Ridgetown President Calls Membership Attention with Bell at 6:30pm
2. Sing National Anthem, ‘O Canada’
3. Toast to King, Rotary International
4. Grace
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5. Dine - 13 in attendance - a wonderful roast turkey dinner complete with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, coleslaw, bread, etc and a choice of pies for dessert - Thank you ladies!
6. Introduction of guests; cards for birthdays and anniversaries - Jeff Geddes was welcomed back, Jeff advised he was so well rested he drove straight home, left Florida @ 03:00 hours and arrived home @ 23:00 hours.
Kees Boeter’s Happy Birthday
Ron Bolohan’s Happy Birthday
Reinout & Debby VonMartels’ youthful Anniversary
7. Correspondence - Thank you card from The Ridgetown Quilters;
CKPL letter requesting donations for the 2024 TD Summer Reading Club in the Ridgetown library - Pres. Ron Bolohan advised this request will be discussed at a later time.
8. PROGRAM – Judie Wigcherink - On behalf of Judie, David Klatt introduced Ally Buck, the Rotary and Community Fundraising Coordinator of ShelterBox Canada who is presenting to us today via Zoom. She advised that she lives in Kingston, Ontario and she is thrilled to present to our Club today; she is particularly grateful for the invitation to speak to our Club because the Ridgetown Rotary Club has been a big supporting Club since 2013, first being a Bronze Club, then a Gold Club, and now we are “way beyond” a Gold Club.
ShelterBox is an International Disaster Relief Organization started by a group of Rotarians in Cornwall U.K. as a Millenium Project in 2000. There are 13 offices across the world helping those undergoing natural disasters and those who, for complex humanitarian reasons, cannot stay in their homes. ShelterBox has provided aid for over 300 disasters in 100 different countries affecting 2.5 million people, has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace prize and is recognized as the most efficient disaster relief organization in the world.
ShelterBox is still the brand name, but the plastic boxes are no longer used as they were too heavy to move around and the plastic deteriorated over time and was difficult to dispose of. Now supplies are delivered in bags which are easier to store and to move around, along with 12-person size tents (intended for use by a family of five (5)) which are far more durable as they can withstand monsoons and 120 km/hr winds, and can be either winterized or summerized. Shelter Repair Kits and Shelter Tool Kits are also provided as needed; for example, in Ukraine, a family had house damage so they were able to use a kit to repair their roof and remain in their home; in the Philippines, where houses are on stilts and flooding occurs, the kit allows them to shelter up high.
ShelterBox is the sole provider of shelter in Cameroon, and the brick building program was used there because the tents were not suitable as they can be damaged by the weather. In Yemen, shelters are built as permanent shelters on concrete bases because its climate also destroys the tents.
A ShelterBox costs $1,200 per family and the Shelter Repair Kit costs $500 per family. Kits can include mosquito nets, water filters, sleep cots and matts, winter clothing, and the kit is tailored to a family’s needs. Rotarian John Griffith invented a water filter using a mesh system that lasts for over five (5) years, uses no tablets, is self-cleaning and provides a higher output of water. Ally was happy that she was able to see this water filter in action.
(google - ShelterBox Grifaid Water Filter)
One of the videos presented was of Imelda Staunton (she portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Crown’ and the pink lady in ‘Harry Potter’) reading a story ‘In the Cold Night’. The film is based on the real-life experiences of the families ShelterBox supported in Syria and Turkiye after the devastating earthquakes earlier this year. The story is from a child’s perspective of an earthquake that destroyed her family’s home in the middle of the night, and of the devastation afterwards. But then someone gave them lights and a tent and they had somewhere to stay until they could have a new home. The film can be seen online. (Google ‘In the Cold Night’ ShelterBox, then go to the UK site to see the film.)
ShelterBox was able to provide aid in Morocco because of Rotary connections when other organizations could not. There was devastation in a small tent community that was made up of what they could salvage but, when ShelterBox arrived, there was a huge windstorm that blew everything away and they had nothing left. But soon the ShelterBox tents were set up to provide shelter that would withstand the winds. Rotarians had shown up, backhoes were used to build roads, donkeys were loaded up to take supplies up the mountain, and aid was provided to the communities in the mountains.
Q&A:
ShelterBox Canada used to have an office in Toronto but now there are no facilities in Canada, however the mailing address is in Oakville and employees work from home across Canada. There are warehouses around the world which are more environmentally friendly as they can ship from the closest warehouse quickly (within 3 days) or supplies can be procured directly from the country in need. In some cases supplies are left behind in storage in countries that had received aid.
ShelterBox aid for Palestinians is handed off at the border. Medical and all aid to Palestinians is handled through Jordan. ShelterBox trains those at the border who will take the aid in.
David Klatt thanked Ally for her very interesting presentation and advised that five (5) books have been placed in the Ridgetown library on her behalf for her presentation on ShelterBox.
9. The 2024-25 Club Meeting structure was explained by Pres. Ron:
The meeting year is split into six (6) sectors, four (4) meetings per sector. Four (4) individuals have come forward to act - Ben, Kees, Henny and Bob; Ron volunteered to be the facilitator, still looking for two (2) other volunteers. Discussion and suggestions: Members talked of volunteering to help and it was suggested that some meetings could be offsite meetings, ie. the Car Show in July (the show date and prep could be 2 meetings), meetings with the scouts, attending other Rotary meetings and going on road trips such as to the theatre, museum or businesses in the area - these events could replace meetings. Also noted was that some clubs don’t have meetings during summer but do have other events, ie Dresden and Blenheim’s music in the park where members attend. Henny is acting for the summer meetings, and David Bryan volunteered for the January sector.
10. Any other items for the good of Rotary? Bob Wilson advised that Kelly Johnson has arranged for 150 trees to be planted around town for the 150th anniversary. She needs a charity number to receive the grant. Discussion and more info about the grant is needed. Bob will follow up with Kelly.
11. Sergeant-at-arms - Happy Bucks: Bob W. re speaking on Kelly & trees for Ridgetown, Pres. Ron re presenting a doable 2024-2025 meeting structure, David B. re the wonderful eclipse event, and Brian Pasmore is going to be a great-grandpa for the third time - Congrats!
Pres. Ron won the 50-50 draw
Since David and Judie switched some duties today, Judie read three (3) riddles & jokes from her 1983 Little Golden Books and David read his “adult” golfing joke for Murray Scoyne.
12. Next meeting Apr 29th at Anglican Parish Hall. Program: Jeff Geddes and Classification talk – Beatrice
13. Adjourn 8:08 pm
PS Thank you Joel Van DeHogen for ensuring that we could hear the audio for the films that were part of the presentation by Ally today. It was very much appreciated.
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