Sunrise bulletin for the week of April 10, 2012
President Julie Mantle made a cameo appearance this morning, before running off to yet-another day of fun-filled recreation for Hydro and Powerex executives. Before she left for the beach, she modelled Rotary shirts for us, indicating that we can order either T-shirts or golf shirts screened with Rotary emblems, etc. If you weren't there for today's wet T-shirt session, let Julie know your size and whether you prefer the pink or purple version of the shirt.
President-Elect Ann-Shirley Goodell stepped in for the rest of the meeting. She even took the presidential training wheels off, as she's done this before. We were a crowd in the small meeting room, with 15 members, 4 guests and 2 presenters. Our guests were visiting Rotarian Carol Block from Coral Gables, Florida; proposed member Jose Riga; former member Suzanna Clarke; and return visitor Steve McGrandle. Suzanna and Jim Clarke are sporting great tans after their time in Maui.
Rotary moment
John Haley described the International Fellowship of Cycling to Serve, a Rotary fellowship group first organized in Europe in 1984. They do bike rides for fun and to raise money for charity in many countries.
Club news
We just received word that our club's inbound Youth Exchange student is Luisa Fiori de Godoy, 16, from a small town in Brazil. She will arrive in August and will live with Rotary families during her year in Vancouver. In preparation, each club member and host family must complete a police record check this spring. Susan Neale is organizing this and will send an email with the forms and instructions. Please look after this in the next few weeks so we can notify RI that we are in compliance.
Forms for Hoop-a-Thon pledges and donations will be available this week for all members to start gathering financial support for the Strathcona Youth Programs project.
100 Years of Rotary in BC will be celebrated on Saturday, April 20, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Volunteers are needed to staff our club's display on our Strathcona service project. Contact Ann-Shirley to volunteer for a 2-hour shift.
Today's program
Our topic this morning was the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, presented by VP Howard Blank and assisted by Chuck Keeling. Started in BC in 1982, this company now has operations in several provinces, operating casinos, hotels, restaurants and entertainment centres. Hastings Racecourse, which our club has enjoyed numerous times, is part of their network, as is River Rock Resort in Richmond and several other locations around Greater Vancouver.
Prior to 1997, BC had a limited gaming system with charitable groups helping to run casino evenings that moved from location to location. With the formation of BC Lottery Corporation, the industry has become more professionally managed, although profits are still shared with communities and charities (including Rotary clubs). Howard mentioned that about two-thirds of the profits go to support health care, education, social services and various charitable organizations.
Great Canadian Gaming stresses the entertainment value of gaming rather than the prospect of winning. Problem gamblers are watched carefully, as the company wants its customers to have fun and not become addicted.
Of course, Howard was asked how our Rotary club could get funding help for our projects from the gaming system. He suggested that we check the website for something called GPEB. So I did. It's the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch of the BC Government, which distributes gaming funds to non-profit organizations. Applications are limited to one per year, with most categories due February 1 to May 31 (and some categories later in the year). Who in our club would be willing to prepare an application and see if we qualify? The website is www.gaming.gov.bc.ca.
Next week is Cleo Perez with her classification talk and lots of information on Venezuela. See you there.
Rob