President Rajbir opened the meeting - and about 10 minutes from this point in the program, marks the moment when I remembered it was my turn to do the bulletin....

 

So, I apologize for any missing material!

 

Katie W did the 4-Way Test, and President Rajbir had us raise our glasses.

 

Jimmy J claimed there were....  15 or so members?  Plus, potential member Vince from Pavey Law, and Honourary Member Harry Edgar

Treasurer Tom was running the draw today - I recall Harry E pulled the first ticket, I think Brian W was our first big loser, then he pulled another ticket...  and they lost too; so the pot is really getting up there!

Todd L - informed all that we have a star with us today - Harry Edgar - he was President of our club in 1991-92, and it was during his year we inducted the first women to our club!  I'm pretty sure that was a first for Cambridge; it seems like a no-brainer move these days, but at the time it was quite contentious.  THANK YOU HARRY for being on the cutting edge!

Rena H - is looking for one or two people, students would be ideal, to assist with Gala Goers to pick up their bottle(s) of wine as they leave.  Very simple process, required from likely about 9:15 - 11:30 or so.

Vanessa S - is looking for more bottles of wine for the Wine Raffle - please bring along with you to any Rotary meeting, or contact Rena for potential pick-up (cash is good too!)

Todd L - says Bingo will again be using volunteers starting on Monday April 4!  The schedule is not out yet, however, ALL past and new volunteers are required to participate in 45 minute on-line training (pre-recorded, so on your own time); more details will come out shortly.

Todd L introduced today's speaker, our own President Rajbir

 

Rajbir summarized Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus -

 

 

- Peace building and Conflict Prevention

- Disease Prevention and Treatment

- Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

- Maternal and Child Health

- Basic Education and Literacy

- Community Economic Development

- Environment

 

Today, he reviewed our many International Projects and potential projects, which cover many of our Areas of Focus

 

- Peace and Conflict Prevention - RI, and our own District 7080, are collecting, and matching, donations to assist the people of Ukraine

 

- Water - Wasambo Water Project in Malawi

  - assisting with the implementation of a clean water station housed in the community's largest school; so it is protected, and can be easily serviced.

 

- Maternal & Child Health - we support a program for maternal milk, ran in a hospital in Quintana Roo Mexico

  - in April, Rajbir will be visiting this hospital during his trip to Mexico

 

- Caps for Life - working with the Rotary Club in Playa Carmen Mexico, we've supplied funds to purchase additional depositories accepting bottle caps (and cash!) - the money is used for food programs

 

- My Mobility is My Right - also Mexico, there are 3 local clubs who source old/broken wheel chairs; a local vocational school fixes them.  They are then lent out to citizens who need a chair temporarily while healing from operations/illness.

  - we have provided funds for 10 wheel chairs

 

- Feeding the Future - the Club in Playa del Carmen Seaside discovered a shanty town near by - they set up a school, and then a program to feed the children 6 days a week.  Through covid, lower funding cut this to 3 meals a week.

  - it was raised back to 6 days for one month with our funding, and now two additional months with 2 other Ontario clubs pitching in.

 

- Environment - cleaning up Cenotes - there are many small creeks and rivers that are littered/contaminated - this could be a future club member trip to assist!

 

- Crystal Drops of Life - targets safe drinking water, started 15 years ago in Windsor, and has assisted communities in Mexico, India, and Malawi.  Funds have often been matched with District or Global grants with 21 communities over 4 states being assisted.

  - generally it involves installing a filtration system in a large school to serve the entire community

 

- Currently, member Sukhi Gill is in Punjab, India, and looking at a project to convert an existing building into a medical clinic and laboratory - this would be in conjunction with the Rotary Clubs of District 3080 in India.

 

It is a very impressive list of International Service projects that we can all be proud of - and largely thanks to President Rajbir for his tireless work!

 

Thanks for all you do Rajbir!