Amidst such a different holiday season, we are blessed to have completed the 2020 year safely, while making a difference in the lives of others. We thank everyone for all their valuable contributions given throughout the year.
As we look forward and anticipate a brighter, healthier and more peaceful New Year, here is glimpse of upcoming events and a quick update of The Oakville Rotary Relief Fund.
December Environmental Challenge! Don’t purchase any new holiday wrappings! Try reusing old wrappings, newspaper, towels, maps, or magazines to wrap instead! Get creative with what you have lying around and#GoGreenthis holiday season.
Some other ways to reduce your impact: Reduce Energy
- LED's (will pay for themselves in a year or two 10W=60W)
Nima told a wonderful story at our last meeting how she did not believe her bills were correct as she could not believe her eyes after changing her lights in her buildings!
- Thermostat: just change it by 1 degree when you are in the house (and/or more when you leave the house)
- Cold water wash: wash your laundry
- Take shorter showers
Oakville Rotary Relief Fund
The FOUR Rotary clubs in Oakville formed an alliance or cluster to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit goes to the Assistant Governor, Bent Fink-Jensen and Community Service Director of D7080, Norma Gamble for jumping into gear as soon as it was made public that we had a challenge ahead of us.
All four Presidents joined Norma and Bent on Zoom and decided to create a fund called the Oakville Rotary Relief Fund. We would focus on Food security, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), and Education. The four clubs invited the community to have their donations doubled and by the end of 2020, together with a successful District Grant, we collected almost $50,000. Donations to deserving community organizations were made on a regular basis by the Community Service Chairs, supported by the dynamic PR and Communication cluster. The media gave us terrific coverage and we were excited to be working across Rotary club lines. We even decided to form Membership clusters, bringing the FOUR membership chairs from each club, to address the challenge faced by many Rotary clubs today. We all agree that the Rotary Cluster has power!
The result of this exercise is that all FOUR Rotary clubs in Oakville generated almost $50,000 to benefit the Oakville community during COVID-19, and have therefore decided to continue the dynamic cluster format, in the spirit of fellowship and cooperation.
Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar Fundraiser: Chat with Santa Online
Help Santa spread the word! This initiative will help raise funds during Covid to support important humanitarian causes and projects, both locally and internationally.
Parents can also email northpolelive@gmail.com and Santa’s Rotary helpers will answer any questions about this initiative.
Improve your communications skills to be a more effective leader
Communicating effectively can help you get ahead in the workplace and in life. Sharpen your communication skills with these new courses in Rotary’sLearning Center (My Rotary login required):
Inspirational Speech— Learn how to succeed in persuasive and motivational speaking so you can engage, influence, or inspire an audience.
These courses, developed exclusively for Rotary by Toastmasters International, include assignments that put your new skills into practice and peer evaluations that expand your knowledge through collaboration.
Toastmasters Meeting, Free Workshop
How to Write a Speech in 15 Minutes – January 12th, 2021, 7PM (Est) with Lou Mulligan
Agenda: 7PM start - 30 minute meet and greet, Lou starts 7:30 and by 9:30, everyone would have written a speech and many will have presented. If interested, RSVP todoug.flowers@sympatico.ca
