Stories

June 24th, 2014

Collingwood - Local residents Pamela Hillier and Martin Oosterveld were two of more than 18,000 Rotarians from around the world recently attending the 2014 Rotary International Conference held on June 1-4 in Sydney, Australia.

Hillier and Oosterveld, Presidents for each of the two Rotary clubs based in Collingwood as of July 1, were eager to share some of the major announcements about the global fight to end polio they heard at the conference.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian physician who heads the global effort for the World Health Organization, stated that of the three remaining polio endemic countries in the world, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, one country is very close to elimination and plans are in place to end the eradication task by 2018.

In Nigeria there have only been three new cases since the start of the year. Earlier this year India and all of South East Asia announced they were polio-free and that means that 80% of all children in the world are now born in polio-free countries.

The remaining countries where the virus is still endemic are Pakistan and Afghanistan. The frustrating resistance to vaccination in the tribal border region between these countries is being worn down systematically. While there is concern about some secondary outbreaks in countries such as Syria, Dr. Aylward indicated that with an immediate massive effort these flair-ups can be controlled quickly.

Aylward announced a new strategy has been developed from recent experience that will be used in the next few years. When the secondary flair ups started, they were very concerned that the virus might find a new foothold in Somalia -- with a failed government and very dangerous conditions for vaccine distribution, this could be a major setback in the overall battle.

To avert the problem they set up controls at all the border points in and out of Somalia and vaccinated every person who crossed who could not prove they had previously been vaccinated. This new strategy of total containment worked very well and will now be deployed in all the other endemic and flare up situations. So while it may be very difficult to go into every home and community in the lawless and war torn areas of the world, this new strategy makes sure the virus cannot spread to surrounding areas.

The fight to end polio is not cheap, with an estimated $5.5 billion dollars required over the next five years. Several major funding announcements for the Polio campaign were made at the conference.

Rotary International announced it will be contributing $35 million a year for the next five years, and a new agreement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will see matching Rotary’s contributions two to one. These two annual contributions result in $105 million dollars.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot attending the conference with his father, also a Rotarian, announced the Australian Government would be contributing $100 million over the next 5 years. Also at the event a Rotary member from Nigeria, Sir Emaka Offor, announced a personal donation of $1 million and free office space for the Nigerian effort for as long as required.

There are 34,282 Rotary Clubs and over 1.2 million members worldwide. The two Collingwood-based clubs will continue their efforts to support international, regional and local projects through fundraising and volunteer service. Combined the two clubs raise more than $200,000 each year and have almost 100 members. New members are always welcome.

If you have bought a Rotary calendar, a Trip of the Month ticket, or attended the Scotch Nosing & Noshing or the Taste of the Town events – you are supporting the work of Rotary in your community and beyond. For more information about the polio campaign visit www.endpolio.org and to find out about becoming a member visit one of the local clubs at www.rotarycollingwood.org or www.rotarycollingwoodsgb.org.

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Contacts:

Dr. Martin Oosterveld is President-elect, Rotary Club of Collingwood - South Georgian Bay marled@rogers.com

(705) 446-8747 (mobile)

Pamela Hillier is President-elect of the Rotary Club of Collingwood phillier@communityconnection.ca

705-446-6831 (mobile)

References: http://www.endpolio.org/ http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Polio

President Peter and Assistant District Governor, Kim awarded their second PHF pins to past presidents John Saul & Sue Bragg and also to Dr. John Miller. 

To: Members of the Rotary Club of Collingwood – South Georgian Bay

From: The Board of Directors

The following is an overview as to thinking that went into the decision to have the Club commit to a 5 year, $25K commitment (with a caveat that in case of an emergency need in the community, that the Club can revisit this contribution each year) for the Hospice Georgian Triangle and Georgian College – South Georgian Bay.  

Hospice Georgian Triangle

The monies will be only used to help in building a Hospice Palliative Care Residential Home. Hospice has been to our Club with two presentations in the past two years. Please see the attached artist’s rendering of the building.

The building will provide a place, for those who cannot stay at home, other than the hospital, where persons approaching End of Life can spend their final days in Comfort with Compassion and Dignity.

The Club’s recognition of the South Georgian Bay’s aging population, the need for an alternative to an overcrowded hospital and short staffing of palliative care nurses, makes this bricks and mortar local effort a must.

Our Club’s contribution will allow the naming rights of one of the rooms i.e. family room or Garden, and this is dependent on the participation of the other three clubs in the area, Wasaga Beach has already verbally committed.

Georgian College South Georgian Bay

The funds are being used for the capital to fund the construction of a permanent campus in our area.  The College committed to our community with only partial funding from the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments. No more funding is expected. 

Our area has one of the lowest post-secondary educations rates in the Province.  Families were becoming economic and geographic prisoners due to our lack of post-secondary education opportunities.  They did not have the funds to send their children away let alone themselves, to get advanced education or technical training to be able to compete for the jobs in the current environment.

Much of the Club’s local charity is work is the direct result of the under-education of the people in the area.  We have been to this point addressing symptoms rather than the fundamental problem.  The College will allow those who wish to the opportunity to lift themselves through education out of their circumstances.

The College has committed to help us with our efforts to start a Rotaract Club like the one in Orillia which is College based. Plus one of the key members of the Barrie Rotaract is Georgian College’s Marketing and Recruitment Specialist, who has also committed himself as a resource to make the Collingwood chapter a reality.

And as we get our Rotary Mentorship program up and running the College will work with our Mentorship Program Leaders to refer grads with special needs who can then become potential protégés for the Rotary Mentorship Program

The College is a natural continuation of our club’s educational commitments that began with Sandparents, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Door and now the College. 

The Rotary Club of SGB will be given recognition of its support in the College’s main hall.

There is no question that these two organizations bring to the South Georgian Bay area a benefit that fully meets with the Objects of Rotary and it truly meets the fourth state of the Four Way Test regarding benefiting all concerned.

Our MPP Jim Wilson visited our club on October 11th.  We thank Jim for coming out and keeping us up-to-date as to the happenings at Queen's Park.

Dr. Kellie Leitch MP for Simcoe Grey came out of Question Period in the House of Commons last Friday to greet, meet and offer a private tour of the Parliament Building to President John of SGB & President Todd of Wasaga Beach along with various Rotarians , YE Students and guests.

During the tour, and to delight of all, she introduced fellow MP's John Baird (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Peter Van Loan (House Leader) .

Dr. Kellie Leitch MP for Simcoe Grey came out of Question Period in the House of Commons last Friday to greet, meet and offer a private tour of the Parliment Building to President John of SGB & President Todd of Wasaga Beach along with various Rotarians , YE Students and guests.

During the tour, and to delight of all, she introduced fellow MP's John Baird (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Peter Van Loan (House Leader) .  

Rotary gives a gift that keeps on giving: education

Georgian College students received a gift from the Rotary Club of Collingwood-South Georgian Bay this holiday season that will last the year through.

Future generations of students will also benefit from the club’s generosity.

Club President John Saul announced the club’s donation of $25,000 over five years, in support of Georgian’s first permanent location in the region, the John Di Poce South Georgian Bay Campus.

“The South Georgian Bay area has one of the lowest post-secondary education rates in the province. Education is a cornerstone of Rotary's international charity work so we are pleased to make a contribution that, locally, will have a direct impact to this issue,” said Saul.

This donation brings the college to 89 per cent of its $750,000 fundraising goal for the campus through its Power of Education campaign.

Jennifer Valentine, Pre-Health Sciences student and Students’ Administrative Council rep, was at the announcement to thank the Rotary Club on behalf of all Georgian College students. As a mature student, having a local option for post-secondary education is part of what motivated her to go back to school.

 “Having the college here to allow me to go to school on my own schedule to achieve my goal to work in radiology or physiotherapy, is important to me. It would have been really difficult if I would have had a two-hour commute on top of my classes,” said Valentine.

Saul says his club looks forward to working with Georgian in a variety of ways, including through the Rotary Mentorship Program. The college will refer graduates with disabilities to become Mentorship Protégés, who will then be matched with local business leaders for employment so they can add vocational value to the South Georgian Bay region.

Last year, the John Di Poce South Georgian Bay Campus served more than 1,300 students. They studied a variety of programs including Ontario college certificates, Continuing Education, corporate training, College and Career Preparation and courses designed specifically for college-capable high school students who are at risk of not graduating.

The Rotary Club of Collingwood-South Georgian Bay donates $25,000 to Georgian College’s John Di Poce South Georgian Bay Campus fundraising campaign. From left to right: student Jennifer Valentine, Campaign Chair Barbara Weider, Rotarian Janet Trude, Campus Manager Lynn Hynd and Rotary Club President John Saul.

Rewarding Excellence - 2012 Donner Awards Recipients from all over Canada, the Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Donner Awards' supporters at the 15th annual Donner Awards celebration in Toronto on November 7th.

Out of the 554 non-profit social service agencies that applied, seven agencies from across Canada were recognized as the best-run in the country and shared $60,000 in prize money.

On Sunday , June 9 , 2013 the gastronomic event of the year returns . Starts at noon . Ends at 4PM.
Set on the beautiful shores of Georgian Bay at Sunset Point Park in Collingwood, gourmet chefs from over 20 of the best dining establishments from the South Georgian Bay area, tantalize the tastebuds: vintners and brewers from around the world accompany the "Tastes" . This is a major foodie experience.

Tickets are limited and go quickly. Don't delay . Call and book your ticket with Rotarian John Saul at 705-446-2565 or the ticket hotline number @ 705-606-0099

Early Bird : $100. with a $65 tax receipt prior to May 5^th (Mother’s Day) ;

After that the tickets are $125. with a $90 tax receipt