torontorotaract

2013-2014 Rotaract Club Board of Directors

torontorotaract — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:44:30 +0000

A BIG WELCOME TO THE NEW BOARD FOR THE 2013-2014 ROTARACT YEAR

President – Kelly Ku
Vice President – Neisely Eugene

Immediate Past President – Netila Demneri
Secretary – Sarah Hui
Treasurer – Melanie Watts
Club Service – Maria Shibaeva
Community Service – Leslie Lee
International Service – Faridah Saadat
Communications – Eric Muller
Professional Development – Faiyyad Hosein

CONGRATULATIONS!

No, you can’t get HIV/AIDS by kissing-HIV/AIDS Action April 27th, 2013

torontorotaract — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:15:06 +0000

Dear Friends,

We’ve come a long way since the days when people believed that you could contract HIV by breathing the same air as someone with HIV. We now live in a day and age where HIV-positive moms can safely breastfeed their infants. Despite recent reports of HIV-cured cases, HIV/AIDS is a battle we haven’t won yet.

The Rotaract Club of Toronto is participating in the Rotary Trump AIDS Poker Walk on April 27th and we would love the support of each of our members. This Walk has been going on for the past 6 years in Toronto and we’ve raised close to $500,000 for AIDS action.

This year the funds will go to Ongutai AIDS Clinic in Uganda and Ikhwezi Lokusa Wellness Centre in East London, South Africa. I was an Intern at Ikhwezi back in 2006 and saw firsthand the comprehensive care they provided to HIV/AIDS patients. Without clinics like Ongutai and Ikhwezi, HIV/AIDS patients will not receive the critical care, support and education they need to live healthy lives.

Please help our teams, Toronto Rotaract AIDS Trumpers! And P-P-Poker Face raise much needed funds for this worthwhile initiative. Our combined team goal is $3000. We have raised $1840 so far! Please help us exceed this goal for AIDS action!

You can donate by visiting either of our team pages and clicking on a team member to “sponsor”:
Toronto Rotaract AIDS Trumpers!

Rotaract AIDS Trumpers

P-P-P-oker Face

Donations of $20 or more will receive a tax receipt.

We thank you for your support in advance.

My very best,
Faridah, on behalf of Toronto Rotaract AIDS Trumpers! And P-P-P-oker Face

Rotaract Club of Beirut Metropolitan 2013 Calendar

torontorotaract — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 17:38:13 +0000

Thank you to the Rotaract Club of Beirut Metropolitan who has shared this International calendar with Rotaract Clubs around the world. In late 2012, the club put out a call to all Rotaractors to contribute with their club logo; Clubs from all over the world participated in their project: 112 CLUBS, 112 LOGOS, 365 DAYS.

“For all the Participants in this calendar, WE THANK YOU for making our project come true.
Our Best wishes are for you forever. Have a promising and fulfilling new year!”

Rotaract Club of Beirut 2013 Calendar

Rotaractors Building Feral Cat Shelters with the Toronto Animal Services

torontorotaract — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:53:16 +0000

On a beautiful Sunday, a group of Rotaractors came together to volunteer at the Toronto Animal Services to build feral cat shelters. We received an orientation on volunteering and learned about the different opportunities with the organization including cat cuddling, dog walking, and the various programs that help at risk youth. We learned about the educational awareness program where workers bring in their canine partners into schools. We also learned about the importance of this organization and its efforts to promote pet adoption and pet identification.

We then heard from a master feral cat house builder and his work with Toronto Street Cats. Their mission is to improve the lives of Toronto’s homeless cats by offering spay/neuter services free for feral cats and building shelters for the cats during the winter months. They also work to increase public awareness about Toronto’s homeless cat population and the importance of spay/neuter and trap/neuter/return.

After the presentations, our group went right to work to build 20 feral cat shelters! These shelters are vital for feral and stray cats as the cold winter months in Toronto can cause frostbites on the ears and paws of these cats and in worse case scenarios these cats may be impacted by hypothermia. Building the shelters required strong team working skills as it required a group of people to cut out the styrofoam that insulates the plastic tote shelters, then another group to construct and insulate the shelter using tape, Styrofoam and a plastic pipe, and finally when all that was done, straw was added into the shelter.

Upon completion of the 20 feral cat shelters, our group was given the opportunity to receive a tour of the facility where we saw some cute cuddly cats kittens and some adorable dogs!!

For more information about this, please see the article that was published in the Toronto Star on Friday, January 25, 2013.

Rotaractors Attend January Centennial Meeting – Working Women Community Centre

torontorotaract — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:44:41 +0000

By: Aislynn Austin, International Service Director

The Rotary club of Toronto (RCT) is currently celebrating 100 years of service in the Toronto community and internationally. The club is celebrating this wonderful milestone by donating in excess of $ 1, 000,000 to local and international agencies for their life-changing programs. On January 18, 2013, The Rotary Club of Toronto hosted their 6th centennial lunch for the year, which highlighted and commemorated “Women’s Initiative’s” in Rotary. The centennial award of $100,000 was awarded to the “Working Women Community Centre” (WWCC) for their innovative program that gives immigrant women a stepping stone into their new environment via “The Women’s Meeting Place” (WMP) . WWCC has been providing community engaging services for over 35 years in the priority neighbourhoods of Toronto to new-comer women. These services have afforded the participants their right to meet their full potentials by allowing them to connect, educate themselves and foster better development for themselves and their families. WMP is the first collaboration between RCT and WWCC and is envisioned to act as a hub that will continually help to identify issues, create solutions and provide the environment that will allow generational success.

Rotaractors attend the January Centennial Project meeting of the Rotary Club of Toronto

Apply for the 2013 Youth Civic Leadership Awards!

torontorotaract — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 02:06:01 +0000

Youth Civic Leadership Awards 2013

Youth in the GTA show civic leadership in many ways across all sectors of our society. We believe if we wish these young people to continue their leadership with compassion, creativity and tenacity, we must acknowledge and celebrate their many accomplishments.

Rotary would like you to join in this celebration. Are you a young person who has made a contribution to the community in which you live? Do you know of someone who deserves recognition for the leadership they show? Please help to encourage civic leadership in our city by recommending this individual for a Rotary Youth Leadership Award.

Our club is proud to support these awards alongside the Rotary Club of Toronto, the Rotaract Club of the University of Toronto, and Toronto Community Housing.

Click here for the full application form.

Please submit your application by March 31, 2013.

Best of luck!

Rotaract Club of Toronto Sends Holiday Greetings to the Rotaract club of Montebelluna, Italy!

torontorotaract — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 04:46:40 +0000

Rotaractors Spend an Evening “Puttin’ on the Glitz”

torontorotaract — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 03:55:36 +0000

December 8, 2012. It wasn’t just your typical Saturday night!

“Puttin’ on the Glitz – Second Annual Charity Winter Gala” was a special evening of dinner, fashion show, dance and fellowship organized by the Rotaract Club of Mississauga. Rotarians, Rotaractors and friends of District 7080 came together to support and celebrate the PACT Urban Peace Program, which was launched by Rotarians in 1995.

What is PACT? It builds peace and hope in the urban and rural communities by helping youth reach their full potential in life through “Participation, Acknowledgement, Commitment and Transformation”. More specifically, it is an award-winning, result-driven and cost-conscious registered Canadian charity dedicated to working with, supporting and empowering under-privileged and at-risk youth, as well as repeat offenders.

In the Rotarian style, its members have been offering their time, service and charity to maintain this long and valued Rotary-PACT relationship. There are multiple LifeSkill initiatives, but the gala focused on the fruits of labour from the PACTFashion group. Celebrating progress and seeing a live t-shirt cutting design demonstration reinforced how contributions to the community can really pay off! It’s particularly exciting when the PACT initiative is so close to heart.

The evening ended off with a salsa lesson and a workout on the dance floor. The positive, upbeat momentum just kept going. What a Saturday night worth re-living!

Toronto Rotaractors attend Puttin’ on the Glitz – the annual winter fundraiser for the Rotaract Club of Mississauga

100 Volunteers for the 100th Grey Cup

torontorotaract — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 16:17:43 +0000

By: Sarah Hui

Around 150 volunteers including Rotaractors, Rotarians, Argos Foundation, Eva’s Initiatives, Toronto Brigantine as well as friends and family were out selling 50/50 Raffle tickets at the 100th Grey Cup held in Toronto on Sunday, November 25th, 2012. The event was an overwhelming success and all the tickets sold out more than an hour before the game even started!

In fact, there were game attendees who were coming up to our group asking for more tickets and we had to redirect them to other sellers around the area. The crowd was enthusiastic about the 50/50 Raffle and even several people came up to us asking to buy $100 worth of tickets.

This fundraising effort raised over $30,000 for the different charities. One of which included funding for the Rotary Youth Expo that will be held in May to inspire 800 youth in grade 8,9 and 10 students from schools in the Regent Park area and beyond.

It was an exciting game for all, especially since the Toronto Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders 35 to 22 with a half time show that included Justin Bieber, Gordon Lightfoot, Marianas Trench and Carly Rae Jepsen.

Rotaractors sell 50/50 Tickets at the 100th Grey Cup Game in Toronto

Rotaract and Rotary Support UforChange

torontorotaract — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 04:09:10 +0000

By: Leslie Lee

On November 16th, 2012, Rotary Club of Toronto hosted a lunch at the Royal York Hotel, where Chalo Barrueta, the Executive Director of UforChange, was recognized for his charity’s mission. UforChange, which provides a 6 month creative program to high risk youth, received $14,000 from the Rotary Club of Toronto.

UforChange had recently gone through some cuts in funding, and during Chalo’s thank you speech, he announced his hopefulness for the future of his charity, that included Google as a new sponsor. His speech provides insight into the difference Rotary can make for its community.

Guest speaker, Ivan X. de Souza, President & CEO of the Brazilian Carnival Ball, also made a rather spicy speech, which included the showing of a YouTube video of what exactly the Ball entails (lots of dancing, fun, and beautiful decorations and entertainment!). The mission of the Brazilian Carnival Ball is to raise money for a variety of important causes in healthcare, research, culture and education in both Toronto and Brazil. This is accomplished by providing an authentic Brazilian extravaganza, with an entertaining evening of fun and excitement.

What made the Ball hit home in our hearts was when Ivan shared his story of how his beloved wife, Anna Maria de Souza, Founder of the Brazilian Carnival Ball, raised millions of dollars for numerous charities, and how her passing away to cancer in 2007 is a touching issue that keeps him connected to what the Brazilian Ball supports.

All in all, it was a good Friday lunch with past, present and future projects presented, and for members to understand the impact they do have when they contribute.

UforChange Representative Chalo poses with Rotaract Toronto members at the Rotary Club of Toronto Meeting