February 7, 2010
Rotaract Club of Ottawa
General Meeting
Date: February 7, 2010
Location: 125 Simard
- Introduction – Annie
President Annie introduced our guests:
ROTARIANS:
-Eva
-Julie
-Clifford
-Caroline is also here, she is the Rotary Exchange Student from our sponsor club
-Andrew introduced his friends from Carleton
Our Guest speaker
Jason Chung was also introduced, who will be speaking to us about the Step Up program.
Sarah and New York
Sarah brought apples to share with the club as a souvenir of the club trip to New York in the fall.
- District Retreat – Annie
-organized Michelle and Mangla
-well liked by all who could make it
-Andrew described the positive experience, despite the cold temperatures
-following district retreat, there was a meeting at Carleton, where our guest speaker Monica shared her inspirational speech about yoga and finding yoga
-also recruited some members from Carleton
Ten year anniversary
-10 year anniversary is upcoming, so we need to start compiling memories
-If you have any interesting facts about the Rotaract Club of Ottawa, please let Annie know at president@rotaractottawa.ca
- Adventures in Citizenship update – Julie
-The Adventures in Citizenship program is pillar program for Rotary club of Ottawa in which high school students from across the country to learn about what it means to be a citizen of Canada
-3 day program, 4 nights
-entire program established to share Canadian diversity as well as what their roles and responsibility
-for many it is the first time they come to Ottawa, they get to explore the city…
-this year is the 60th anniversary of this high profile and high recognized program
-every year, it is in the first weekend of may
May 3 to 6 this year
-attempting to have students meet with the Governor General
-every year, Rotaract does a portion of the program – the Canada quiz in particular
-it is time to start gearing up in terms of planning for that program in terms
-we want a small team, small committee of Rotaractors to see it through until the beginning of May
-The committee is looking for a rotaract rep to come to committee meetings to be in the loop and to feed into what is going on. Anyone interested should contact Julie at:
- Special guests – Nicholas Harami from Jordan
-undergrad pharmacist
-spoke to us about his club
- Membership Update – Andrew
-Andrew announced his update on the Tunnel Painting and showed us the final design.
-The Club consented by unanimous approval to implement the design
- Community Service Update – Melissa
-confirmed St. Joes attendance sheet
-Bowl-a-thon
-Melissa also announced that the club will be pursuing a Bowl-a-thon project at the end of March to raise money for the Rotary home.
-A minimum pledge of 15$ will be a part of this event
-exact location will be included on the form
-15$ is to cover cost
-announced that because Cornerstone has had need fulfilled, we will be donating to Rotary Home
- International Service Update – Jozef
-Jozef announced that the Art Gallery will be tentatively held on March 7
-Jozef will be meeting with representatives from both locations, and dates will soon be confirmed for both wine tasting and the Art Gallery
- Chilly Chili Sunday – Annie
-Annie announced that this year’s annual Chilly Chili Sunday will be held on March 7, during the day
-mark your calendars for a day of wintery Rotaract fun!
- External Update – Cristiano
-keep checking the website! =)
-Cristiano also announced that there is a new tab – the opportunities tab, where you can find information about opportunities available to you!
-send photos so we can post them
10)Nicholas’s Presentation
-Jordanian Rotaractor Nicholas presented his country and club’s activities to the Rotaract Club of Ottawa in an interesting informative presentation. We learned there are 7 Rotaract Clubcs in Jordan in total, and he is currently President of the Rotaract Club of Amman-Jerash. This club was established only a few months ago, and Nicholas shared some of the club’s activities (school bags, Kazsma community service, professional development, and RYLA) with us. Banners were exchanged between Annie and Nicholas after a very interesting presentation of Rotaract in Jordan!
- Guest Speaker: Jason Chung and the Step Up program
-Jason Chung described Project Step and walked us through the contributions to drug therapy projects currently being made by Rotary Clubs in Eastern Ontario. He shared various statistics with the club with regards to drugs and alcohol abuse, especially among teens.
-Project STEP (Support, Treatment, Education and Prevention) is working on a 2 stage fundraising campaign to support the first Ottawa residential youth treatment centre, which is currently not in existence in Ottawa at the moment. By undertaking fundraising initiatives and pursuing an outreach program in High schools, Project STEP is hoping to make a difference in the lives of teens affected by drugs in Ontario. The project will cost 6 million $, half of which will go to the development of 2 treatment facilities.
-So far, Rotary clubs in Eastern Ontario have a goal to raise 1 million dollars. Project STEP is also hoping to work with various other charities, the provincial government and hopefully with Rotaract as well.
-Jason himself is affiliated with the youth committee, and believes that the million dollars can be raised with the essential help of the youth. He emphasized the importance of youth involvement.
-He is looking for interest: coordinating High School students in fundraising efforts can be difficult, and he is hoping to initiate fundraising within high schools in Eastern Ontario. We need a bridge between Rotary and High School students, mentors: Rotaract can play a role here.
-A sign up sheet was passed around to gather interest.
- Happy Dollars
-It was decided, before Happy Dollars were shared, that this year the Happy Dollars will be donated to Haiti.
