Volume 49, Number 39 May 4, 2006

Rotary Club of Toronto West

Rotary Grace – O Lord, we stand for every race, for every creed from every place, to give our thanks and say our grace for food, for health. May peace embrace the world through Rotary.

Last Week – April 27, 2006

We had Walter McIntyre introduce our guest speaker Kay Blair, Executive Director Community Micro-Skills Development Centre.

Kay told us that Community MicroSkills Development Centre is an organization that has served communities in the Greater Toronto area since 1984. They provide settlement, training, employment and self employment services to individuals with priority to the needs of immigrants, racial minority people and low-income women.

MicroSkills recognizes the barriers that women, immigrants and racial minorities face in their efforts towards self-sufficiency. MicroSkills aims to enable them to participate more fully in Canadian society and assist them in acquiring the skills needed to achieve self-determination and economic, social and political equality.

Kay then told us about some of the challenges – and perhaps some of the solutions, associated with poverty – in our city, in our communities, and our neighbourhoods, and in particularly among our youth population.

We were then given a comparison between a strong community that most of us live in, and the isolated pockets of high density residences intermixed with small family businesses struggling to survive.

Every building is in an indifferent state of repair, separated from the next by highways, fences, or patches of burnt vegetation.

The government’s lack of concern for the realities of the poor have resulted in people having in some cases, being placed in the very real position of choosing between paying the rent and buying food, putting children in recreation programs or buying needed prescriptions for their families.

MicroSkills programs address these issues with their Youth Centre (employment, social recreational, skills, and the unlearning of anti-social behaviours); Homework clubs; Girl’s club; Boy’s club; Learn and earn; Leadership development; Youth exchange.

Kay concluded by saying that we need to change youth’s disillusionment, by finding ways for them to unlearn their feeling of anger and hopelessness.

Brian Hicks thanked Kay on behalf of us all, saying how she had given us an insight to what was a very important community service.

Wine Draw:

The winner of last weeks draw was Dennis Good. Congratulations Dennis.

Visitors:

No visitors last week.

This Week:

Our meeting this week will be in the form of a Workshop, dealing with Corporate Sponsorships for the Rotary Youth Impact Awards. This is one of the most important aspects of the RYIA.

Rotary Minute

Chris Ostrovski’s Rotary minute dealt with People, saying that: belonging to a Rotary club gives men and women an enjoyable and organized way to make a contribution to their community.

By using their skills and expertise globally, members also enhance their professional network, career development, and cross-cultural understanding.

Classifications:

1. Labour Leader. (To help us get new members)

2. Human Resources. (To help us keep

them)

Birthdays & Anniversaries:

Wedding Anniv. – Terry & Marilyn Vango – May 1st.

Members News:

Welcome back Susan, it seemed a long 3 weeks.

Walter McIntyre returned from a trip to Richmond, Virginia, USA.

And last but by no means least, Mike Newediuk has been blessed with an addition to the family; a new puppy.

Silent Auction Items

A few items still remain to be disbursed. There are some real bargains.

Contact President Stephen to make a bid.

Sergeant-at-Arms

Brian Hicks did such a wonderful job last week. Is he in training for a permanent job in the approaching year.

Next Week – May 11th.

Our guest speaker will be Neil Hetherington, or Adrienne Findlay, Rotary liaison, Habit for Humanity. We will hear a re-cap on the Rotary Drive project.

Spoke Joke:

After burying his mother nine months earlier, a client of the local mortuary finally had enough money to purchase the expensive coffin he’d originally wanted. So we exhumed the body and transferred his deceased mother into the new steel casket. “What’s so special about this coffin?” I asked the funeral director. He replied, “It has a lifetime warranty.”

Standards for Youth Protection

Rotary’s commitment to working with young people is a tradition almost as old as the organization itself. Whether through programs like Youth Exchange, Interact or RYLA, the vast majority of Rotary clubs engage in some type of effort to help young people.

Most Rotarians who work with children and teenagers are so focused helping these young people that they find it hard to believe that anyone, especially Rotarians, would abuse such a trust. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Research shows that child sex offenders seek opportunities for access to children and teenagers through youth organizations that do not have strong screening and protection practices.

To ensure that such people do not use Rotary in this way, RI has created guidelines to help clubs and districts develop and implement effective policies for youth protection. Materials have been produced for Youth Exchange with the assistance of experts in the field of abuse and harassment prevention, and districts are using these to develop local policies.

We encourage Rotarians to use these guidelines while working with youth in any capacity and to share them with other community organizations that sponsor youth programs. Just as Rotarians set the standard for ethical behaviour in the workplace, Rotary- sponsored youth programs can serve as the model of abuse prevention and protection.

General Secretary’s Memo Ed Futa

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