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Environmental Cleanup 2021-09

Rotary Great lakes Watershed Cleanup

Rotary Club of Arnprior Cleans up Algonquin Trail and “Unplugged” Kids Clean up Galilee Beach

On Sept 25, 2021 a dozen Club members, family and friends of Rotary gathered to clean up sites that could pollute local waterways. Also participating in the cleanup as part of an educational outing were 10 children and guardians of the Unplugged Program of St John Lutheran Church.

Some of the cleanup crew on the Algonquin Trail in Braeside. Rod Smith, Gerhard Peters, Jane Peters, Bill Sellers, Vila Smith, Terry Dawson, Bruce Buie, Dave Palmer and Pushpa (bottom row)

An initiative of the Club’s newly minted Environment Committee, approximately 275kg of trash was carted away with considerable effort from the Algonquin Trail (former CP rail line) adjacent to the Arnprior Landfill near Braeside. Afterward, the group gathered for a much deserved lunch at Betty’s Chips in Braeside overlooking the extraordinarily beautiful – and cleaner - Ottawa River.

Unplugged children cleaning up the Beach along the Ottawa River at the Galilee Centre in Arnprior

Jeanette Grant Paul Harris

Jeanette Grant received a Paul Harris Award in recognition of Jeanette’s many volunteer activities since she & David moved to Arnprior in 2008.

Accomplishments:

Joined with 3 other Breast Cancer survivors to form Prior Chest Nuts, which included applying for & receiving Trillium Grant of $28,500 for startup funds
Volunteering at Library led to becoming a Board member
Also involved at Hospital Auxiliary, Opp Shop, Grance St Andrew’s United Church & fun with Red Hats

Despite COVID & ALS, Jeanette continues with gardening & sending Birthday Cards to church’s children

From Jeanette:“Volunteering has been part of my life since I was a child.I love being with people who do things to help make the community be a good living experience.”

Grove Christmas Donation

Some residents of Arnprior's Grove Nursing Home have no one to give them Christmas gifts. For more than 30 years, the Rotary Club of Arnprior has been providing funds to purchase Christmas Gifts for every resident, chosen by the Staff to ensure that the right gifts are chosen.. We could not join them at the usual Christmas Party, so no Fruit Cake was provided, but we continued with the funding of this service to our Seniors with the help from Delta Bingo in Pembroke.

Buy Your Christmas Fruit Cakes!

The Club has our Christmas Fruit Cakes available again! Use the order form below to place an order, and delivery can be arranged to many locations!

A Fillable Order form is available in the Downloads section of this web page, or email j-g.peters at eagleair.ca with name, order, address & phone #. E-transfers can be done to this same email address!

Beirut Donation Update

A second load of donated medical supplies including wheel chairs, walkers and other materials was delivered to Rotarian Peter Labelle in Cornwall. These supplies were added to others collected by the Rotary Club of Cornwall-Sunrise and delivered to Toronto for shipment in a container to Beirut on October 26, 2020. The value of the medical supplies collected through the Rotary Club of Arnprior alone is estimated to be well in excess of $70,000.

At this time, the Rotary Club would like to offer our sincerest THANKS to our partners that helped assemble all these donations: Ed Byers, County of Renfrew Paramedic Service; Lorna Byers, Rotary Club of Eganville; Darell O’Shaughnessy and Glenn Arthur of the Arnprior Seniors Active Living Centre and Arnprior Regional Health; John Wilson, Rotary Club of Renfrew; and Joyce Dawson, Friend, Rotary Club of Arnprior. A resounding shout out to all of you!

Beirut Explosion Medical Supplies

A big thank you to Rotarians Vila & Rod Smith for collecting and delivering medical supplies collected from multiple Rotarians in the Ottawa Valley. They will be added to the 40' container destined for Beirut.

A particular shout out to Ed Byers of the Rotary Club of Eganville for collecting supplies from the Paramedics in Renfrew County.

If you or anyone you know has medical supplies that can be added to the container please email us and we can make arrangements.

Beirut Explosion Support

(Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)

On August 4 2020, a devastating explosion in Beirut has killed and injured least 200 people and injured an estimated 5,000 others. In a city of 2 million up to 300,000 people are now homeless.

Three hospitals were badly damaged and forced to close with two others left only partly functioning, resulting in first aid and healthcare services becoming overwhelmed. Health care workers have struggled with reduced resources and facilities as they care for the thousands injured by the blast.

For immediate needs, The Rotary Club of Arnprior is asking for donations of medical supplies (wound dressings 4x4's, saline, IV tubing, wheelchairs, walkers, beds), and any financial contributions will be appreciated. For longer term rebuilding, our Rotary District is working with Beirut Rotary Clubs to support one of the hardest hit hospitals. It serviced some of the poorest residents in Beirut who have no means to pay for health care.

Contact Vila Smith (see the Executives area) through this website. People can also donate by visiting www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-rotary-club-of-arnprior-charitable-trust/

Renfrew County Receives Needed Help

During the current COVID-19 crisis, the need to help struggling families is now. The Arnprior Rotary Club met with Dawn McAdam, Customer Service Representative of Ontario Works in Arnprior, to hand over $10,700 in Food, Gas and Supply Gift Cards to aid ongoing Disaster Victims as provided by a group of Rotary Clubs. This adds to the $3,050 funds donated by Rotary Clubs to help Flood victims last fall.

The obtaining of these funds was spearheaded by Gerhard Peters of the Arnprior Rotary Club and the money comes from all District 7040 Rotary Clubs including the Ottawa Valley Rotary Clubs in Renfrew County. Contributing District Clubs come from Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec and Northern New York State.

The total $10,700 of $50 Gift Cards included:

$5,700 from President's Choice for groceries and medications (through Shopper's Drug Mart)
$2,500 from Canadian Tire (including Gas),
$ 750 from ESSO Gas,
$ 750 from Ultramar Gas.
$1,000 from Home Hardware

These cards will be delivered to Andrea Patrick, Ontario Works Manager - Social Service Department, to disburse throughout Renfrew County to selected qualifying clients in need of this aid.

For more information about what Ontario Works is doing: https://www.insideottawavalley.com/news-story/9917608-emergency-funding-available-through-ontario-works-in-renfrew-county/

Rotary Club of Arnprior Charitable Trust: Donations would be welcome and could be sent to PO Box 481, Arnprior, ON K7S 3L9

Food Bank Donation

Rotary Club of Arnprior donated $500 to the Arnprior Food Bank to help with the increasing numbers of families needing assistance during our COVID-19 shutdown

Meeting Online

The Rotary Club of Arnprior announces that we are now meeting Online during this period of Physical Distancing.

Shoe Bank Canada

Arnprior Rotarians Dave Palmer and Mike Steeves show off some of Shoes collected by the Rotary Club of West Ottawa through support from Shoe Bank Canada and Dymon Storage. These new shoes were distributed to Arnprior & Renfrew Food Banks, and Arnprior's Opportunity Shop and Neighbourhood Link. http://shoebankcanada.org/

Winners!!

Catch all the Duck Race & Cash Calendar Winners from the Winners Menu Tab!!

Helping Homeless Veterans

Canada's Veterans need our support. Arnprior Rotary recently made a $200 donation to the Vets Canada, presented by Arnprior Rotarian Dave Palmer, second from the right.

As service providers of Veterans Affairs Canada, Vets Canada (http://vetscanada.org) provides aid and comfort to Canadian veterans that are in-crisis, are at risk of becoming homeless, or are homeless.

Thailand Programs 2020

Arnprior Rotarians Harry & Myra Kamen presented $300 from the Arnprior Club to the Eye Care Clinic out of Chiang Mai in Thailand. As well, they presented $700 to Grandma Cares, The goal of this program is to address the serious needs of children and youth who have been orphaned as a result of their parents dying from AIDS/HIV

The Kamens have been volunteers in Thailand for over almost 25 years and have excellent contacts through the local Rotary Clubs.

The Grandma Cares Program is ongoing and sustainable. It supplies the children with all the necessities they need to thrive and continue with their education. These necessities may be food, basic hygiene products, clothing and whatever else is needed. They also provide counseling to encourage school attendance as well as medical assistance. . http://grandmacares.weebly.com

Dr Peter Bell is an Australian Optometrist who provides free comprehensive eye examinations for school aged children. Thousands of school children have had their eyes examined. This program is ongoing with strong demand from many schools because eye care for children in Thailand is not the norm. Children who require corrective glasses are provided with new prescription glasses free. The program pays for these glasses and the logistics necessary for travel to the school, some at great distances from Chiang Mai. Dr Peter Bell is a member of the Rotary Club of Chiang Mai West.

Presentations

Several presentations were held during the November 18 meeting.

Former DG Martha Weaver presented Dave Palmer with the very prestigious 5 Avenues of Service Award from RI.

She also presented to Leo Hughes a District Service award for his years of service in the community and Rotarian of the Year Pin to Mike Steeves for his contributions last year

Also making a presentation to the Club members was student Mackenzie Pauze who spoke about her experience at RYLA in Kingston in June 2019, where she developed leadership skills through role-playing exercises, proactive challenges, and her favourite, was an escape room. She highly recommended this opportunity to be given to other students. She is currently the President of the Arnprior District High School (ADHS) Interact Club, which is still a work in progress. She shared the recent success of the Club to undertake a Food Bank drive, which Gerry later commented on the amount of food items collected, and the opportunity for the students to see and learn the operation first hand.

Mackenzie Pauze receiving PolioPlus Donation Certificate

District Conference In Clayton New York

District Conference in Clayton New York

Taking in many inspirational presentations from keynote speakers, making new friends and enjoying fabulous fellowship.

In attendance are Rotarian Diana Tomazin, Club President Gerhard Peters, Rotarian Rod & Vila Smith and Club Treasurer Jane Peters. Note the Hawaiian shirt that Gerhard is wearing to support the presentation for the 2020 International Convention in Honolulu!

Dictionary 4 Life (D4L)

Posted by vila smith on Nov 19, 2019

The Arnprior Rotary Club has been involved with Dictionary 4 Life since 2016. This Fall Rotarians were at two elementary schools in Arnprior, namely McNab Braeside Public School and Walter Zadow Public School handing out dictionaries to the Grade 3 students.

The purpose of this project is to help children develop stronger self esteem, encourage familiarity with books, give "pride of ownership", and promote Rotary values to the child, family, and the community. The D4L has a space for the recipient's name on the inside cover in the Rotary information

Grade 3 students at McNab Braeside Public School, with their D4L books which they received from Rotarians David Grant and Vila Smith.

Students from Walter Zadow Public School:

Grade 3 students from Walter Zadow school. From left Rotarian Mike Steeves, Teacher. Mrs. Hewitt, Rotarian David Grant and on the right Rotarians Rod and Vila Smith.

Guest Speaker Karen DeLuca

Thank you very much to Karen DeLuca, Chief Librarian / CEO who made a very informative presentation to members of the Arnprior Rotary club on Monday. She talked about the Arnprior Public Library and the various services it offers such as lending library books * DVDs * CDs * magazines * audio books * Inter library loan service * children's programs and story times * large print materials * Free online databases including language learning, eBooks, Ancestry.ca, to name a few.

As a thank you gift to Karen the Rotary Club of Arnprior will vaccinate 50 children against Polio in honour of Karen for her enlightening talk on the Arnprior Library.

World Polio Day

October 24 is World Polio Day

Today, on World Polio Day, Rotary and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners announced that wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) has been eradicated worldwide. WPV3 is only the third infectious human disease-causing pathogen to be eradicated in history, following smallpox and wild poliovirus type 2. This achievement means that two of the three wild polio strains have now been wiped out, an important marker of progress against the disease.

The announcement comes on the heels of recent news that Nigeria has gone three years without a case of wild poliovirus, which means that the entire African region could be certified wild poliovirus-free in sometime in 2020.

“The eradication of wild poliovirus type three is a critical step in Rotary’s fight to eradicate polio,” said Michael K. McGovern, Chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “Even as we’re addressing major challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we continue to make historic progress that shows us that eradication is possible.

Today is World Polio Day—a time to reflect on our efforts, how far we’ve come, and the work that still needs to be done to fulfill our promise of a polio-free world. It’s important that we remain optimistic and harness the momentum of this good news as we tackle the remaining challenges in the global effort to end polio.”

This painting was drawn by Rotarian Jamaal Rolle from the Bahamas. The Artist created a painting showing a child receiving a drop of the polio vaccine for the End Polio Now message. The painting raised €8,000 (US$9,065.00) at the 2019 Rotary Convention in Hamburg, Germany that was held in early June.

To Find out More Use this link: http://www.endpolio.org/

End Polio Now: http://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=4337268799670

End Polio: http://vimeo.com/51944561