Events

There will be no morning meeting this week. See you at The Rotary Foundation Dinner with Rotary International Past-President and Foundation Trustee Jennifer Jones.

Suha Osman, currently Donor Services Officer with the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area, will speak about an initiative she started called "School Supplies for Sudan," which provides school-children with access to essential resources necessary for learning. She started the project after completing her graduate studies in International Public Policy in 2022. Utilizing her marketing and communications skills as well as personal connections at a local high school in Kingston and her alma mater in Waterloo, she was able to support an all-girls primary school in rural Khartoum, Sudan in the spring of 2023. Since then, she has facilitated two additional fundraisers to support displaced Sudanese students' access to quality education and to support displaced families in Sudan and Egypt. To date, the organization she founded has been able to raise over $35,000 USD, used to directly address barriers to education for Sudanese students.

Suha holds an Honours B.A. from Laurier in Global Studies and Political Science and a Masters in International Public Pollicy with a specialization in International Economic Relations, from Balsillie School of International Affairs.

There will be no morning meeting this week. Club social this week will by at the Newcomers Dinner on November 28th (see club calendar).

In this club  assembly, we will discuss all the gatherings that we attend as Rotarians: our regular club meetings, special events that we organize, and special events of our partners. What events are working well for us, and what events are not? What new sorts of events should we consider and why? For each type of event, we will consider:

• purpose: fellowship, club business, education, outreach, service, . . .
• timing, scheduling
• format: structure/agenda, meal, workbee, entertainment
• who we'll invite and why
• who will plan and run it
• any other matter we wish to raise that will help us develop

This meeting will include:

• Election of officers for 2025-26
• Club financial report
• Highlights of our service in 2024-25
• Foundation report
• Adoption of revisions to our bylaws

Please join us for a special holiday banquet at which we celebrate the work of Darkspark and its co-founders Melissa Larkin and D'Ari Lisle.

Date and time: Tuesday December 17, 2024, 5:30-8:30

Location: Upper Hall, The Spire, 82 Sydenham Street (accessible), Kingston

Program

Fellowship: cash bar (alcoholic and non-alcoholic)

Banquet: buffet holiday dinner with turkey, coffee and tea, dessert

Presentation of Paul Harris Fellowship to Melissa Larkin and D'Ari Lisle

Guest presentation: Melissa and D’Ari will share their story and music

Registration

Registration required by December 10: Cataraqui-Kingston Holiday Celebration

Payment: $45/person (e-transfer for autodeposit:  rotarydapontethomson@gmail.com OR cheque to Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston. For either payment method indicate "C-K Rotary December holiday celebration."

Background

Darkspark is an internationally recognized not-for-profit organization and culturally diverse network of recording artists, educators, music producers, and filmmakers who harness pop culture as an effective catalyst for social change. Darkspark develops the capability of youth to give voice to their concerns and aspirations through song, rap, and videostorytelling. Our club has provided support for Darkspark's work with youth since 2017, most recently for their year-long VERSIONS program. This celebration is an opportunity to hear the Darkspark story and inspire others to join us in continuing the collaboration.

Join us today as club member Alan Macdonald speaks about his 6 week trip to New Zealand and Australia with his two sons.

Join us today as club member Alan Macdonald continues to speaks about his 6 week trip to New Zealand and Australia with his two sons--this time focussing entirely on four weeks in New Zealand.

Join us for an evening meeting at Kingston Secondary School as we welcome Melissa and D'Ari from Darkspark.

Illness prevented them from attending our holiday event in December - this will be a very special meeting featuring a musical performance.

Details with time of the event to follow.

Come and hear three of our recent Community Service grant recipients talk about the progress of their projects.

See C-K Rotary's impact in our community. 

This week we will feature representatives from:

• H'Art Centre - Andrea Fitzgerald
• Sistema Kingston/Joe's M.I.L.L. - Karma Tomm, Denis Leroux
• The Limestone Board of Education Classrooms Without Walls - Sharon Isbell

Anne Vivian-Scott is President and CEO of BKIN Technologies, based here in Kingston. BKIN makes the Kinarm, a tool that can be used in neurological research to help poeple recovering from stroke, neurological disease, or traumatic brain injury. Join us as Anne discusses the Kinarm and how it was developed.

https://kinarm.com/

We'll be joining the Rotary Club of Kingston-Frontenac in its event Wednesday evening, February 26.

Join us as Todd and guests launch the annual Easter Seals campaign to our Club.

Rotary has a long association with Easter Seals;

"The formation of Easter Seals Ontario can be traced back to November 28, 1922, when 10 representatives from seven Rotary Clubs (Hamilton, Windsor, Kitchener, Chatham, Toronto, Stratford and London) met in Windsor, Ontario to discuss the inadequate resources and support available for the province’s children with physical disabilities."

Join us as Aidan speaks from Cambridge University, where is pursuing studies as District 7040's Global Grants Scholar.

Aidan was sponsored in her application by C-K Rotary, and we are so proud of her.

Join us this morning as students from Holy Cross Secondary School report on their service trip in February. The students visited an orphanage, helped build homes, and other activities.

C-K Rotary International and Youth Service Committees supported the students on their trip.

Join us as we hear from Anna about what's new at the Museum of Health Care.

Join us today as we welcome Monica Brown, who will talk about the SUNRAY Fund.

This fund has been established to help Sudanese refugee students in Nairobi, Kenya with scholarships, mostly for secondary school.

From their website;

The SUNRAY Fund wants to change that story of hopelessness to a bright future by giving them an opportunity for education and providing them with the mentorship and guidance that all youth need.

https://sunrayfund.net/

Ryandale Transitional Housing operates at several locations in Kingston. Learn how Ryandale helps vunerable people in our community.

Ally is Rotary and Community Fundraising Coordinator for ShelerBox Canada. Join us as she provides an update on this important organization.

ShelterBox's vision is No One Without Shelter After a Disaster.

https://www.shelterboxcanada.org/about-shelterbox-canada/

We are headed to The Mess Studio to paint this evening!