The Spinner October 26 2023

Vice-President Olaf chaired the meeting. The corporate members from Xavier House were welcomed- Heather Jennings, Donna Luther, Darlene Compagnon and Karen Foley

 

 The weekly Toonie Quest West draw took place earlier today with no winner taking home the winning amount of $915.    This means the registered person with the winning number did not play a toonie for this week’s draw. This amount will be added to the winnings for next week’s draw.

 On Wednesday afternoon collected toonies and bills were counted and collated. Rotarians and Xavier House representatives had collected all the monies earlier in the day from the different stores.  Each Wednesday Rotary will be looking for volunteers to empty and collect the monies for the weekly draw and in the afternoon at the Port Office to help with the counting and collating of the collected money.

 

 

Xavier House is planning a fundraising dance to be held at the Canadian Legion on Saturday, November 4^th. Tickets are available from Xavier House and any help Rotarians can give on the night by collecting tickets at the door, selling 50-50 tickets etc. would be appreciated. 

 

Verbon, for program-chair Dean, introduced the guest presenter Paul Thomey. 

Paul's presentation was entitled ‘Eating Disorders - A Serious Mental Health Issue, Not A Choice.’  In his presentation, Paul spoke about the Eating Disorder Foundation and its mission. He gave an overview of eating disorders and the impact they have on many individuals and families in this province. 

He began his talk by speaking of the title of his talk and the Foundation’s work. The Foundation is a leadership and advocacy group that works with Newfoundland and Labrador Health services but is not a treatment provider. The Foundation works to provide education to family members and has a role in helping a family understand and help a loved one suffering from an eating disorder. Another function of the Foundation is to provide support to health professionals, and to provide presentations to the public to provide awareness and explain the effects of eating disorders. The busiest month is February which is designated Eating Awareness Month.  The Foundation is not-for-profit so needs so raise about 88% of its budget and so holds a lot of fundraising events.

Paul went on to consider why it was important to be concerned about eating disorders and explained what an eating disorder is.

There are different types of eating disorders that include Anorexia Nervosa,  Bulimia Nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, other specified feeding and eating disorder, pica, and rumination disorder.

Possible causes of these disorders could be biological genetics, low self-esteem, an inability to cope, personality type, society with the need to succeed being linked to thinness plus other factors.

Eating disorders can cause health and physical complications such as brain thinking, slow heart rate, tooth decay, irregular bowel movements and the potential for gastric rupture liked to periods of bingeing.

Paul looked at the prognosis for those with eating disorders and the earlier an eating disorder is detected followed by treatments the better the outcome.

He continued by speaking of the Foundation’s work with healthcare professionals,

and the different programs and support groups offered by the Foundation. He noted that may programs are now offered by video conferencing. 

He ended his very informative talk by speaking of the services offered in Western Newfoundland and that the fine team of Western Zone Mental Health can provide excellent support. 

Paul answered several questions before being thanked by Chris on behalf of the club.

The meeting adjourned at 1.35pm.