Dec 16, 2019 Bulletin (Dec 16, 2019)

Dec 16, 2019 Bulletin

Opening/Chair: Joanna McGowan was chair today and she asked Kevin Quinlan to lead the group in the singing of O Canada. This was followed by a moment of personal reflection.

Visitors/Guests: Matthew Berrigan was the speaker for the day. Other guests included Ralph and Donna Hopkins who were making a return visit to the club.

Speaker: Matthew Berrigan spoke about the of the Northern Connector program, a collaborative initiative of the Cumberland Business Connector, Truro/Colchester Partnership, and Pictou County REN, in partnership with the National Connector Program. It is a formal networking initiative funded through Labour and Advanced Education.

Through programs like this, Nova Scotia has seen a higher in-migration than out-
out migration and we've seen more young people stay than leave. That’s a positive thing.

Matthew is an Acadia University graduate with experience in facilitation, promotion, program planning and program implementation.

At Acadia Matthew was heavily involved with his community as a member of Acadia athletics as well as a volunteer and he has brought that love of community involvement to all his tasks.

As regional program manager for the Northern Connector Program, Matthew works closely with established business and community leaders to help employment-ready workers build professional networks across the region.

Matthew outlined the objectives of the Connector program: to Discover opportunities, to Uncover the hidden job markets and to Grow the professional Network.

With 70% of career opportunities in our area not being listed on the internet, it's more important "who you know and who knows you" than ever before. His organization acts as a scout and matchmaker to help people develop their professional networks and help employers find the people they need.

There are community and personal benefits to both "connectees" as well as "connectors" by being part of the initiative. He related several examples (including a personal one) of how the program works effectively to put people together. The program is active nationally as well as regionally so they have been able to tap into external professional networks to find people. There are over 5500 connectors across Canada currently.

One of the incentives from an employers perspective is that government will provide a %25 one year wage subsidy for someone hired through the program. Certain conditions apply. More details can be found on their website at connectorprogam.ca

Matthew was thanked by Lech Krzywonos who spoke highly of the program.

Member Health: No report

Announcements and Reports: Dave Mills had two reports:

The clothing items with the Rotary logo are in and he is accepting cash from those that had ordered items.
He had come across a Rotary Club of Truro license plate that had belonged to his late father in law, Rotarian Al Hollis. Some older members of the club will remember these plates. He proceeded to auction it off with proceeds going to the CCW Foundation campaign. After spirited bidding Alana Hirtle was the successful bidder at $40.

Mark Mason delivered an update on the Christmas Index.
- The program is going well and gift packing has begun. 8 rotarians had helped on Saturday and 9 Interact students had pitched in on Sunday. He was now looking for some people for Monday (between 6 and 8) and for Friday.
- Although donations are down slightly, some groups are pitching in to make sure that all the needs were met. The Index had had to buy some gifts.
- The club would be looking after 200 children this year our of the total of 491 that were identified. Other organizations filled in the remainder and looking after food bank donations and other gifts.
- The interact group had held a successful fundraiser and had gotten 280 items for the teen room.

President's Report: Remember there is no meeting for the next two weeks. Merry Christmas.

Happy Mug: There were a number of Happy Rotarians today:

Jim Goit who has had a lucky streak this week. First having the right ticket for our 50/50 last week (missed the $22 jackpot however) but then had won $10 on the Saturday 649 and THEN the gift basket at the Raging Crow open house on Sunday. That was nice!
Barbara was happy that Jim had won the beverage etc from the Raging Crow and she was also happy for an upcoming family visit for Christmas.
Kevin Quinlan was happy to be home from a successful CESO assignment in the Philippines. He had some interesting food. He was also looking for a dog sitter for a week while he and Sharon were away for Christmas.
Wayne Gillis was happy for a great health care system. He had been in the hospital this past week with kidney stones that had to be removed. He could not have had better treatment.
Darlene was happy that her daughter would be home soon from University so the Christmas season could get underway.
Ted Jordan was happy for the hard work of Mark and Brian at the Index. With their help, he had been able to get a mohor donation to the food bank from a client.

50/50: Joanna had he own ticket drawn but she did not come up with the joker, so the pot continues to build.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

to everyone