Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Welcome: President Paul Snack welcomed:
Lynn Taylor – guest speaker
President’s Updates:
Christmas Dinner – Thursday,December 7th
- Thanks to Ralph for his work coordinating this, to the staff at Lookout and to our musical performers
Meetings for January 3rd to February 7th – will be held at the Canboro Grill in Fenwick.
International Convention – five people attending, please sign up asap.
Temperanceville – thanks to Paul Ryan for repairs and set up – Gail to purchase gift certificate as a thank you.
Mudfest Meeting – Shriner’s Club presented a certificate of appreciation recognizing our support.
TV Auction – Hugh indicated that it is mostly wrapped up, our club did well. Hugh indicated that they are happy with the new system. Please respond all to Hugh’s request for feedback. Our spread was from New Brunswick to Florida to Windsor.
Rotary Moment –Hugh was pleased that a woman who pays a significant amount for reading classes for her autistic daughter was able to bid on and win them at a cheaper rate. An unclaimed additional certificate was available and provided to her at a reduced cost.
District Grants – Barb indicated that the cheque presentation to Peninsula Homes will be occurring shortly – looking for new grant proposals – possibly something to support recognizing the work of Sharon Keller, late Program Leader of Science at E.L. Crossley.
Guest Speaker: Lynn Taylor, retired RBC Management and Fonthill United Church member.
Lynn is a member of the Pelham Syrian Constituency Group – a group of concerned individuals who have worked tirelessly over the past two years to sponsor a Syrian refugee family to come to the area.
Lynn shared the saga of working to learn about how to sponsor a refugee family, understanding the responsibilities, protocols and processes involved at all levels of government.
Lynn and her group have worked to educate themselves and the community on the plight of 11 million Syrian refugees who are displaced. Many are in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan where they remain persecuted, unable to attain education or health care, and unable to get jobs.
The group had three goals: to unite the community to support two families; to raise $13,000 by March 2016 to support one family and then to raise $60,000 by May 2016 in order to offset increased costs of travel.
The process of applying for a family, completing the survey to match your ability to support a family with the family requirements and to comply with regulations and restrictions was lengthy but the group had a matched family announced. June of 2016 this family in Lebanon was supported but not all final approvals came through.
August 2017 – at short notice, the group was approached to support a family of 6. This second family has no English language skills and was needed to be placed quickly.
September 26, 2017 – met the family at the airport and have them now placed in a home. The work to support their transition to a foreign land, with foreign appliances, language, cultures and routines has been significant and challenging. The children are in ESL classes at Fitch St. Public School. The youngest is in day care. The parents are working on ESL through the Welland Heritage Council.
Lynn expressed appreciation for the support from the community, RBC, all of the partners in the group.
The group continues to hope that the first family they supported can arrive.
The club thanked Lynn for a highly informative presentation and for the work she and her group are doing.