(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
Martha Weaver will be the bulletin editor for RY 24-25 until Joan Hunter is able to resume the position. Please send stories to Martha for inclusion beginning with the July issue. As always bilingual submittals are preferred. Each bulletin will take as its theme RI's monthly themes and special days ( https://my.rotary.org/en/news-media/calendar ) so stories that emphasis these areas will receive priority. The deadline for submissions is the 25th of each month.
Beginning in July the bulletin layout will be simplified to improve readability on mobile screens. A full analysis of bulletin engagement reveals that less graphics and shorter text may enhance engagement. We also will provide a separate bulletin in French and in English.
I am reaching out now to give you a heads up. And most importantly allow you to make suggestions about how to make the bulletin even more of a success.
Recently all club club officers received a memo from Sophie Dangerfield at RI. Your executive members for next year should be reported on the District website now. You may find this document helpful How do I carry over a current year executive?
Do this in the district site first. If your club is integrated with RI, and most are, you can check later to see that the executive does show up there. How to manage club officers.
Together We Build for The Future – such a simple phrase but loaded with meaning. We each of us do what we can to help those less fortunate and in need of help, and we each have a small impact with every one of our actions. But if we work collectively within our Clubs, the impact we have is greater than the sum of its parts. And if we extrapolate that across our District and the full worldwide Rotary community, we can have huge impacts that result in fundamental and significant change. That means that we must work Together as People of Action.
Through working together within the Rotary community and with those whom we wish to help, we foster the conditions that give people the hope that their lives, and those of their children, and of their communities can be better. We help Create Hope in the World by working together and allowing those in need to Build better lives.
If people can build better lives in the present, they can start to look forward and see a better Future, with improved access to sanitation and water, treatment of and reduction in health issues, availability of education, mechanisms for sustainable economic growth, and ability to improve their natural environment, all leading to the potential for conflict resolution and a more peaceful world.
Posted by Michèle Herblin-Mauger, Food Bank Project, Rotary e-Club Premier 7040 Coordinator,
The forklift arrives, everyone looks at it, and you can hear a mixture of joy and amazement... like “we wanted to see it to believe it”. It has to be said, work isn't always easy at the warehouse of Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille. We're constantly on the search for new funding and new requests every year, and makeshift solutions to keep us going with this wonderful project. Exactly 1 month ago, when the forklift was suddenly taken away from the warehouse, Jean-François, the initiator of “Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille” project, thought it was a dead end to find another one in such a short space of time. The challenge was significant, because without it, the operation could not continue.
Then, under the leadership of our district governor, Pardeep Ahluwalia, Rotarians from all over District 7040 were mobilized. The entire District board decided to come to the aid of the Food Security action endangered in Montreal. The outpouring of solidarity at the District Conference enabled us to raise the $16,000 needed to purchase the forklift in 15 days, and to have it delivered and installed in record time. Moved by our story and our commitment to the community, even the vendor of the forklift showed his own support by donating the charger!
What looked like being a disaster turned out to be a great collective success. Once again, respect for our 4 Way Test proves its effectiveness. We can be certain that when faced with an act of jeopardizing an action, the natural reaction of Rotarians is to speak out for THE VALUES of Service Above Self. There are not enough words to describe and thank the 20 clubs of District 7040 and the 51 individual donors who generously participated in this extraordinary fundraising event. Thanks to all of you, the food services to 15,000 families each month will not be interrupted.
Storytime - Joining forces for Food Security
The meeting between the Rotary e-Club Premier and the professionals of La Corbeille took place unexpectedly, on the day we received a donation of 14 tons of turnips! The person in charge of “Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille” project made his truck and warehouse available. We exchanged ideas about our mutual food aid projects, he expressed the growing needs of the community and also the needs of the warehouse... We agreed to work together, our Rotary e-Club Premier providing volunteer services to La Corbeille to support and develop the activities for families in need.
Our two networks of beneficiary organizations were merged, and donations from our network of producers and farmers were brought into the project for the benefit of all beneficiaries. The Rotary team is now well organized, with a list of 94 volunteers and 5 Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Greater Montreal and Ontario.
In 2023, the incredible results encourage us to continue. In total, Un Défi AlimenTERRE/La Corbeille and Rotary represent 465 tons of eatable foodstuff received and saved from waste, with a market value of about $4,500,000, serving 15,000 families per month.
Posted by Elsabé Falkson Chair: D7040 Environmental Sustainability
Did you know?
Every five seconds, the equivalent of one football pitch of soil is eroded. Yet, it takes 1,000 years to generate 3 centimeters of topsoil.
Trees in urban areas can cool the air by up to 5°C, reducing air conditioning needs by 25 per cent. That is why we have to protect native mature urban trees at all cost!
Lakes, rivers and wetlands hold 20–30 per cent of global carbon despite occupying only 5–8 per cent of its land surface. That is why we have to protect and keep it clean.
Will your club plan and act to help protect and revive ecosystems all around the world, beginning in our backyards and not stopping until you have a global grant for international projects! There is money allocated for this, make use of this opportunity!
We are #GenerationRestoration.” We cannot turn back time, but we can grow. native plants in our gardens ( less lawn , more biodiversity!). We can plant and grow forests, revive water sources, and bring back soils. We are the generation that can make peace with land.
Mark your calendar (7:30 AM- morning of June 19) and zoom in to listen to bestseller Douglas Tallamy' talking to Rotarians in District 7040s, about biodiversity, starting with the small things that runs the world.
Gananoque hosted an outstanding international night in May, this time show casing everything Nepali! Hari Chandra Satyal and wife, Kavita Chapagain were most gracious hosts as they treated everyone to an evening with true Nepal charm and hospitality. There were many pictures that you can see at the Dropbox link included.
Guests were greeted with Nepali Masal tea with cookies at the door, and then moved into an exquisitely decorated room with colourful pennant strings, honeycomb tree flowers, sparkling serviettes, programs, and bags of wildflower seeds on the tables! The silent auction was well filled with fun items from cake plates to wooden charcuterie boards. Photos, flags, and other pictures from Nepal adorned all the walls including Hari’s framed Rotaract charter. Another table was covered with 14 amazing home-made, “Food Channel worthy”, yummy display cakes, later auctioned off to share at tables or take home. Cora Beking had outdone herself again this year! Hari introduced the authentic Nepali meal, prepared by the very willing Hospitality class from Gananoque Secondary School. After dinner guests were treated to a wonderful folk dance by two more gracious Nepali college students. Everyone’s ethnic attire was so beautiful and lovely to see.
The end of the Rotary year is quickly approaching, and I would like all clubs to have membership chairs in place for July I, 2024. Even though membership should be every Rotarians responsibility, every club needs someone to coordinate these efforts and to make sure new Rotarians are well received and are enjoying their experience in their new clubs. It is also important that new members are mentored and explained what is expected of them. You can contact me at rotarianjamiej@gmail.com.
Next Zone Membership Webinar Monday, June 3, 7:30PM on Zoom.
The Rotary Club of Cornwall Sunrise will again be offering Adventures in the Environment from Sept 9-12.
This program is for high school students who are 16 years of age and have completed grade 10 science (2 years of high school science).
The program consists of 4 full days of hands-on environmental science under the auspices of the St Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Science in Cornwall. This program involves water testing, fish ecology and identification, invertebrate identification, star-gazing, bat ecology, planned forests vs old-growth forests, turtle ecology. bees. eels, etc... Students should come prepared to experience the St-Lawrence River.
The fee per student this year is $550 with a limit of 8 students for the 2024 session. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Students will be hosted by members of the Rotary Club of Cornwall Sunrise.
The last quarterly meeting for our District International Service/Foundation Committee will be held at 9am on Saturday, June 8th. There is no afternoon session, so only light breakfast muchies will be served upon your arrival.
Hear our up-to-date information on our District Foundation news as well as all that came out of the International Convention regarding District International Service. Please remember to REGISTER before June third!
La dernière réunion trimestrielle de notre comité de service international/fondation de district aura lieu le samedi 8 juin à 9 heures. Il n'y a pas de séance l'après-midi, donc seuls des petits-déjeuners légers seront servis à votre arrivée.
Écoutez nos informations à jour sur les nouvelles de notre Fondation de district ainsi que tout ce qui est ressorti de la Convention internationale concernant le service international de district. Pensez à vous INSCRIRE avant le 3 juin !
