ROTARY CLUB OF CALGARY ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 ROTARY CLUB OF CALGARY ANNUAL REPORT It was a great honour to serve as president of The Rotary Club of Calgary during the term , our 101 st year. As President one has the opportunity to witness firsthand the outstanding commitment and dedication of so many of our members. We do remarkable work in the name of Rotary and every member should be very proud of our accomplishments. This report will serve as a summary of our major activities during the Rotary year. Our current legacy project which started on June 3, 2013 is the Rotary Mattamy Greenway. Rotary clubs in the Calgary area pledged a total of $5 million over 5 years for the construction of a 138 km network of parks and pathways encircling the City. Our club pledged $2.5 million of this amount. In this current Rotary year we contributed $500,000 leaving a remaining commitment of $1.0 million. Our previous legacy project, Rotary Flames House, a partnership with the Calgary Flames Foundation, requested additional funding to assist in providing badly needed services to the sick kids of Calgary and area. We contributed an additional $50,000 to help meet their needs. Our initial contribution was $5.0 million, an amount matched by the Calgary Flames Foundation. Many of our members are not aware of the wonderful facility that was created with our help, and I would urge you to become more familiar with it as it will reinforce your commitment to Rotary. We decided to have a closer look at our Unrestricted Surplus funds and after careful consideration we determined that we were holding more than enough funds for unforeseen events, and accordingly, we decided to release up to $200,000 of these funds to be distributed to worthy organizations. A Major Donations Committee was reactivated under the chairmanship of Don Dart, with the direction to determine which projects would be most deserving to receive some of the $200,000. The committee undertook to solicit invitations for funding through our members and as a result it came back to the BOD with recommendations as follows: 1) Elizabeth Fry Society an amount of $30,000 be approved to provide resource support for vulnerable aboriginal and immigrant newcomers who lack basic family support.

2 2) Calgary Public Library an amount of $75,000 be approved for the CPL in support of early literacy targeted at preschool children in over 150 licensed daycares throughout Calgary. 3) The Nourish Network an amount of $85,000 be approved for the Nourish Network, a partnership of six non-profit organizations focused on improving and coordinating health and early intervention services for vulnerable children in over 165 schools in Calgary. 4) Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured (ARBI) an amount of $30,000 be approved for ARBI to help refurbish and operationalize a reconfigured facility to meet the changing needs of their clients. 5) Families Matter Society an amount of $30,000 be approved for the Families Matter Society of Calgary to support an early intervention program expansion for at risk families through the family resource HUB at the Shaganappi Village complex. The BOD approved all five proposals. Our two Stay In School programs, the SIS and the Rotary Tom Jackson SIS, are two of our signature programs. The SIS program was created in 1996 and we have raised over $1.4 million for the program. SIS has mentored over 177 students providing over 36,000 mentorship hours. Amy, a 2008 University of Lethbridge graduate said, In Grade 6, I was a young girl with little means but big dreams...it was a rough journey from there to here, but supportive Rotarians encouraged me and didn t let me give up. I now hold a BSC in Computer Science awarded with Honours of Great Distinction. More recently, The Rotary Tom Jackson Stay In School Program was created to assist Aboriginal youth. It is a mentoring program that is intended to engage Aboriginal youth early, work with them to keep them in school and drive up high school graduation rates within this community. This program is based on the Stay in School Program. Both these programs require a huge commitment from their volunteers and while it is very gratifying to them it is also a tremendous drain on their time and energy. Our BOD was made aware of some of the issues that were surfacing as a result of the continued growth of the programs. We were concerned with ensuring that the appropriate processes were in place to maintain the integrity and security of all involved, particularly the children. After considerable review we initiated discussion with outside groups involved in child education mentoring and as a result we held lengthy discussions with the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. As this process was taking place, the Administration and committee

3 volunteers continued to develop more comprehensive systems to help us mitigate risk and ensure more accountability. Our club has been very engaged in international projects for many years. During the year we continued to support a number of activities on the world scene. Over $345,000 was channeled into programs in Cambodia, Vietnam, Guatemala as well as Uganda and other impoverished areas. Many of our members devote countless hours to not only fundraising such as BIE, but in taking time out of their lives to travel overseas to these places to ensure our money is being well spent. Here is a more detailed summary of activities as outlined by Paul Bates, director of International Service. 2014/2015 INTERNATIONAL YEAR END REPORT The 2014/2015 Committee Executive was comprised of Barb Young - Chair, Madeleine King - Vice Chair, Al Corbett - Treasurer and Ghada Al Atrash - Secretary. A summary of the international projects which received funding during 2014/2015 follows: Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology - Water filters and training - $50,000 plus $5000 for aid to Nepal - Champion Tom Loucks; Canadian Association for Participatory Democracy - Columbia - $ Water Filters - Champion Frank Sparks; Taking Rotary Assistance to Communities and Children - Uganda: $25, Education for Aids Orphans - Champion Madeleine King; Rotary Club of Raymond - Uganda - $ Dental Clinic Uganda - Champion Walter Haessel; Honduras Economic and Community Development - Rotary Club Calgary West -$10, Champion Walter Haessel Right to Play - $2, Champion Charles Pratt Rotary Club of Freetown - $15, Elbola Champion Charles Pratt; Guatemala Literacy - $9680 Champion Barb Young; La Guajira - Water Wells - $8, Champion Walter Haessel; Water and Sanitation Global Grant - Uganda - $60,000- Champion John Ridge; Multiphase Community Development - Cambodia - $25,000 - Champion Frank Sparks; Sustainable Cambodia - Needs Assessment Fee - $250 - Champion Frank Sparks Microfinance - Cambodia - $35,500 - Champion Frank Sparks; Light up the World - Guatemala - $5, Champion Barb Young; ShelterBox - Syria - $10,000 - Champion Ghada Al Atrash; Curley Galbraith Global Memorial Fund - $5, Direct Donation; Water and Sanitation - Sarajpur India - $7, Champion Ali Gursoy;

4 Community Library - Guatemala - $6, Champion - Barb Young; Cerebral Palsy Treatment Training - Vietnam - $10,000 Walter Haessel; and Earthquake Relief - Nepal - $5, Direct Donation. The WCS Committee raised $13, at the Big International Event for international projects. Youth Exchange Committee Committee Members were: John Hsu (Co-Chair); Laurene Wilson (Co-Chair); Barb Young; Tessa Major; Dave Leslie; and Lia Haus. The 2014/2015 outbound-student was Erna Alukik who visited Austria. The Austrian Rotary host families were very relaxed and lacking in providing supervision and direction. These concerns were sent to the District with the recommendation that more mature students be sent to Austria. The 2014/2015 inbound-student was Simon Peer from Austria. The Committee experienced significant difficulty in securing host families for Simon. Regardless, Simon, his host families and Club members enjoyed his visit. At the request of Committee the Board approved a one year break for to allow the Committee to set strategic direction for the program as the Committee was in need of a long-term strategic direction in order to ensure its long term success and sustainability. The strategic direction will be based on the following: 1) Building a deeper network of host families and back up host families 2) Bringing more awareness to the YEX program within the club. Increasing member engagement 3) Reconnecting with Western Canada High School. A new liaison is required due to the departure of Kathie Coutts. We would like to increase the schools we touch making the program available to more students. We have had limited applications in recent years. 4) Too many duties are concentrated in the YEX chair position. There is a need to recruit and spread out responsibilities (Treasurer, Secretary, Inbound Counselor, Outbound Counselor, Short Term Exchange Champion, Host Family Recruiter, and Program Marketer etc.) 5) Improving host family engagement (appreciation, security checks, post hosting follow up) 6) Also in the coming year (Spring 2015), the Committee will focus on ramping up the Short Term International Exchange opportunity. Youth programs beyond SIS also receive a good measure of our funding and volunteer hours. Programs such as RYPEN, RYLA, ROTARACT, and INTERACT continue to be well supported by the club through funding and dedicated volunteers.

5 In 2005, our long term member, Lou MacEachern, gave $1.0 million to our club through the Calgary Foundation. Since 2006, Lou's gift has been generating funds for us to contribute to a number of worthy causes. Managing the original $1 million gift wisely, it is now worth $1.26 million. Each year RCC receives 3.4% of the market value of the fund which is distributed primarily to youth programs. This year we received over $43,000 which was awarded to students at SAIT, Bow Valley College, ACAD, and high school programs through Junior Achievement. Thanks again, Lou, for your foresight and generosity. Having a strong and committed membership is vital to any service organization and this has been a priority for us for the past several years. To focus on membership issues, director Sid Mark and his team worked diligently to address the challenges facing us. During the year they did the following: Membership Committee Accomplishments for Rotary Year : 1. Clean up of new member applicant tracking system and communication to all applicants is currently up to date 2. Prioritized succession plan to have backups for leadership roles progress made and continues to be a work in progress 3. Identified RCC new membership minimum guidelines need to incorporate on our website 4. New members to our club this Rotary year total to 21 (1 re-instatement, 6 corporate associates, 14 new individual members). During that time we have had 7 resignations (for various reasons) and 4 people added to our Honorary membership category. 5. Net increase in membership this Rotary year is, therefore, +14, which is impressive even for a large club (> ~6%). 6. There are two more applicants that will be ready for Board approval in June. 7. Membership gender make up changed from 81% male, 19% female to 78% male, 22% female during the Rotary year. 8. Creation of Engagement sub-committee with David (Brom) Bromwich being Chair of same. 9. Creation of the Applicant Tracking Communications role (Is vacant now and role should be filled). With respect to our fundraising activities, our biggest sources of revenue are the Ev and Ellen Mayhood funds, followed by our BBQs, SIS Golf tournament, and the Rotary Clubs of Calgary Foundation (CRCF). The Mayhood s incredible endowment to Rotary of over $27 million currently generates in excess of $1.7 million per year, one-half of which is directed to Rotary International, with the balance staying in our club for distribution to the various projects we fund. This year our share totaled over $700,000.

6 Our BBQs remain our largest hands-on volunteer commitment requiring hundreds of volunteer hours for us to meet our obligations. By far, this is a legacy fundraising activity that exceeds almost all other Rotary clubs endeavors. Interestingly, Ev Mayhood was one of the original members who started BBQs in the club as a fundraising venture. This year we raised $433,000 with our two Stampede BBQs, funds that are put back into the community through our many projects. Director Gord Graham capably handled this major project, ensuring our continued successes. The Calgary Rotary Clubs Foundation (CRCF) was formed to encourage members of all Rotary clubs in Calgary to make contributions to build a fund that will provide enduring support for the community service activities of the clubs. Each year CRCF returns to the participating Rotary clubs the annual earnings on the contributions of each club s members, to be used by the club for community service purposes. During this Rotary year, our club received the distribution of $120,000. In order for our SIS programs to provide the excellent services and support to the children involved in the programs, funding was initially generated by holding an annual golf tournament which is still ongoing, almost 20 years later. This fundraising event is also a very hands-on, volunteer intensive project, raising $67,000. Rounding out our fundraising efforts was the Big International Event (BIE), which annually raises money that is directed to international projects. $11,600 was raised this year for international events. Programs and weekly meetings are very important to the success of any Rotary club. Members want exciting, meaningful meetings with high caliber speakers. Director Eric Bennett and his crew did a superb job of attracting first class speakers for our weekly meetings. Giving members an opportunity to meet and enjoy engaging fellowship is also key to a club s success. Director Ken Moraes provided a number of social events that brought out many of our members who got to know each other better as a result. A new event, Sneak-a-Peek during the Stampede, has proved to be a very popular fellowship evening. Things change and we have certainly seen a number of changes occur within Rotary, both at the international level and at our club level. We have seen one of our long standing, fun, social events come to an end with The Annual Rotary Show not being produced this year. The committee struggled to generate enthusiasm and participation from the members, but the message was clear. Not enough members are interested in either participation in the show, or attending the event with family and friends. There are many great photos and video clips of past shows that were heartily enjoyed by all in attendance.

7 With the changes we are experiencing, the BOD, continued the initiative started in Eva s year with respect to bringing in outside expertise to help us grow and embrace the changing world of Rotary participation. The Ignite program has been adopted with consultants engaged to work with us as we develop a new working model of engagement and communications that will reinvigorate our club going forward. Thanks to President Elect Rob Brookwell and Past President Eva Friesen for taking on this important task. Secretary Barb Young worked tirelessly throughout the year on various issues, including policies and procedures to meet legislative requirements and prepare for the Board training session which was introduced for the new incoming Board. Her expertise was particularly helpful in dealing with operations, policies and committee terms of reference. Her assistance to Jo-Ann, our Office Manager, was very much appreciated. Chris Harper, director of Communications, had to leave the club due to business pressures, but his skills were put to good use prior to his leaving, particularly related to getting the Ignite project off the ground. Our club is involved in many projects at any one time, and distributes a great deal of money to worthy causes. Our Treasurer, Yegana Alasgarova, provided us with excellent oversight and guidance with respect to our financial affairs. I encourage all of you to visit our website and read all the reports of the various committees whose projects do so much to make our world a better place. There are many activities we are involved in and you owe it to yourself and your fellow members who put their hearts and souls into making them come to life, to be familiar with what all your Rotary club is doing. My thanks to all the directors, committee chairs, and our staff, for all that they do to make this club special. We have past our 100 year mark and are ready to meet the next 100 years with enthusiasm and commitment. Our world will be the better for having The Rotary Club of Calgary continuing to meet the challenges facing us. Respectfully Submitted, Ron Esch, President The Rotary Club of Calgary