Meeting: November 4, 2005
19 members present.
Guests: Juliana, Josefina and Paul ( exchange students)
Ata Malfuzi, Donna Thompson, Martin Litchfield,
Bruce Chanakos, Ryan Chanakos and Marcia Pike.
Colin's Rotary Minute:
November is RotaryFoundation Month
THE ROTARY FOUNDATION'S BEGINNING
Some magnificent projects grow from very small seeds. The Rotary Foundation had that sort of modest beginning.
In 1917 RI President Arch Klumph told the delegates to the Atlanta Convention that "it seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world." The response was polite and favorable, but the fund was slow to materialize. A year later the "Rotary Endowment Fund," as it was first labeled, received its first contribution of $26.50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, which was the balance of the Kansas City Convention account following the 1918 annual meeting. Additional small amounts were annually contributed, but after six years it is reported that the endowment fund had only reached $700. A decade later, The Rotary Foundation was formally established at the 1928 Minneapolis Convention. In the next four years the Foundation fund grew to $50,000. In 1937 a $2 million goal was announced for The Rotary Foundation, but these plans were cut short and abandoned with the outbreak of World War II.
In 1947, upon the death of Paul Harris, a new era opened for the Rotary Foundation as memorial gifts poured in to honor the founder of Rotary. From that time, The Rotary Foundation has been achieving its noble objective of furthering "understanding and friendly relations between peoples of different nations." By 1954 the Foundation received for the first time a half million dollars in contributions in a single year, and in 1965 a million dollars was received.
It is staggering to imagine that from those humble beginnings, The Rotary Foundation is now receiving more than $85 million each year for educational and humanitarian work around the world.
Announcements:
The Garage Sale netted $2,861.71. There should be more to come from Marketplace sales of leftovers.
Next up is the Beer and Burger night. Get your tickets soon as space is limited. Choice between beef, chicken and veggie burgers. Also look for silent auction items and gift cards from stores, restaurants suppliers etc for the raffle.
Ed and Rob will be arranging a date and time for painitng and small repairs at Haven House.
A Celebration of Life will be held for past President, Ian Niamath at the Cavalotti Lodge on December 3 at 1.30pm
Birthdays: Colin was the man of the day and serenaded appropriately.
Program:
Derek introduced Marlene Bell, President and Laura Greg Vice-pres of the Nanaimo Hospital Auxiliary. Marlene gace a very educational talk about the Auxiliary - everyone was rather stunned to find out just how much money is raised for NRGH!
125 years ago, the Society was formed to supplement the efforts of professional medical staff at the local hospital, both by providing volunteers to work at the hospital in non-medical roles, and organising fundraising events. There came a point when the Health Authority established its own Volunteer Services Department to undertake responsibility for volunteer workers and as a result, the Auxiliary realigned itself so that the main focus was to raise funds to provide financial support in order to improve care and comfort at our hospital. A Thrift Store was set up and the Hospital Gift Shop expanded. The result is that every year the Auxiliary is able to donate no less than half a million dollars for the purchase of items and services at NRGH. The latest donation was for one million dollars.
Bob Moss thanked the speakers.
MEMBER PROFILE - ED POLI
I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, came to Canada at age 3 and was raised in Windsor, Ontario. I attended Royal Military College in Kingston followed by a brief hedonistic hippie interlude in Ottawa after which I began employment with the federal public
service.
I had a 25 year management career there - 20 years in Human Resource management in Ottawa and the final 5 years as Manager of the Canada Employment Centre in Nanaimo. I left government in 1998 and embarked on an interesting 10 years
as a management consultant working with a broad range of industries including economic development, fisheries, education and oil and gas. My consulting work brought me into contact with the Nanaimo Art Gallery who were in need of management assistance and I finished my working life as the manager of the Nanaimo Art Gallery.
In terms of community involvement I have been a Rotarian since 1998 first with the Nanaimo club and now with Nanaimo North and have been actively involved with Community Futures Central Island for more than 25 years as board member, committee
chair, board chair etc. I was active with the Nanaimo Ladysmith Schools Foundation for six years and was chair for 4 years.
I met and married my wife Anne Marie in 1979 and we adopted our children Jae and Rhiannon from Korea in 1988. We moved from Ottawa to Nanaimo in 1993 and currently live downtown. My son Jae and his family live Courtenaybut we lost our
daughter Rhiannon to a vehicle accident in October 2021.
