Toronto City Mission

Posted by Gordon Brown on Oct 21, 2016
 
 
Attendance: 16 including 3 guests.
President Basil opened the meeting
Anthem: Frank
Grace: Peter
Toast to the Queen, Canada and Rotary – President Basil
Guests: Jackie Davis from the Toronto Club, guest speaker Dave Addison and Harry Hakomaki from Scarborough Twilight Club.
Announcements:
  • Basil announced that our guest Harry was here to pick up a cheque for $1,000 from our club we had agreed to for seed money for the Scarborough Renewal Initiative.
  • Dhanni advised there will be a Group Meeting at BR after lunch.
  • Basil had several other announcements:
  1. Baton Rouge Restaurant: Cost for lunch and menu. They want to increase the price from $17.92 (inc. tax & gratuities) to $19.84. Basil, Maddy and Gordon met with BR before lunch and they will ‘come up’ with something in the next couple of days so it can be discussed at the Board Meeting on Monday.
  2. Scarborough Bluff Rotary Club has invited us to join them in celebrating their 40th Anniversary on Friday October 28th at JCs Banquet Hall. This is located at 1686 Ellesmere Road, just east of McCowan Road. The cost is $40, Cocktails at 6:00 pm, and dinner at 7:00. Dress is formal.
  3. The Etobicoke Rotary Club is holding a Beaujolais Nouveau evening of wines, delicious food and music on Thursday November 17th at the Mimico Cruising Club. The cost is $75, and all proceeds go to support the victims of the Italian Earthquake.
  4. Remember to deliver your gloves to the schools if you have volunteered to do so. This is a project for the entire club.
  5. Just a reminder that the District 7070 Conference takes place on October 21st and 22nd at the Sheraton Parkway at Leslie and Hwy 7. Registration on Friday Oct. 21 starting at 4:00; Welcome Party at 6:30, and several hospitality suites. Great speakers; check out the District website.
  6. I came up with some unique fund raising ideas for our club. Starting this December, we will be selling Christmas cakes and hams. If the profit on each item is $1.00, we only have to sell 20,000 items to raise $20,000. That’s only 667 items per member. I’m sure that with family and friends we can do it. And then next year we will roll out the ticket sales campaign, selling tickets for an all-expense paid week for two in Buffalo. Second prize will be two weeks for two.
  7. TV Auction, TV Auction, TV Auction! The deadline for bringing in items to be registered is October 28, a date which will soon be here. At our most recent Board Meeting, we heard of a lot of causes asking for our support. We need everybody stepping up to the plate to be able to answer the call to duty.
  8. I need four people to help with making phone calls to the people who bought items at last year’s auction. I have a list with phone numbers, and a suggested script for the calls.
 
Marbelous Draw: Arthur asked our guest Jackie to draw the ticket which was claimed by Jackie!!, but she couldn’t find the mutant marble so was given $5 as a consolation.
 
Sergeant-At-Arms: Frank donated for the weeks he had been away and missed meetings. While he was in the U.K. he had seen a movie about the Beatles “Eight Days a Week”. He learned something from the movie and asked us if we knew the answer: “What was the significance of the Beatles concert in Jacksonville Florida in 1964?” Gerd came up with the answer “that’s where they met Elvis” was incorrect, then he came up with the correct answer which was that they refused to play to a segregated audience (the matter was corrected and they did eventually play). Those who didn’t know (everyone else) had to pay up.
Happy bucks: Gerd gave a donation as he and Dorothy had completed hiking several ‘trails’ (including The Bruce Trail) a total of 5,000kms! At one point they were in Tobermory and someone told a joke from the movie Men in Black, however it is not suitable to be reported here! David Seemungal gave as he had been to Trinidad at a Palliative Care Conference. Arthur donated as his daughter had taken him to see the play Sweeney Todd which he describes along the lines of being ‘horrific’ (the content not the quality).  
 
Program:            
Our guest from the Toronto Club, Jackie, introduced our speaker Dave Addison. He is the Executive Director of the Toronto City Mission. He has been married for 25 years and they have two sons. Dave and his family attend St. Paul’s Bloor Street where he is a former Trustee and continues to be an active lay leader. Dave has been at TCM since 2013. Prior to that he held several executive positions in various corporations. In 2010 he felt he had hit a wall and that the ‘corporate life’ was not for him. As stated he became ED for TCM in 2013 and feels that this is what he really wants to do. The Toronto City Mission is the oldest mission in the City of Toronto – since 1879. They are located at Birchmount and Huntingwood. He told us that their volunteers are really the backbone of the organization. They run several programs in various locations. One of the programs is ‘Role Model Moms’. This is essentially where moms who got pregnant in their youth and maybe had to drop out of school come to classes to get their GED. The classes are taught by volunteer teachers and there is a daycare there to look after their children while they are in class.
To find out more their website is: www.torontocitymission.com
 
Barry thanked Dave and presented him with one of our anniversary glasses.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There being no further business President Basil closed the meeting.
 
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