Greetings Fellow Rotarians!
It is so difficult to believe that we have ONE month left in this Rotary Year! Time is running out so quickly. I am actually a bit sad that there is so much more left that we could do this year and so little time!
I have completed my Feedback Letters to Clubs and hope that they have been of some value. You have all been “Lighting up Rotary” in your communities and the World in your own special ways throughout the year, and so many have benefitted! You have given hope by even lighting ONE candle to take away the darkness for that one person!
The month of May has no designated theme so we continue to carry on completing our Goals for the year and preparing for the next one!
Thompson Club Visit
We were thrilled to re-visit the Rotary Club of Thompson on May 14th to share in a very exciting time for them; SEVEN new members were inducted that evening preceded by several more prior to that fairly recently! The fellowship, energy and enthusiasm in the group were contagious. Congratulations to President Tom O’Brien and his Membership Committee who have been very successful thus far in growing and stabilizing the Club!
Polio Eradication
We are diligently working towards our Goal to eradicate polio, with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; please continue to support this cause by either purchasing the Just In Case Binders, Mr. Apple Discovers the Four Way Test or through personal contributions, if you wish.
Membership
When viewing the District Dashboard for Membership stats I was saddened by the fact that we have dropped by 15 members this month; I was so excited earlier as we had a net gain of 45 by the end of April, and were almost at our goal of a net gain of one member per month. I know we have lost a few members to that Great Rotary Club in the sky, but perhaps folks are taking a serious look at their membership and “cleaning up” so to speak, by end of May, as was initially recommended to do, so that Clubs would not be paying dues for those who would not be renewing memberships in the new year. BUT we are still far on the positive side! I thank you ALL for working so hard at Membership Growth and Retention this year. I hope that being more flexible, as I have been encouraging Clubs to be, helped. That, to me, is the key to growth in many Clubs. I would like to have an accurate Membership Growth number to present at District Conference so I urge you all to register any new members soon if you have not already!
Foundation
Our Foundation contributions to the Annual Fund are continuing and thank you for that. To date, 45/47 Clubs have contributed. The grand total is $145,848.32. I am confident that we will achieve at least our $100.00 goal per member this year …… so let’s “inject” that final dose into the fund and make this a good, healthy number ( pardon the medical terminology! ) giving our District more funding in three years for local projects, as well as contributing more to the World Fund.
Major Gifts Seminar
We were thrilled to host Carolyn Ferguson, our Zone 24 Major Gifts Officer from Ancaster, Ontario who spoke in all 3 of our major centres about the Foundation, Major Giving and Bequests. Thanks to PDG and ARRFC Eva Vida and DRFC Bob Durston for helping at the Winnipeg Venue. I was able to accompany Carolyn in both Regina and Saskatoon.
This was a wonderful learning experience for us and I thank all who attended and especially those who worked hard at organizing the meetings and getting Rotarians out to hear her presentation! Carolyn felt that the trip was very successful; there will be exciting news evolving from this very soon! She was inspired by the results of the visit.
DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2015
We are very excited to offer delegates an informative and Fun Filled Conference; we are happy that Inner Wheel has decided to join us for a parallel Conference but they will be joining us for several of our sessions as well. This is a “First” in our District. Another “First” is the “Hands on Literacy Project” happening off site at 4:15 at our Elementary School on Friday the 19th! Come and meet the students, teachers and resource people from our Community, who will walk you through the various Stations of activity.
We have a prestigious line up of both Plenary and Breakout speakers in an effort to cover as many areas of Rotary which time allowed us to have! The President's Representative is Jacque Andrew, past DG of District 6000, plus we will be graced with the presence of PDG Al Bergsma from Rocky Mountain House the Assistant Rotary Regional Coordinator for Zone 24 West and PDG Eva Vida the Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Zone 24 West. We have some very special awards to recognize Rotarians who have gone above and beyond. But most of all, we welcome our District 5550 Family of Rotary to enjoy and savor the Fellowship and evening entertainment that makes these events so memorable!
Our ShelterBox response teams have been working tirelessly to reach families whose homes have been destroyed or badly damaged. Help from Rotarians, Rotaract members, local volunteers, and cooperation from other organisations, has been crucial in helping our aid to reach remote communities in Nepal’s mountainous landscape. The need is great. More ShelterBox aid will be arriving so we can continue to provide the shelter to keep families safe and dry before the monsoon rains arrive.
A ShelterBox response team has arrived in Chile, as the country is facing two separate natural disasters, leaving communities without homes and shelter. 
Rotarian and Canadian SRT Dave Hallett, Tim Osburn and Becky Maynard meet with Rotary 3292 District Governor Rabindra Piya and District Secretary Nugal Vaidya. The District 3292 Disaster Relief Fund has been supporting ShelterBox during the earthquake response as well as working tirelessly on numerous community projects throughout the affected regions to support the people of Nepal.