May is Youth Service Month. What a great fitting theme. The Adventure in Citizenship Program, hosted by the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of Ottawa, attracts many young individuals to come and discover Ottawa and learn what it means to be a citizen of this great country. However, this year, the Adventure in Citizenship Organizing Committee decided to pivot and run the event online.
This online event is one of a kind, never been done before. Young citizens from all across the country will join in and learn about how privileged to be living in Canada. It takes place from May 1-5, 2021.
I want to congratulate the Rotary Club of Brockville, Ontario for celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. I also want to congratulate the Rotary Club of Gananoque, Ontario for celebrating its 90th anniversary. Please join me in sending them best wishes.
Enjoy a special rate of $49 through 7 May 2021. After that, the registration fee is $65.
You can also join us early at a preconvention, 10-11 June, for Intercountry Committees, Rotaract, and Rotary Youth Exchange officers. Each preconvention will cost an additional $20.
The 2021 Virtual Rotary Convention and preconventions are open to all Rotary members and participants and include access to the virtual House of Friendship.
Don’t forget to visit the convention event page on Facebook to connect with others and stay up-to-date on event news and program highlights!
See more information in the Event column on the left.
Voir plus d'informations dans la colonne Événement à gauche.
May is Youth Service Month
Throughout the month of May, Rotarians and younger members of the Rotary family, including Interactors and RYLA and Rotary Youth Exchange participants, celebrate the service, development, connections, and fun of Rotary's programs for young leaders. Check out these ideas to celebrate during COVID-19.
Mai est le mois du service à la jeunesse
Tout au long du mois de mai, les Rotariens et les membres les plus jeunes de la famille Rotary, y compris les Interactiens et les participants au RYLA et au Rotary Youth Exchange, célèbrent le service, le développement, les relations et le plaisir des programmes du Rotary pour les jeunes dirigeants. Découvrez ces idées pour célébrer pendant COVID-19.
Posted by Holger Knaack, President, Rotary International
Rotary’s logos mean so much to us. They’re the visual representation of our identity and values, and they instantly convey who we are. Those of us who’ve been with Rotary for many years have even seen the evolution of that logo. Repeated and consistent use of our logos builds global recognition of what we do. That’s why we all wear our Rotary pins so proudly!
Over the next several months, we’ll ask Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact clubs to update their logos to align with our brand standards. This means using the template in the Brand Center to create a club logo and then using it consistently, like on club websites, social media accounts, and signage, to name a few.
More than ever, communities need Rotary and Rotary needs their communities! Rotary clubs across the Seaway-East area have been meeting online since March 2020 and they all have created innovative and safe ways to help their communities push through this pandemic. Thousands of professionals are also working remotely across Eastern Ontario, including myself, where the City of Cornwall is becoming a hub for these remote workers. Most recently, the City of Cornwall has been ranked the 8th “Best Community in Canada” (Maclean’s, 2021) and the two Rotary clubs in Cornwall are certainly a contributing factor of that statistic! Furthermore, at the end of April, thousands of remote college and university students will be scanning cyberspace for opportunities to volunteer, grow and connect with their communities. Add in the latest round of the stay-at-home orders and it’s go-time to find, invite and engage these leaders!
The Rotary Foundation has partnered with “Free Will” to invite Rotary members on the US side of our District to include a gift to TRF in their will…at no cost. Those of you who have already attained Major Donor status recently received a letter from The Rotary Foundation regarding this offer.
While Freewill is currently not available in Canada, perhaps there is a lawyer in your club who would offer to provide this service at no charge or at a reduced fee for members. Canadian gifts are named to the Rotary Foundation Canada and declared using this notification card: https://my.rotary.org/en/document/your-rotary-legacy-notification-card
If you have further questions regarding being a Bequest Society member, please connect with our Endowment Chair, PDGSue Bellor.
Watertown Rotary Club swimmers swam laps at the local YMCA on February 27th in an effort to raise donations to fund the eradication of polio in our world. The swimmers raised $5,685.00, which will be matched by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2 for 1 when Rotary International raises $50 million for 2021. This union of fundraising has assisted our Rotary Club to provide over $17,000 towards support of vaccinating over 28,000 children worldwide in 2021.
All clubs are asked to raise at least $1500US each Rotary year in our final push toward eradicating Polio in our world. How much have you raised from fundraisers, community campaigns and individual donations this Rotary year?
Pictured are swimmers President Jeff Combs, Larry Sorel, Jeff Wood, Howie Ganter, Jeff Barnard, Beth Linderman, Don and Dianna Woodhouse and coordinator Don Klug.
Are you thinking about how you can get ready to make an impact next Rotary year? Take the Learning Center courses for your role before you take office (My Rotary login required):
Don’t forget to look at our professional development courses, too, especially the courses developed by Toastmasters International, which will help you strengthen your communication and leadership skills. They’re available to all members in the Professional Development topic on the Learning Center.
Links to the Learning Center may not work on mobile devices. Instead, go to the Learning Center through My Rotary, then search for materials or courses.
Help other club officers prepare for the year ahead by forwarding this email to them. Send any questions or comments to learn@rotary.org.
Posted by Pardeep Ahluwalia, District strategic planner
La version française est ci-dessous.
With the District’s Rotary and Rotaract Clubs thinking about the coming new Rotary year, it is a good time to start, if you haven’t already, your process for preparing your Club’s Strategic Plan, which will provide your roadmap to action for the next few years.
Strategic Planning is a term that scares a lot of people, but it’s simply a process for determining your objectives for the next few years, and the actions needed to achieve them. Put more simply – strategic planning helps you to identify your destination(s) and how to get there.
All organizations develop strategic plans to guide them into the future, and Rotary is no different. Rotary International issued its latest RI Strategic Plan in 2019. Using this as a high-level starting point, D7040 prepared a District Strategic Plan, which was distributed to District Clubs and Committees in January 2021 (available here: https://rotary7040.com/page/documentation). It is expected that District Clubs and Committees will use this as a framework to prepare their own strategic/action plan.
Approximately 60 Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends of Rotary have been helping local Public Health authorities to vaccinate Kingstonians since early March. All four Rotary clubs and the two Rotaract clubs are involved. The volunteer work involves assisting with the onsite screening process at the local Mass Immunization Clinic. Volunteers work half day shifts and are required to don PPE (mask, shield, and gown). According to the volunteers, the work is very meaningful and satisfying as the clients are so happy to receive their vaccinations.
This is an article by Rotarian Lindsey Foster who has been a member of the Rotary Club of Kingston since 2009 serving as President in 2017-18. She co-chairs the Community Outreach Grants Committee and helps coordinate marketing efforts for the club and the ‘Celebrating 100 Years of Service in Kingston’ campaign during Kingston Rotary’s Centennial.
The Rotary Club of Orleans 6th Annual Youth Award event was held on April 11, 2021. The theme for this year’s award was the “COVID Heroes” The award recognizes and encourages youth leaders in our community who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, courage, citizenship and engagement in serving their community in voluntary services while maintaining excellence in their academic pursuits amidst the challenges of the 2020/2021 COVID-19 pandemic.
This year twelve youth received a Rotary Club of Orleans -COVID-19 Heroes achievement award under the following five categories: citizenship, commitment to excellence, leadership, persistence and, resiliency.
La Soufrière volcano in the Caribbean erupted on April 9th, 2021 spewing volcanic ash as high as 10Km into the atmosphere. The volcano located in the north of the island continues to erupt (April 22) see the red zone. Thousands of residents are displaced. Residents in the surrounding islands of the Grenadines and Barbados are being affected by the corrosive ash.
St. Vincent is the home of two Rotary Clubs. The Rotary Club of St Vincent and the Rotary Club of St. Vincent South as well as the Rotaract Club of Kingstown.
District Governor Lisle Chase and the entire D7030 district thanks those who support and continues to support the relief effort. Our District Governor Hadi Mortada D7040 extends his support and appreciation to all.
Hello – everyone, kindly find the “Call for Performers” below. As this is a time sensitive call, either get involved in actively contacting (cc to me) or pass this along to any headliner, regionally recognized or very talented local performer or group who may be willing to assist us. There is no restriction – any group or performer from anywhere!
If anyone would like more information, I can be contacted at brian.c.foster1@gmail.com or 403-846-8142.
Posted by Dârini Vedarattiname, Club Rotaract de l’île de Montréal
La version française est ci-dessous.
Back in 2016, I welcomed PSTD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) into my life. That new friend settled in with two sidekicks: Anxiety Disorder and Depression. It took me about three years to learn to live with it. Here are a few tips from my humble experience of what to do and not do when interacting with someone facing mental health struggles.
The Rotary Club of Ottawa has been working on a big project, that we want to share with everyone! It is called People of Action: A Podcast by the Rotary Club of Ottawa!!
We are very excited to introduce our Host, Fabiana Nobel and the Co-Host and Editor, Heather Taylor. So far, we have produced three episodes for your listening pleasure.
On Wednesday, May 12th at 7pm-7:45pm, we will hold a virtual edition of our Annual Foundation ‘Dinner.” Then, at 8pm, you can join our Zone-wide Fundraising Event (Alaska/BC to St. Pierre & Miquelon, see story below).
Again, we will not be able to meet face-to-face to celebrate all that has been accomplished by Rotarians and Clubs throughout our District. So, this year, we will meet on Zoom to do so. Register on the District website to receive the Zoom link.
Things always work better when we use the team approach in our District. As the bulletin editor, I know there really should be someone to be my assistant/backup/replacement. Only I know what I receive in the way of articles and news events, and how it goes into the bulletin. The ClubRunner bulletin is an online version, where several people could work on stories, but at the end you pull it together into one.
Is there anyone that might be interested in something like that? I'm trying to set up the new version by July so that we can start a new Rotary year with a team bulletin. Send a message to Ariane if you have that interest, and especially if you are familiar with using ClubRunner for online bulletins.
Articles should be sent to me no later than the 25th of any month, in Word format with the author clearly identified to be included in the next month's bulletin. Right now, I receive all of them, but I'd like to have a team.
In light of the recent changes and restrictions of the province of Ontario's shutdown decision, the DG group (Hadi and fellow DG's in neighbouring provinces) decided that we will extend the clean-up to start on April 24 and end on June 1st. That way if any group of 5 people decide to go out and do some clean-up, we are still complying with the province's decision.
All clubs in Ontario are advised. Clubs in Quebec and NY state are to follow their local laws and health authorities recommendations.
Pictured are swimmers President Jeff Combs, Larry Sorel, Jeff Wood, Howie Ganter, Jeff Barnard, Beth Linderman, Don and Dianna Woodhouse and coordinator Don Klug.
