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C-K Rotary continues to meet in cyberspace!

Although we can't meet physically we want everyone to know we are still meeting every week remotely. We have had three weekly meetings so far, and if anyone, Rotarian from across the world or non-Rotarian (or as we like to call you, "soon to be Rotarians") would like to attend, please send an email with your name to info@ckrotary.org and we will send an invite.
Stay safe everyone!

Rotary Clubs in Kingston Step Up Together to Help!

Four Rotary Clubs in Kingston, including C-K Rotary have stepped up big time to help families and especially kids who are experiencing food insecurity through the Covid crisis. Here are some of the details of this project;

There are some 4,000 students who participate in the Food Sharing program in schools. Many of these children receive breakfast, lunch and a snack every school day between September and June. My program, Isthmus, bridges the gap between Friday and Monday for these children giving them a hamper of food for the weekend. With COVID-19, numbers are growing and will continue to do so.
When the schools closed, these programs had to rethink how to get food to these children (and their families). The FSP and Isthmus partnered sharing resources and ideas and, with the help of the Limestone District and Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District school boards, and with other partners like Lionhearts and Stock Transportation, we developed a new model. The education boards sought permission from families to share their addresses, phone numbers and number of children in each family. They have subsequently, through their Principals, identified families in need and received the necessary permissions. As of 3:00 pm today, almost 400 families in 31 schools have asked to participate in our food distribution program. Again, this number is sure to grow as situations become more precarious.

We held our first distribution on Friday handing out 226 hampers to 167 families. This test involved the 5 schools that my program serves. Those schools are Rideau Heights PS, JG Simcoe PS, Molly Brant PS, Centennial PS and St. Francis of Assisi CS. Food was purchased or donated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hampers were packed on Thursday and Friday. The food was delivered between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm on Friday. Families receiving the food were so thankful!

For this delivery, the hampers included the following items: one block of cheese, one litre of milk, broccoli, a small bag of carrots, 4 apples, 4 bananas, 4 oranges, 2 boxes of mac and cheese, a can of pasta sauce, a package of spaghetti, 2 cups of apple sauce, 2 juice boxes, a loaf of bread and 2 packages of oatmeal. Not enough food to get the family through a whole week but we assume they have other sources of food.

The bread is donated by Cobbs bakery through Lionhearts. The rest of the food is purchased at wholesale prices from Deodatos, Grants No Frills and the Wholesale Club.

Going forward, the plan is to run the Isthmus program (5 schools) one week and the Food Sharing Project the next (26 schools) alternating between the two.
Paul Elsley, Rotary Club of Kingston
P.S. Since I first wrote this note, the number of schools and families has gone up.

For examples of our work locally, see the stories below on our recently awarded local grants.

Regional and National Service projects update (2017 - February 2020)

Are you an established professional who wants to make positive changes in your community and the world? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. We provide opportunities for youth development, partner through local grants with other organizations to meet community needs, and collaborate with Rotarians internationally to serve in Kenya, India, and other parts of the world. Become a Rotarian and join our diverse group of business and professional leaders in service and fellowship.

Annual Report 2017-2018

Laura Tamblyn Watts - Seniors in Isolation

John Farrow introduced our guest speaker, remarking that Queen’s University is a great source of speakers for our club. The recent Alumni magazine had a feature article on Laura. A 1994 grad, she is a recognized expert in elder law an elder issues. Laura has started a program through Queen’s and also started a national seniors’ advocacy organization, CanAge.

Please see the speaker’s slides: Rotary Club May 19 Social Isolation

Laura: (It's still dark here in British Columbia.) Thank you for the invitation. I have been connected to Rotary for many years. Our family has hosted two Rotary Youth Exchange students.

Kingston is about as COVID free as anywhere in the country, so stay there!

CanAge is a national not-for-profit which collaborates with Queen’s, government, and a variety of other agencies. It’s mission “is to advance the rights and well-being of Canadians as we age.” Its vision, “for older Canadians to live vibrant and connected lives,” is for the polar opposite of social isolation.

As a senior, if you’re well connected and don’t smoke, you’re probably doing pretty well. Laura shared some of her personal experience in dealing with COVID-19. Her parents are Queen’s grads and her son has finished first year at Queen’s. Her parents, 83 years old, have great social networks and are active and healthy. It took a while for them to get used to the COVID-19 situation. She had to tell them starkly that if they got sick, they were going to die and nobody would give them medical services. It was the first time in their lives that they had experienced social isolation and the first time that they had to ask for help, including for grocery shopping.

CanAge creates seniors' projects through partnerships. A most recent one links Queen’s students and senior alumni. In planning this, when Laura approached the V-P of Advancement, Laura told her that she hoped Queen’s was not asking elders for money at this time. Thankfully, it was not. Instead, the Office of Advancement collaborated in creating a friendship program. Laura asked the United Way for help, as she did with Canadian Frailty Network and Elder Abuse Prevention (ON). They had the program up and running within 1 1/2 weeks. Organizations are working together in a way she’s never seen in 25 years of work, launching new programs very quickly.

Laura gave us some background on social isolation and how bad it is for our health. One study out of Harvard compared the impact of social isolation to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. People need about 3 to 4 good relationships, including intergenerational relationships. It is very challenging to raise money for programs for seniors. But this one time, since all people have experienced some form of isolation, it has been easier. A phone call two to three times a week to a senior can have a huge impact on physical and mental health. Social isolation and loneliness are not the same thing. Social isolation is the idea that you really don’t have people to reach out to if you wanted. A recent study in Holland measured all the health indicators when a program for 4-year-olds was moved into a long-tern care centre. The functionality of residents increased remarkably.

Laura shared some statistics on social isolation among Canadians before COVID-19. Sixty-two percent or seniors would like more time with friends and family. During COVID-19, 54% of Canadians report feeling lonely.

Laura also shared info about abuse and neglect. No government has given any money to address this during the Covid Crisis. About one in five seniors experienced abuse and neglect before COVID-19, now the figure is possibly one in three. Two-thirds of this is propagated by family and friends. Financial abuse is also very high. Laura and the organizations with which she works are trying to figure out how to address this problem. COVID-19 frauds and scams came out very quickly.

The Queen’s program matches students with older people. Queen’s found about 6,000 Queen’s alumni across Canada who might have been at risk. Training for the students starts with various myths and ensures that they have a good understanding of who they’ll be contacting. Only 8% of seniors will ever be in a nursing home. All are vulnerable to the virus, but many may not be otherwise vulnerable. It’s important not to treat seniors like children. About half of people over 80 have some cognitive impairment. Mild impairment starts showing up about 10 years before diagnosis of serious dementia. Families don’t necessarily take care of their senior parents, as many are physically distant from them. Often the older person is the one supporting the younger. Hearing loss is very common, so students need to take that into account in their conversations. Reading lips of people with masks is impossible, so this is a problem for those who rely on lip-reading. Laura's mother can no longer read (some) people’s lips.

The program started early in the COVID-19 situation, and had 50 volunteers very quickly. Then Alumni Associations started participating. The program has been running for about three weeks and is already being much appreciated. Communities are being built. The United Way guidelines on communication are being followed.

email: laura@CanAge.ca

Twitter: @ltamblynwatts

Questions:

John Gale: How are you able to measure elder abuse?
Laura: It’s too early for absolute numbers. The Elder Mistreatment Survey, the largest of its kind, gives detailed background. Abuse takes many forms. We’re currently looking at agency response numbers, including from the police and seniors’ help lines. Call volumes are up about 10 times what they were in pre-COVID-19 times. Usually elder abuse is significantly under-reported.

John Farrow: Laura, first, I feel for you in dealing with your parents. It took my wife and her two sisters two weeks to convince her parents to return from Florida. What finally convinced them was that they couldn’t be guaranteed their health insurance coverage would hold if they got sick. Second, as an initiative of the Southern Frontenac Community Services, whose Grace Centre is closed, a group of volunteers led by its Executive Director David Townsend, are calling every senior they service once or twice a week.

Laura: I live in B.C. and Toronto. In Toronto, I’m seeing people checking in or their neighbours. Faith communities and others are doing a lot of work. Current restrictions limit support from family care-givers.

Robert Reid: Will your son stay in BC with Queen’s going online?

A: It depends on whether the community wants him back! He loves Kingston and Queen’s. “What would you like to do?” “I’d like to go back to Kingston.” The loss to students is big. They’re learning a lot about resilience.

Laura: It is interesting to hear stories about influenza pandemic and other past events. I really want to hear stories from our community. Please send them to me.

Ana Sutherland thanked Laura, explaining that we would normally give her a loaf of bread.

Laura pointed us two a major reference on elder abuse: Into the Light: National Survey on the Mistreatment of Older Canadians 2015 (NICE National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly. Dr. Lynn McDonald (University of Toronto), Principal Investigator/Author)

Laura's Power Point presentation can be seen at https://ckrotary.org/documents/en-us/224e8005-a4c7-442d-bb6c-cabd2b46006d/1/

Jackie Blakney - Classification Talk

Not to be deterred by Covid-19, we continue to have guest speakers!

Ana introduced our speaker for today, Jackie Blakney. Ana met Jackie through BNI and became friends and business colleagues then introduced her to Rotary.

Jackie is a real estate broker and has loved real estate since she was young. She bought her first house at the age of 18! Jackie served as a law clerk for 20 years in real estate, all the while raising two kids on her own. The last 15 years she has been selling real estate. People ask her why - she simply responds I had two kids and a mortgage to pay! Jackie had nine people working in her office. They sold 165 homes last year but she wanted to bring a more personal touch to her business, so she’s downsized to a team including her sister, her two sons and a full-time assistant located at Remax Finest on Gardiners Road.

Jackie thought everyone wanted to know how real estate was managing during the Covid crisis. Several government bodies regulate real estate - new clauses are present in every offer. There is a chance that the registry office might be closed to process transactions and allowances are made for this. Interactions with people now mean masks, gloves, buyer and seller declarations, and acknowledgement of the risks of open houses. Although a lot is done virtually Jackie cautioned that buying a house totally over the Internet is not a good idea. When showing a home now sellers are asked to turn on the lights, leave the doors open, some of the cupboards open, and the perspective buyers are only allowed to touch the doorknobs which are cleaned often. Buyers even leave their shoes outside. Jackie also belongs to an organization of the top 100 Remax agents across Canada. They chat daily about ways to meet the challenges. She doesn’t listen to the news much but the phones are ringing, probably because Canadians are not good at being cooped up. We have withstood that for 30 to 45 days, but now people need to move and real estate is an essential service. Jackie continues to offer services like grocery delivery to senior clients - she has some clients in care homes and arranged for a delivery of chocolate recently to one of them. One of the great things is how we’re helping each other, and and she is actually enjoying spring for the first time in a long time because it’s usually her busiest season. She thinks there may be a surge coming - she has 20 listings ready to go and some people just can’t wait. There are still bidding wars although instead of ten bidders we now have two or three.

Questions? John Farrow asked what is the status of the military? Jackie functions as a rental agent as well as a sales agent for military. Transactions that were already in process have been completed and the leaders are moving regardless of the Covid crisis. She said that the effect on the Kingston real estate market market is not as big as you think.
John also asked the difference between a broker and an agent. Jackie responded after becoming an agent there is an education process to get to be a broker - you can then become our broker manager and a broker owner when you own real estate brokerage.

Greg Mumford asked about her partner Tim? They are separate now. Jackie figures she has about 10 years left in real estate and it was a business decision to downsize.

Bill Egnatoff asked if Jackie has mentored other agents? Jackie responded she mentors both clients and agents - she gives lots of new agents advice and they share forms and good ideas. She learns from her daily interactions with customers and shares them with her team. Real estate is full of problems and she learns every day how to handle those. Some day she will write a book about mushrooms, bats, and buried logs!

Martin asked how does it affect your family time? Jackie said it’s tough when you’re a single mom - you need to learn to set time aside for yourself. She once had a seller call her on Christmas Eve but politely rebuffed them. She’s never worked on Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Jackie is part of a large family which matters to her a lot - she shares this with her team and she tells her sons "don’t be like me"!

Thanks for a great talk Jackie!

Dr. Karen Lawford, Department of Gender Studies, Queen's University

Karen’s background includes a B.Sc. in Sciences from Trent University and a Bachelor in Health Sciences specializing in midwifery. She went on to earn a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Gender Studies at Queen’s. Her research interests are; maternity care on reserves, medical evacuation, Midwifery, Indigenous feminist theories and methodologies, Indigenous women and Two Spirit Leadership, Indigenous health and wellness, and health care.

Karen loves finding a solution to a problem. She has investigated how health care systems work. Health care in Canada involves many levels of government…Federal, Provincial and Territorial systems, although most people are unaware of the Federal system. The Federal level of health care deals with the military, First Nations, penitentiaries and the RCMP. A lot of these jurisdictional divisions go back to 1867, and also to the Indian Act of 1876. This act allowed the government to have authority over all aspects of the lives of people on the reserves. They were unable to leave a reserve without a pass, and attendance at the residential schools was compulsory. If children were not sent there, the RCMP would come and get them. The reserves are on what is considered Crown land, and this means residents cannot own the land, or make money from it. The Indian Act also specified that they couldn’t sell crops grown on the land. This illustrates the power of the Indian Act. Some groups recently have taken the government to court, for things like the under funding of schools.

Karen’s specific interest is health care. If you live on reserve then health care is federally provided. Each reserve has its own funding agreement. Care used to be provided by nurses, but some nursing stations are being closed, partly because there have been recent 40% cuts in funding.

Karen showed us a map of Canada that showed the large number of tribal councils with different health care systems being managed by the Federal government. It looks like a logistical nightmare. All councils have different agreements with the Federal government. All of Canada is covered by some Aboriginal treaty, but Indigenous people are saying that health care isn’t a treaty right but rather a human right. Many treaties were signed under duress and in English which those signing didn’t understand.

There are also four Inuit regions in Canada. Comprehensive land agreements there include health care. They cannot be negotiated any more even though the treaty was signed years ago, although there have been challenges to this now.

Karen’s research during her M.A. found that in 1892 the government hired two obstetricians to deliver babies on reserves. Now there is an evacuation policy, which means that toward the end of her pregnancy a woman has to travel to a larger city to wait for labor and delivery. Astonishingly, this is still in effect. One of the women in her research in Manitoba had to fly out of her community to Norway House and await delivery. There is no prenatal education provided and no prenatal care. When a woman leaves her community to give birth there is no provision for a family member to accompany her. She is not allowed an escort. Another woman drove herself 1.5 hours to Winnipeg. Because it turned out that she wasn’t actually in labour, she had to make this trip three times. This was her first pregnancy. She did have prenatal care from a nurse on her reserve, and two weeks of post-partum care. If there had been a midwife on reserve she would have received the proper care most Canadian women have access to. There is also the difficulty of having different health care systems involved in their care, and there seems to be a communication problem between these two providers.

Robert Reid thanked Karen with our traditional loaf of bread, and the hope that reconciliation will lead to better understanding.

Dr. Elaine Power, Head of Gender Studies, Queen's University

John Farrow introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Elaine Power, Department of Gender Studies, Queen’s University. Elaine's research areas are poverty, gender, equality, and how this all relates to food insecurity. John was searching for a speaker leading up to International Women's Day, and Dr. Power's research seemed a good fit for presenting to our club.

Dr. Power is actually part of the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, and has only recently been chosen to also head up Gender Studies. In the School of K and H Studies, she taught a course on the social determinants of health. This has led to her current research.

Elaine reminded us that our area is part of the “Dish With One Spoon Territory” - a wonderful metaphor that speaks of an Aboriginal treaty with the dish representing the earth and the spoon representing peace.

What is Food Insecurity? How is it measured? What strategies do people use to deal with it? And what should we, who don't experience it, do to help? At it core, food insecurity is the feeling on not having sufficient money to be able to feed yourself or your family—not having enough money closely is connected with insufficient food, with serious health and welfare consequences. Food Insecurity is measured at household level, but experienced at the individual level, which is where gender enters the picture. Women will do almost anything to protect their children from hunger and will also sacrifice for their male partners in the same way.

Food insecurity is measured country wide, but unfortunately not consistently. Provinces can opt out in Federal measurements of the issue, which means incomplete data to help analyze the problem. Surveys show there are 3 levels of food insecurity.

(marginal) worried about running out of food or having to buy poor food.
(moderate) compromised quality or quantity
(severe) going hungry, skipping meals

Elaine has also done recent research on Queen’s students experiencing food insecurity, which she described as heartbreaking, shocking, and it kept her up nights thinking about the issue.

Surveys are conducted with target groups - there are different questions for adult and child surveys, and these questions are based over the experiences of the past year. The questions were developed out of focus groups with low-income families in the U.S.

Data for Canada. 2012 was last national study, analysis from 2014.

about 12%, 1 in 8 households are affected by food insecurity, about 4 million Canadians, 1 in 6 kids. We expect a lowering of the numbers due to increases to the Child Tax Benefit, but are waiting on the newest results. We also know the data are lower than the reality because Indigenous peoples on reserves, the homeless, and other marginalized groups are not counted. The highest rates of food insecurity are in Nunavuut (46.8%), and the lowest is in Saskatchewan (10.6%). In 2015 Ontario opted out, which skews data for whole country.
Households most likely to be affected by food insecurity; those on social assistance, Aboriginal households off reserve; families with a black head of household (yes, in Canada); single moms with kids; new Canadians; those that don't own a home
Low income rates for senior families and unattached individuals, through Guaranteed Income Supplement, fell from high in mid-70s of 35% to under 5%. This helped seniors with pension benefits fall into the group least likely to experience food insecurity.
The link between food insecurity and health care costs is strong - average health care costs rise dramatically as food insecurity increases, especially physician expenses and cost of prescriptions.
In Kingston, about 15% of households are food insecure, about the same as considered living in poverty.

Elaine showed how much money is left after rent is paid for those on Ontario Works, Full Time Minimum Wage, and Median Ontario Income. If your are on social assistance, it is almost impossible to pay the rent and buy decent food. Considered family of four and single person. Those on Ontario Works in Kingston actually can't even come close to the amount needed for food.

Adding to the depth of her research, Elaine talked about the strategies people that experience food insecurity use to cope;

using coupons, returning bottles
odd jobs
juggling and postponing bill payments,
borrowing money
selling possessions
buying food on credit
shopping at discount stores
calculating costs in the grocery store
buying grocery store gift cards when $ are available

Also used are food strategies liking recipe stretching, cutting portion sizes or food groups, and as mentioned, women giving up food to make sure their children are fed.

Elaine also showed us discussion notes from focus group of seniors who are coping with food insecurity. Many of these seniors had health problems, and coped with not enough food be sleeping more, drinking more water or tea, or smoking. These quotes really brought a more human face to the issue.

What should society do?

First off food banks are ineffective. Only 20% go to them and they aren’t enough. People who use food banks just stay food insecure. Increased income and secure employment are what is needed. The only effective response will be an effective poverty elimination strategy.

After several questions Murray thanked our speaker. His mother lived through Depression. She made sure her children ate, and taught her kids to budget. Murray noted that 50% of kids in north end of Kingston go without breakfast. Our club is working on these issues and maybe we can work together.

Easter Seals Launch - Nicole and Jessica Lessiter

Our speakers today were introduced by Elizabeth Cohoe. Todd Colborne of the Kingston Club joined Rotary 22 years ago and immediately joined the Easter Seals Committee. He has been involved in Easter Seals since that time. Special guests were an Easter Seals mother and daughter, Nicole and three year old Jessica Lessiter.

Todd began with a slide presentation. We learned that Easter Seals was founded in 1922 by a group of Rotary Clubs in southern Ontario, and has now spread to all provinces. Money raised stays in the region where it was donated, based on postal codes. Easter Seals serves kids with physical disabilities. Easter Seals is approaching its 100-year celebration, and to celebrate, the Kingston Club is creating a campfire area for camp Merrywood for the centenary.

Todd outlined the structure of Easter Seals and talked about the two camps in Ontario. Children served are under the age of 19, are permanent residents of Ontario, with a permanent disability that requires a assistive device. There are also post secondary scholarships available through Easter Seals. Families apply mostly because raising a child with a physical disability is very costly. The equipment is not only expensive, but also needs to be replaced as children grow. They may need multiple devices and this can cost up to $40,000 a year. Todd showed examples of how much these items can cost. It was also interesting to hear about Camp Merrywood, as the activities that are available are pretty typical of any children’s camp. This camp costs about $2,500 for a 10-day session.

The kick off for this year’s campaign will be on Feb 20^th 5-7 pm at Kingsbridge Retirement Centre. There will be TV segments over the next month. Team fundraising will take place as it has in past. Your business can support the effort with an ad. CKWS donates the cost of these adsto Easter Seals. Todd suggested that Rotary Clubs could do an ad, and there are sponsorship opportunities also available. There are also other local events throughout the year. This year’s pancake breakfast at Smitty’s is one of them.

(Todd will send a link to a great video which will be circulated to all members.)

Todd is assisting Jim Rymerson to set up our club team. Jim is team captain this year, thanks to him for volunteering! We can donate on the page he is setting up online, and we can also donate offline by cheque or credit card. Forms are available at club meetings.

Nicole Lessiter talked about her and her husband’s experience being parents to Jessica who is three years old. Jessica was born with a very rare neurological condition called Pitt Hopkins Syndrome. It affects every muscle in her body. Symptoms include developmental delay, breathing apneas, seizures and reflux. At the age of three she is unable to walk, and some with this condition never do. She will be forever non-verbal, but it is possible for her to have a good life. They knew early that there was a problem but they had to wait for testing. They have been involved with Easter Seals since 2018. Having no benefits through employment, Easter Seals may be the only way to afford what Jessica needs. As funds are not unlimited though, they were advised in 2018 that money available had run out by August. In 2019 the funds ran out in July. Nicole talked about some of the special devices needed for Jessica and they are very expensive. For example, an appropriate walker would be $2,500. Her wheel chair was almost $6,000., and she will outgrow it. Parents try to find the money and only use Easter Seals as a last resort. Easter Seals gives parents $400 a year for diapers. The government doesn’t assist. Other needs include car seats, bed stairs and lifts. Parents try to conserve and share equipment as their children out grow things. That’s how they got their first $10,000., stroller. During Jessica’s first year, the cost for equipment, meds, and special food was $50,000. They have downsized their home twice in order to help make Jessica’s care affordable. The reason Nicole presented this information about cost was to emphasize that donations are really important.

The link for Easter Seals Eastern Ontario is http://www.easterseals.org/contact-us/ontario-east-region/

Krista Leclair of the Kingston Club is the Senior Development Officer for the Kingston Area

The link to Camp Merrywood is https://www.eastersealscamps.org/about/camp-merrywood

Heather Nogrady thanked Todd and Nicole and presented our traditional loaf of bread to Nicole.

Steve Snyder, Queen's Golden Gaels Football Coach - "Dog Stamps and ABC's"

John Farrow introduced our speaker Steven Snyder, Queen's Golden Gaels Head Football Coach. Steve is only the fifth coach in Queen’s football history (no pressure there), so there's the weight of history on him! Born in London, Ontario, Steve played football for St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, but returned to coach at Western University. John thanked Queen’s Alumni Magazine for reporting Steve's story, giving him the idea for the invite.

Steve began by thanking us for the invitation. People only see the 'game face' of Queen's Football and don't realize that there is so much going on behind the scenes. There are 110 student athletes on the team – the staff recruited all of them, and purposely brought them to Queen’s. Queen's Football operates 365 days a year and the student athletes are committed to the team 6 days a week! There are also 13 coaches, 5 of whom are full-time paid employees, plus 3 team doctors, 2 physiotherapists, 2 videographers. 2 equipment managers and more. This means there aree over 125 people as part of the Queen's football family.

Steve focuses heavily on team culture and coaching his assistant coaches – which is a different role for him from when he was one of the assistant coaches at Western. At 34 years old, Steve is the youngest university football head coach in Canada. The foundation of his philosophy and team is ‘reliability’. This translates to the ABC's: A-Always show up for your commitments, B-Be on time (early is on time), and C-Communicate (beforehand, if you can’t do A or B). If you live your life by the ABC's success will follow.

Pride in a team comes from ownership – the greatest teams are formed when the teams themselves take the leadership role. In Steve's first team meeting the names of all the players were posted and the team members were asked to vote on the most reliable members – those 14 guys unite the team and drive the culture forward. Called the Unity Council – they have a direct role in what the team does. When Steve wants to institute a new protocol, they help him roll it out.

Relationships are key and there must be broader connection than just football – even if football isn’t going well, Steve wants to have a healthy, positive connection through mentorship. To this end, Steve also developed the 'Gael for Life' program, which teaches life skills for success beyond football and Queen’s. The influence of a coach is so extensive in the lives of the players (Steve sees them more than their parents do) - why would they want to confine their world to 'just chasing a football'? The idea is to prepare people for life beyond football with life skills. The Unity Council helped to decide what life skills are most important to learn: networking, responsible social media use, home ownership, job interviews and resume building, basic financial literacy….. and the team was even taught handshaking! Can’t have a sub-par handshake! Steve believes that the players will be meeting many people over their careers and first impressions count.

Steve says this is the most fun as he's ever had as a coach – for 6 days, 12 hours a day, the coaching staff interviewed every player in a mock job interview situation and then gave each other feedback. Then the staff shared top job interview questions to be prepared for when the players are in this situation again. All the players wanted to know when they could do this again! This led Steve to ask us to please consider our students for any summer employment opportunities you may know about. You will benefit from having a dedicated employee at your business.

As part of the Gaels' commitment to Kingston, the team has a Community Engagement coach – team members participate in food bank fundraising (Tackle Hunger), autism mentorship, and are in the local schools several times a year. Steve says we have no professional football team, so the Gaels want to be the best team representing Kingston.

The Gaels only play 8 regular season games in a year, and can only play a maximum of 13 if the go all the way, but we keep working every day for the balance of the year. There is no 'sitting on the couch' for these guys. Every day the work on conditioning, developing football skills, and preparing for that next game.

Right now Steve and the coaches are in the recruiting phase. Each week they bring 4-6 student athletes to campus to check us out. This week there are 4 from British Columbia, next week students from Manitoba. We have 3 separate evaluations of each candidate’s potential : physical (in person or videotape of playing - the 'dog' stamp), academic (transcripts - the 'scholar' stamp), and most importantly, character – that’s where Steve comes in : will they contribute to the culture? Can we trust them? Will they be reliable? They snoop on them (social media), talk to their High School coach, visit the family home, high school etc. The team is looking for OKG's (Our Kinda Guy) for the final stamp – driven to graduate (can they succeed even without football); passionate about the ‘process’ of football (90% of what we do is preparation); respectful and responsible: you’re representing our team – we must treat everyone with respect. Our number 1 goal is to be the most respected team on campus and in the community. Our number 2 goal is to win the championship. Steve wants to build champions that can win us a championship.

In closing, Steve talked about their marvelous stadium, and invited us to come out see a game (maybe a Rotary Day?). He also spoke briefly about his time playing professional football in Germany, where he met the women who would become his wife.

Steve was thanked today for his presentation by Ed Thompson. Steve is an intense fellow who is should take the Gaels football team to new heights, and develop some amazing young adults in the process.

Doug Townsend, Honourary Rotarian

President Ana Sutherland was pleased to induct Doug Townsend as an Honourary Rotarian this morning. Doug is a Charter Member of Cataraqui Rotary.

"Godfather" Fred Richmond with Doug

In reflecting on his almost 35 years as a Rotarian, Doug told us that in 1985 the two Kingston clubs (Kingston and Kingston-Frontenac) realized that there was a need and room for another Rotary club in Kingston, and that the new club should be a breakfast club. On May 10th, 1985, The Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston was chartered with 26 members, although the club had been meeting since April of that year. Membership has waxed and waned over the years, as has membership in many service clubs.

Another significant event that Doug reflected on was the admission of women in to Rotary in 1987. Rotary was taken to the California Supreme Court where it was determined that it was a public organization, not a private club. Shortly after the decision Kingston and Cataraqui-Kingston admitted their first female members, much to the benefit of Rotary according to Doug. One practice that fell by the wayside was the telling of jokes to avoid a fine from the Fine Master, as the jokes were on the risque side. How far we have come!

Initially our major source of funds was from bingo, and the club made many donations to local organizations, including major ones to KGH. Doug has been very involved with the local grants process over the past ten years, where his actuarial training has been invaluable in collating hundreds of grant applications into easy to handle summaries. Doug has also tracked the numbers and told us that we have handed out over $250,000 during the 10-year history of the present grants process (and $100,000 to International projects it was added).

Being granted Honourary membership legitimizes his work on the Grants, annual Auction, and Rotary Centennial Project. Doug is honoured to be a member of Cataraqui Rotary.