Meeting: September 17th, 2019
Rotary Minute
Colin gave a quote from a past Rotary Scholar. It reminded us of the role of the Rotary foundation in ‘doing good things’ in the world
Guests:
Brenda Hammer, George Anderson, Ann Northwind, Tom Schellenberg. Addie Dyon
Visiting Rotarians:
Brent Jeffrey (from Canmore), Ken Hammer (Daybreak)
Announcements:
Loaves and fishes next week. Larry will send out a reminder
The last Rotary breakfast was very busy. We served somewhere around 250 meals this last week. One of the busiest times ever!
The next Beer and Burger will be on the 29th of October. Tickets are $25 apiece and think about items for the silent auction.
There are 27 people for the Wine tour. That’s just break even, so a few more people would be great. Bring your friends too! It’s on October 5th.
Jill and Barney are working on the Ale Trail. Some issues are being worked though with respect to not being allowed to offer discounted beer.
Birthdays
None (at least in attendance)
[1]
Anniversaries:
Colin’s 44th wedding anniversary
did the happy/sad. Pretty much everyone was happy!
Ian introduced Tom Schellenberg who was our speaker tonight.
On Dec 21st 2016, Tom and his brother Kyle first visited Kathmandu Nepal. It was very chaotic and full of energy. This first visit was to go to Everest base camp and it was the year after the earthquakes in 2015 which devastated the country. Over 9000 people died, 20000 were injured and many many were left homeless. Tom and his brother Kyle hiked for 14 days in the mountains and thought about ways they might help. Canoes and portages? Why not. They thought that perhaps they could carry canoes to Everest base camp to raise money to help out mental health situation in Nepal. This idea did not really seem to hit a sweet spot with family and friends.
Undeterred, they started an organization called The Weight We Carry. The original thought was to help men but they realized that the most need was for women suffering after the devastation. The partnered with Koshish - which is a local organization - to help with women’s mental health. They find women in need and help get them back on their feet. Canoes were hard to find - or at least ones that could be carried. A fellow by the name of Brian Schultz heard about them and donated some hand made (and lightweight at 33 pounds) canoes. The next step was to find a route which was quite a distance with lots of up and down. And if this was not hard enough, they did the trek in the winter. They worked though toe infections and mental doubts but they made it after 18 days. This was an extreme example of mental toughness!
See www.theweightwecarry.com for more information.
Rob thanked the speaker.
Ian presented Tom with a check for $3100 from the five clubs and the Lakewood club in the US
