarians that stepped forward to help. Buchanan’s husband is a Rotarian, Kenny and Beck are friends of another Rotarian while Labrie, a second year health science student at Queen’s University is a Queen’s Rotaractor. KFL&A Public Health was thrilled to see Kingston Rotarians step up to work as screeners at this clinic, given the level of effort required to immunize the population in a timely fashion. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Lindsey Foster, a member of the Kingston Rotary Club, is one of the many Rotarians and friends volunteers at the Kingston INVISTA Centre Mass Immunization Clinic on March 19. Rotarians from all six Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Kingston have stepped up to volunteer for the significant effort required to run these clinics. Rotarians are again demonstrating their commitment to support their community by filling some of the needed non-medical needs for this clinic such as screening and ushering clients. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Alicia Gordon, a member of the Kingston Rotary Club, is training Rod Matheson, a Rotary friend, on how to screen clients before they enter the Kingston INVISTA Centre Mass Immunization Clinic on March 19. They are two of the many Rotarians and friends volunteers helping at this clinic. Rotarians from all six Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Kingston have stepped up to volunteer for the significant effort required to run these clinics. Rotarians are again demonstrating their commitment to support their community by filling some of the needed non-medical needs for this clinic such as screening and ushering clients. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Youth Services:

Thanks to the efforts of Aggie, we are able to sponsor another two students for the online RYLA this year. In addition, we plan to award five scholarships for high school students again this year. It would be nice to be able to present those in person, but that may be difficult this year.

Ways and Means:

We continue to get funding from "Play! Gaming & Entertainment", our Bingo partners, thanks to the efforts of Aggie, MC, and Josie on social media. This continues to be a great funding avenue for us. With the online MaxSold auctions we did earlier this year, we have been able to sustain our funding for next year. And thanks to Tom Sanderson, our keen member, despite his return to Toronto last September, we have continued to hold our 50/50 during our meetings which raises useful funds for our club operations. Our MaxSold auctions will likely get started again soon, make sure you keep an eye out for any items we may be able to use for these auctions. Susan and Aggie will be leading the charge on Ways & Means this coming year, so let them know if you have good ideas to raise funds, especially as the pandemic restrictions get relaxed.

Membership:

Membership continues to be of vital importance for the viability of our club. It was great to be able to induct a couple new members in the last few weeks.

Think about inviting friends, family members or acquaintances to our meetings. With Zoom, they can join us from anywhere and it's free. Don't forget to also wear your Rotary pin (or shirt or hat or whatever) to tell the world who we are.

Randy Beck, our newest member will be taking the lead on membership this year but it is the responsibility of everyone of us to spread the word.

Rotary Foundation:

Don't forget your Rotary Foundation. The "virtual" Rotary Foundation Walk will be held on May 15. As we come to the end of the Rotary year, let me know by then what you are able to contribute to the Rotary Foundation.

On April 17, while producing a story on the Cataraqui Trail, I came across Mike and Catherine Purcell and John and Shelagh Mirski in Sydenham. Rotarians are everywhere. Photo by Daniel Geleyn