Guests  Mike welcomed our guest, Rafael Almeida of Niagara College

 

Mike shared that the board voted to have one $1,000 scholarship and two $500 scholarships awarded to ELC graduates of 2020.  It was discussed that a criteria for decision making could be established to support next year's awarding of scholarship.  

 

The team has delivered 3200 masks.  Articles are appearing in Niagara This Week and in the Voice of Pelham.  Ann to connect with Gillian's Place and the YWCA to see if they need masks.

 

The St Catharines Club is working on a virtual event in lieu of Ribfest.  This event will include the already booked bands playing on a multi media platform.  Rotarians will be encouraged to hold back yard parties and patronize or cater from local restaurants.  John Cappa is our lead and will keep us up to date.

 

In Frank's absence, Mike updated us that due to the Town's requests, the budget for the arches had outstripped the money on hand.  Frank has worked with the designers to reduce to three arches which falls within our budget.  A letter has been drafted to be sent to sponsors to ensure they remain on board.  The arches will be the starting and finishing line of bike races for Canada Games so it is possible some money can come from there.  The approval of the arches does have to go back to Town Council for a final time.

 

Lance indicated that a coordinated local, regional, provincial and federal celebration will be taking place.  All of the home decorating kits were ordered within 24 hours.   

 

Please check out:

 

 

Hugh sent an email regarding remaining as a club member.  Please respond and verify as club dues are based on membership as of July 1st and we don't want to have to pay for people who can no longer participate.

 

Carolyn introduced our Guest Speaker.  Rafael Almeida graduated earlier in the day from Niagara College.  Carolyn noted that the College had held a week of virtual graduations with VIPs participating.  Nearly 5000 students graduated. 

 

Rafael is an international student and graduate of the Computer Programming.  He also works with the Research and Innovation team of Niagara College.

 

Rafael introduced himself.  He is a 36 year old from Brazil who currently lives here with his wife and 6 year old daughter.  His home town has 110,000 residents.

 

Rafael explained that he was working for TOTVS a Brazilian  a software company having graduated with a Bachelors in Information Systems and a Post Graduate degree as well.  For 10 years he worked for TOTVS, prior to becoming self employed.  

 

With concerns for his family based on the political situation in Brazil and having seen an article that Canada was recruiting for technology specialists, Rafael began to investigate opportunities here in Canada.  This led to a decision to come to Niagara College as an international student.  He and his family loved the Niagara Region and found it similar to parts of Brazil.  

 

Moving to Niagara Rafael and his family needed to learn English as Portugese is their first language.  His daughter has picked it up well in school.  Not long after arriving, he was able to get a job at Wal Mart.  In the meantime, he wanted the highest marks possible as he knew this would be his business card.  At graduation he has a 96% GPA and earned several scholarships including the Dean's Award of Best Student.

 

During his time at the College, Rafael picked up a contract working at the Walker Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Centre.  This contract has been extended several times.  Rafael was a featured speaker at the funding announcement with Ministry officials.  

 

Currently, Rafael is working with the team to create faceshields for frontline workers.  Rafael is very proud of the fact that workers find these shields more comfortable and durable than others.

 

Rafael and his family hope to apply for a visa extension in the future and agree that while the transition has been challenging, he is pleased with his decision to come to Canada.  

 

Club members congratulated Rafael on his accomplishments and thanked him for sharing his story.  

 

Heather shared that a friend with the Canadian Cancer Society in BC was concerned that she had not thanked the local Rotary Club for its support of the Southern Interior Rotary Lodge for past support but was looking for more support.  Heather then shared a video the Lodge had created regarding its services.   The Lodge was funded in part by $12 million from local Rotary Clubs.  It was built in 1998 and provides accommodation for those who are being treated in the adjacent Cancer Clinic.   It was clear that the video displayed how invaluable the support of Rotary had been in establishing a haven for over 1300 patients a year.  With COVID, the lodge can only open with restrictions to the valuable interactions between residents.   Ongoing support from Rotary will be essential to ensuring the safety of all.  Heather noted that all CCS lodges and Wheels of Hope have been cancelled and are just starting to open with precautions.