President-Elect: John Fortney Vice-President: Prince Kumar
Treasurer: Rick Goldsmith
Executive Director: Carol Hutchinson
RI President
Mark Maloney, Decatur, Alabama
District Governor
Beth Selby, RC of Cobourg
Editor of the week: Don Bell
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Virtual Meeting May 22, 2020 on Live Stream and Google Meet
Topic: Build Me Up!
Speakers: Brian Westlake and Paul Cusimano
Interlude: 12:00 pm
Meeting Start: 12:15
Brian Westlake
Brian is a retired partner of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. He was Club President 1989-90, is an active Past President and now an Honorary Director of the Rotary Club of Toronto Charitable Foundation.
Brian is a current member of the Program Committee and a Paul Harris Fellow/William Peace Award recipient.
He has participated in eight Sweat Equity projects in Malawi, Cambodia, Haiti and El Salvador about which he will be speaking.
Paul Cusimano
Paul was born and raised in Toronto. He studied business at University of Toronto and McMaster University.
He is an Investment Advisor with Scotia McLeod, with a focus on international markets. As part of his job he regularly travels to Latin American and the Caribbean. He has lived in Costa Rica and speaks fluent Spanish.
Paul is married to Cynthia and their son Robert lives and works in Seattle. Paul and Cynthia discovered Sweat Equity when they joined the team in Cambodia in 2018. He co-led the trip to El Salvador in January 2020.
Next week we welcome RI Incoming Director Valarie Wafer.
Valarie is a Past District Governor for District 7070. She and her husband Mark are well known to our club. They have sold their business and are living further north.
But those who know Valarie did not expect her to rest on her laurels. We are proud of her upcoming role at RI.
Please join our virtual meeting at noon next Friday.
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Making a COVID-19 Difference
Your Foundation Board and the COVID Phil Team are meeting regularly to assess requests from the committees.
Donations to the Foundation will be matched 100%. Most seniors are receiving a tax-free gift from the government. If you are wondering where to spend, it a donation here will be a great thing to do.
President Kevin Power welcomed us to the first virtual WERM for our Club. Virtual cocktails was enjoyed by all as Past President Pat Neuman greeted Rotarians, Rotaractors and guests. Lorna Johnson played the piano and let us know about her upcoming move to Victoria but will remain part of club until the end of June.
Rick Goldsmith announced the approval of two recent grants to FIFE House and Homes First, all in support of COVID-related projects. To date, the Foundation has granted nearly $50,000 and is making a difference in the community.
Bert Steenburgh introduced guest speaker David Lockett, co-Founder and President of the PACT Urban Peace Program who lives the Rotary motto of Service Above Self. PACT is a registered charity with a mission to build peace and hope in communities.
The lifetime cost of ONE youth in the criminal justice system is $2.4M. David spoke about the LifePlan Coaching program and the power of early intervention among troubled youth. The program pairs a high risk young offender with a life coach to turn their life around early and to teach them self-awareness, self-respect and life skills. The program is successful with 75% of the youth not re-offending.
David also provided an update of the beloved David Wilson memorial garden at the John Polyani Collegiate Institute. Dave Wilson was a member of RCT who understood the vision of urban peace garden and was instrumental in getting early funding from our Club. Recently, the garden was designated as an emergency food program providing food boxes for nearly 400+ low income and vulnerable individuals in the Lawrence Heights area.
The meeting concluded with President Kevin Power wishing everyone a good long weekend while paying attention to social distancing. The meeting was on Google Meet only so there is no recording to see.
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Euchre 101
Thank you Jay Llave!
On Thursday May 14th we had our first euchre tournament with eight players. We are using Euchre 3D, available for phones or tablets (if not too old!). We played two rounds with the winners both times being Jay Littlejohn and Shannon Lundquist. Some of us couldn't get decent cards! And there are no "mulligans" in an online game. Watch your emails for the next game on June 2nd!
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Poulet Basquaise!
For our seventh cooking Class on May 16th we cooked what many called their favourite of our recipes.
One pot again. Chicken, peppers, onions, garlic (of course!), a big can of tomatoes and some spices. We continue on this coming Saturday with roasted vegetables and noodles. May need to BBQ some meat to add!
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Upcoming Fellowship & Entertainment Events
Thanks to our chair Pat Neuman
Most will appear in your @rotarytoronto calendar with links to the virtual meeting
Saturday, May 23 - our eighth Virtual Cooking Class - thanks Neil
Tuesday, May 26 - Talking Helps - 7 pm
Wednesday May 27 - Virtual Cocktails -Wear you CAMP SCUGOG gear! 5:30 pm
Thursday May 28 - Book Club - 2 pm - bring your own book!
Tuesday June 2 - For the Love of Gardening 2 pm
Tuesday, June 2 - our second Euchre Tournament - 5 pm contact Jay Llave
