More than 700,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russian forces since the beginning of their invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.  Professor Oleska Dracewych of Western’s Department of History presented the chilling plight of these children to over 30 attendees at our Jan 30^th evening meeting.  His research includes the history of Soviet & Modern European foreign policy, Russia’s war in Ukraine and international communism.

It was an epic evening of cooking for the Community Fridge London (CFL).  In fact, the excitement was palpable, rivalling the Green Bay Packers win that afternoon and the Argos Grey Cup victory that evening!!

The cooking team consisted of the following:

All under the tutelage of Coach Barbra, who did a spectacular job of providing the recipes, cheering us on and keeping us all focused on the multiple tasks.

The final result was 25 containers of Shepherd’s Pie and 33 containers of White Bean and Spinach soup in various serving sizes.  All have been delivered to the CFL and are ready for distribution.

 

Thank you to all the hard-working volunteers.  A job really well done!

Rotarian Susan MacDonald from the Rotary Club of Southampton shared some ideas on how we as a Rotary Club can develop land acknowledgments and a better understanding with our local indigenous neighbours.

 

Rotary members from all the local Rotary clubs including Rotaract gathered in person at Fanshawe College and via zoom to hear the exciting news from CEO Travis Blackmore of Lionhearts Inc., a large, volunteer organization based in Kingston and Ottawa that sources a wide variety of products from Amazon, Costco, Walmart and other merchants (returned, surplus and mis-ordered items that otherwise are sent to landfill) and makes them available for free to non-profit organizations and agencies that serve disenfranchised and challenged persons and families in local neighbourhoods.  Lionhearts began in Kingston in 2014 and several years later expanded to Ottawa.  Both sites operate with active involvement and support from local Rotary Clubs.   Lionhearts also works collaboratively with existing organizations like Harvest Hands (already meeting food needs) to ensure no duplication but rather offers enhancements and expansions to their programs. Goods are also available at no cost to Rotary Clubs’ own projects (as just one example, backpacks filled with school supplies for children at schools in low income neighbourhoods).   For more information ahead of the meeting, visit  https://www.lionhearts.ca/ 

 

Lionhearts is now exploring an expansion of their operations to London, Ontario in the near future.  They are presently looking to secure a large warehouse (30,000 sq feet) where goods can be received, sorted, and made available to groups supporting persons in need.   They have already met with the Mayor to solicit support and cooperation from the City of London.