President Melanie Harty welcomed all to the Monday 21 November noon meeting at The Lodge.
The four guests were introduced and given a special welcome.
Dave Panabaker then introduced the fifth guest, Emily Bakhita, who connected from Kenya, via Zoom at 22:00 her time. Emily is a member of the Rotary Club of Kisumu Winam in District 9212 in Kenya. She is the founder of a Non-Governmental Organization called “Rise to Shine Education Foundation” and it was on this Foundation that Emily made a presentation to the meeting, using a PowerPoint and two short video clips.
Dave P guided the IT side of the presentation – thank you, Dave!
It was fun having three members of Saamis Rotary Club present.
Rotary Club "What-z New":
A few more meeting helpers are required to run cameras and sound during our hybrid meetings. We are all learning to adapt to this new reality. Anyone wishing to help should contact Mike Christie 403 878 3311.
Rotary Club Membership Update:
Would you like to join the membership team? Check out a meeting of this team and see how exciting it is! The committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 5:00 pm. Contact Mike Christie to join in.
Rotary Club Information:
Housekeeping:
If you have a Meeting Minute, please phone or email the President and it will be included in the next Newsletter.
Board minutes can be found on ClubRunner, under Club Documents.
Upcoming Club Program, Activities and Meetings:
Monday November 21st - AFTER THE MEETING, photo opportunity at Rotary Centennial Park in Dunmore.
Thursday November 24th - Check presentation ceremony at Prairie Gleaners, 11:00 AM.
Monday November 28th - A joint meeting with the Rotary Club of Zenica, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Thursday December 1st - 5pm - Bingo
Monday December 19th - Christmas lunch - members and partners - at The Medicine Hat Lodge
Upcoming Rotary District and International Events
Next District Conference: Lethbridge: May 5th and 6th, 2023.
Ideas for Future Programs
The Rotary Club's Program Committee members are Jillian Koch (jkoch@jmhca.com), Dave Panabaker (d.panabaker@hotmail.com) and Margie Booyens (margiebooyens@gmail.com).
If you have ideas for future programs, please contact them.
Guest speaker Emily Bakhita is a member of the Rotary Club of Kisumu Winam in District 9212, Kenya. Overcoming many odds as she grew up, she now has a degree in commerce and is studying for her Master’s degree in public policy and management.
Emily is a founder of a NGO called ‘Rise to Shine Education Foundation’, which previously operated as a Community Based Organization called ‘Scars to Stars’.
Emily spoke passionately about the work of the Foundation, which seeks to empower and enable young, bright students from impoverished backgrounds, in four counties in the lake region of Kenya.
Sadly, too many poverty-stricken girls and young women in this region resort to ‘sex for fish’ to earn money and food, many picking up HIV in the process.
The Foundation sponsors young people, boys and girls, enabling them to attend (mostly high) school and get an education. Their school fees are paid and they are equipped with school uniforms, bags and shoes, as well as food. This level of support enables them to develop their potential and step out of the cycle of poverty - to ‘rise to shine’.
Over 500 children have been assisted since 2012.
Emily put forward the option of sponsoring one or more children, for four years of High School education, at a cost of about CAD1,000 per student, per year, saying:
“We invite you to join us to heal their scars, change their life, and inspire their future”.
We thank you for your presentation, Emily, and salute you and the Foundation for the significant difference you are making in young people's lives.
Emily Bakhita Akoth – guest speaker, founder of Rise to Shine Education Foundation, an NGO in Kenya
Ron Faichuck - Co-President of Saamis Rotary Club
Uwe Krickhahn – member of Saamis Rotary Club
Sharon McDonnell – member of Saamis Rotary Club
Chris Jong – Pattison Funeral home, partner of Gregg Martin
Club Draw:
Dan Kammerer won a coffee mug.
Makeups:
None mentioned.
Birthdays:
Dave Stalwick Nov 08
Brent Secondiak Nov 19
Rotary Anniversaries:
Sigfried Kappler 36 years Nov 1
Doug Fleming 39 years Nov 7
Milan Vujovic 15 years Nov 26
Wedding Anniversary Rose Runner for November:
Dave Panabaker
PLEASE NOTE - WE NEED A ROSE RUNNER FOR DECEMBER. If you can help, please contact Dawn Barr.
Minutes
Congratulations! Our Club warmly congratulates Anke Krickhahn on being awarded a Queen’s Jubilee medal on Sunday 4 December in Calgary. Anke is being recognised for over 30 years of volunteer driving for Meals-on-Wheels in Medicine Hat.
Christmas Kettles: Adolf Seiler encouraged members to fill the gaps on the schedule for Saturday 17 December, when our Club will be collecting for the Salvation Army at various venues in the city. The shared signup sheet is located at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pARyfXud12-MzJtZLoL_UlcxqQvIOOuidwV4AxD4_94/edit Please consider doing a shift for this worthy cause.
Rose Runners: Dawn Barr is looking for a Rose Runner for December 2023. Bruch Shepard will do the deliveries in February 2023.
Two photo opportunities: Mike Christie reminded members to head for Dunmore Park straight after the noon meeting, for a photo opportunity with the new Rotary Club of MH signage.
After the fact: thanks to those Rotarians who made it to Dunmore Park!
The second opportunity is at Prairie Gleaners on Thursday 24 November – be there at 11:00 for a quick tour of the new expansion which the Rotary Clubs of Medicine Hat and Saamis have helped to fund to the tune of $20,000 = $2500 from each Club topped with $7500 x 2 from District 5360 grant funding. A check will be presented.
Team Freewheel Bike project: The Bike Project is powering ahead. Twelve bikes were donated by the public after the article on the project, written by Kendall King, was recently published in the Medicine Hat News. Terry Cooper reported that 40 bikes are now ready for distribution in spring; another 20 will be added to these by the end of the year; and the plan is to have a total of 100 ready by spring 2023. Terry invited members – including members of Saamis Club – to visit the project at 551 Spencer Street (Knowles Electric building). Thursday mornings are a good time to swing by for a cup of coffee and a chat with the team working on the bikes. Active involvement in the project would be warmly welcomed! Dawn Barr mentioned that she would be attending a meeting of Bike Medicine Hat to explore ways in which the two bike projects could possibly partner.
Canadian Humanitarian Gala: Milan Vujovic shared that the gala had been a great success, attended by about 160 people.
Bingo 19 November: Gregg thanked the team that had worked the Bingo session, reporting that a profit of $847 had been generated and that Dick Bide had won the guesstimate.
Casino: Ken Zollner asked members to note that the Club would be ‘manning’ the Casino on Sun 7 and Mon 8 May 2023.
Rotary Music Festival Society AGM: Anne Carrier reported that 16 people had attended the AGM on November 7, that Delynne Lorenzen had the 2023 Festival planning in hand, that Brad Middelkoop was on the Board again and going to actively recruit Society members, and that Society Board President, Cathie Catalano would be guest speaker at the noon meeting on 12 December 2022.
Out-of-the-meeting minutes and reminders:
Two ideas from Kitt Brand:
Gifting the Root Cellar in honour of birthdays, religious holidays, and other important dates in friends’ lives.
Purchasing a supply of extra seasonal cards (from dollar stores or Amazon.ca, the Canadian Mouth and Foot Painting Artists etc.), adding hand-written notes of encouragement, offering them to the Root Cellar, your favourite church, or the Women’s Shelter, etc. for support during this time. This may be an opportunity to gather with pens at someone’s dining table to enjoy some community service?
Christmas Partners Lunch: 19 December (noon)
The Rotary Club members and partners are invited to a special Christmas lunch celebration, at noon on Monday December 19th. A Christmas buffet will be laid on, and cost will be $30.00/person. Invitations, to obtain a needed head count, will be going out soon.
Meeting Room Setup
Due to his physical injury, John John will need assistance setting up the room on a go forward basis. Ian McLaughlin is helping through November, however more volunteers are needed. The time commitment is about an hour before the meeting, starting at 11:00 am and about a half hour after the meeting, usually ending around 1:30 pm. If you are willing to help, please contact John or Dave.
2023 Club 1000 update
Our new Club 1000 tickets for the 2023 raffle have been packaged, distributed and/or are available for pickup (call Glen Presley). Please work hard to sell these tickets in support of the Rotary Music Festival. Our tickets can be purchased online at https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/63a3f617-fe73-44ad-9913-d0296da68041.
Family of Rotary:
Nothing to report this week.
Please keep Adolf informed about members health changes so that information can be provided to the club through the Weekly News.
The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat has returned to meeting in person, face-to-face meetings as of Monday March 21. A ZOOM link will still be available for those who are cautious, ill or are away on vacation.