The Spinner May 19 2022

President greeted everyone at the meeting. 

The club welcomed Rotarian Andre back to Rotary meetings after a long absence due to serious health issues. 

Welcome back to Rotary meetings Andre!!      

      

 

Chris explained that the major topic at the executive meeting was the MOU the club has with the RAC which ends on June 30, 2022. The RAC financial officer Jerry George spoke to the executive about the finances of the RAC. It was decided by the executive to send out an email to the membership asking their views on continuing to support the RAC.

Gerry proposed that the club host a lobster boil in June at Georges Lake. More details with time and place will be given later.

At the executive meeting it was discussed if meetings would be held weekly or bi-weekly in the summer.  It was decoded for the moment weekly meetings would be held.

 

 Program-chair Kathleen introduced and welcomed two guests from the Association for New Canadians, ANC. The first Mishal Abdulla, Community Connections Officer who had attended a Rotary meeting in 2021, and the guest speaker Damon Clarke, Regional Settlement Coordinator for the association. Damon spoke on the services offered by the Association for New Canadians on the West Coast of the province to new Canadians.

Damon began by giving a history of this community based non-profit non-governmental association. The ANC has 125 employees based in main and satellite offices throughout the province.

He continued by speaking of the settlement services he looks after such as MCP and SIN cards for new immigrants, lining up employers with possible employees which is a big program in the ANC. This Atlantic Immigration Program is one that matches employees with employers by looking at the immigrant’s personal work experiences and qualifications. This helps immigrants start on the path for a permanent residence status and then citizenship. 

Damon than spoke of the services offered at the local office including ESOL instruction.

He went on to explain that Corner Brook has a history of welcoming newcomers, and the seven ANC staff notice this often.

Mishal plans events that include local people as well as immigrants. Facebook is the social medium used by ANC in which newcomers are profiled and stories and events are highlighted. For more details refer to Association for New Canadians – Corner Brook   Facebook page.

Damon spoke of the different streams of newcomers that include refugees, temporary residents- students, workers, and permanent residents waiting to meet the requirements for citizenship.

He went on to speak of the work he does and how he prefers to hold personal meetings with newcomers to help organize paperwork, find jobs, assess language skills etc. Community connections are very important and are promoted by the ANC. Damon answered a few questions before being thanked by Gerry on behalf of the club.

The Rotary Wheel was spun, and Andre spoke of his pleasure at attending the meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 1.35pm