March MADNESS

While the sports world is tuned to the outcomes of College Basketball in the US, the McGill Rotaract Club is having its own March Madness! We are close to reaching our goal to be able to supply 1350 students from 5 schools in Kumasi, Ghana with school supplies. The next few weeks, we will be busy with a whole bunch of great events! If you would simply like to donate to our March Madness cause, click the PayPal Donate link below. Check our all the event details below and we hope to see you there!

Comedy for a Cause:

March 24th at 8:15 pm at the Comedy Nest, Pepsi Forum

Tickets are $10.00

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208965799118453

Tickets must be purchased in advance by e-mailing mcgill.rotaract@gmail.com.

Groove for Ghana African Music Night:

March 28 at 7:00 pm at Les Bobards, 4328 boul. Saint-Laurent

Tickets are $10.00

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=197041570330130

Tickets can be purchased in person or via PayPal by filling out the form and clicking the button below:

Name

Email or Phone Number

Exec Position Details

Here are the details for the exec. positions for those who are interested in running for next year's exec. team! Don't forget, elections are March 3rd! You can run for more than one position if you'd like.

President:

As president, one creates a year-long plan for the club. The most important thing as president is to make sure that everything is running smoothly. As president, one chairs the meetings and creates agendas for the general and executive meetings. He/She may coordinate one project, but will oversee all projects that are going on in the club to make sure that everything is on track and lend a hand whenever help is needed. The president is in charge of the administrative duties, such as room bookings, meeting arrangements, necessary paperwork, and any issues with SSMU. As well, the president, along with the Rotaract Liaison, deals with the District Rotaract Chair, Magued Wassef.

Vice-President:

The Vice-President assists the President in whatever is needed. If the President is absent, the Vice-President runs the meeting, creates the agenda and keeps in contact with other execs. The Vice-President essentially will organize a project or help with the organization of other projects and oversee if the President is unable to do so. It is a very flexible position.

VP Volunteering and Fundraising:

The VP Volunteering and Fundraising position is an important task within the executives team and one that requires quite a lot of work. As VP Volunteering and Fundraising, one is in charge of organizing and keeping track of all the volunteering projects occurring in the club to ensure that they do not overlap. As well, he/she will coordinate and book Samosa and/or bake sales around campus.

Treasurer:

The treasurer is in charge of the money for the club. This means keeping track of the money coming in and the money going out, collecting receipts, distributing and co-signing cheques along with the President. As well, the treasurer works on the audit that happens at the end of the fiscal year.

Secretary:

The Secretary is in charge of taking down minutes for general and exec meetings. He/She is also responsible for checking the Gmail account, responding to e-mails, and sending out the minutes after each meeting. As well, the secretary sends out any necessary reminders from the Gmail account.

VP Communications and Publications

The VP Communications and Publications is in charge of the publicity for the club. He/She, along with a committee, will create posters for all events and find ways to advertise for fundraising events, such as through newspapers, radio, internet, etc. The VP Communications and Publications is also in charge of keeping the website/blog/Facebook Page updated.

VP Membership and Social

The VP Membership and Social is in charge of recruitment and taking care of our members. He/She will come up with new and creative ways to present the Club during Discover McGill and Activities Night. As well, he/she will organize social events to keep the members entertained and enjoying their time with Rotaract.

VP Professional Development and Rotary Liaison

The VP Professional Development and Rotary Liaison is in charge of finding guest speakers for general meetings. As well, he/she is responsible for keeping in contact with our Advisor from our Sponsoring Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Old Montreal. If possible, he/she should also be the liaison with the other local Rotary Clubs and organize time to attend each club at least once during the year. Additionally, he/she can organize for other execs and general members to attend Rotary meetings.

Rotaract Liaison

The Rotaract Liaison is responsible for communication with the District Rotaract Committee, which is made up of the District Rotaract Representative and the District Rotaract Chair, Magued Wassef. He/she will convey any information to the club hat has been sent to him/her, which often regards District Conference, District Retreat, happenings in the District, and projects going on with other Rotaract Clubs.

A Toast to Tyndale Success!

After an enjoyable evening last Saturday, January, 15 here are some pictures by photographer Alessia Pizzanelli. Stay tuned for the final tally!

Rotarians Alexander Patricio, Manon Lennon, Annie Chan, and Patrick Poupart

Guest speakers Tamara Hart from Tyndale Saint-Georges Community Centre and Krystina Alogbo from the Canadian Women's National Water Polo Team

McGill Rotaract Club Exec. Team with cake created by Les Delices Lafrenaie

The Canadian Women's National Water Polo Team

Tonal Ecstasy performing!

$674.64 for Ghana thanks to Terry Fox Elementary School in Laval!

By now most of you must be done final exams and papers and I hope that they all went well! :)

On December 10, Grades 4L and 4SD of Terry Fox Elementary School in Laval, Quebec, organized a Dress Down Day in support of our project in Ghana. Each student brought in at least $1.00 so that they could wear clothes other than their uniform. They had great fun making announcements to the school and creating posters, and counting the change turned out to be a great math lesson! They raised a total of $674.63 going towards our project to buy school supplies for 1350 students in Ghana.



Thanks to all the students from Terry Fox Elementary School for the support!

Don't forget to show your friends and family our Cocktail Party Website so they can buy tickets or donate to the Tyndale Saint-Georges Community Centre! web.me.com/mcgillrotaract

Just for the Holiday Spirit, I thought I'd put up a picture of some awesome decorations in Montreal this year. These are in front of Place des Arts metro station



Happy Holidays!

Sean

Cocktail Party Website Launch!!

Hey Rotaractors,

For today's study break (ie the 10 minutes before I head to bed), I'd like to post up the link to our website devoted completely to the cocktail party. Send this link to all your friends and family so they can either buy a ticket or donate to our cocktail party so we can raise as much money as possible! :)

Check out: web.me.com/mcgillrotaract

And to get you all pumped for the cocktail party and excited to sell tickets, here's a little video



Have a good evening everyone! Let me know what you think of the website and the video!

Sean

A little study break

Hello Rotaractors and company!

This is my first EVER blog post. I'm taking a little break from the joys of protein pathways and the wonder that is the cell to tell you about something that is equally as awesome...just A LOT larger: Rotary International. Marie talked about Rotary and Rotaract, so I'm going to do a quick blurb about Rotary Scholarships.

So, here's the fun fact of the day (Fun Fact Friday!): did you know that the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship is the world's largest privately-funded scholarship program?

Founded in 1947, it had enabled over 40 000 student from more than 100 nations to study abroad. The purpose of the Ambassadorial Scholarship is to "further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries and geographical areas." This is achieved by:

-Increasing awareness of and respect for cultural differences by sending ambassadors of goodwill to study in another country

-Instilling in scholars the Rotary ideal of Service Above Self through active participation in Rotary service projects

-Encouraging scholars to dedicate their personal and professional lives to improving the quality of life for the people of their home communities and countries

-Developing leaders who can address the humanitarian needs of the world community

-Impacting all areas of the world through a balanced geographical distribution of scholars

-Encouraging Rotarians worldwide to increase the educational opportunities for scholars from low- income countries

-Fostering a lifelong association between Rotary and its scholars

The program consists of one year abroad for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as qualified professionals pursuing vocational studies. An Ambassadorial Scholar serves as a goodwill ambassador to the host country while giving presentations to Rotary clubs and various other clubs regarding their homeland. Scholars must also give presentations detailing their experiences. The scholarship consists of $27 000 to study in another country. Applicants undergo interviews first within a Rotary Club if there are multiple applicants and then at the district level. Scholars have a sponsoring Rotary Club both in their home district and where they are studying. Students can study in ANY field. This is pretty cool huh!

Also, Rotary offers the World Peace Fellowip, which is a scholarship to receive a masters degree in international relations, public administration, sustainable development, peace studies, conflict resolution, or a related field. THe scholarship is offered at one of six Rotary Peace Centers:

the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand
Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
International Christian Unversity in Tokyo, Japan
Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina
University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England
University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia

Check out more information about all the great Rotary Opportunities at their website: www.rotary.org

On a club note, here is a picture of the art gallery where our upcoming cocktail party is being held! Hope you've all told your friends and family about it! Don't forget January 15, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the AKA Gallery at 51 Saint-Paul Ouest. They money we raise will benefit the Tyndale Saint-George Community Centre (http://www.tyndalestgeorges.com/)



Okay, back to the books! Good luck everyone on final exams and papers! Stay tuned for more posts! :)

Sean

Woohoo Rotaract [2]! (For real this time guys)

Hello!

Well. I'm back! Today's post is brought to you by procrastination from a lab report about continuously stirred tank reactors. So, as promised, I am going to talk more about what Rotaract is.

The term "Rotaract" comes from the shortened version of "Rotary in Action". The main difference between Rotaract clubs and Rotary clubs is that Rotaracters are between 18 and 30 years old. Rotaract clubs are sponsored by an area Rotary club, and are not necessarily university based, and even our McGill Rotaract club has members from UQAM, Concordia, U de M, cegeps, and also young professionals in Montreal. So, for people like me where graduation is on the horizon, never fear! Rotaract will still be here even after the diploma is on your wall!

Rotaract clubs have similar goals than Rotary clubs. According to the "Standard Rotaract Club Constitutions", the goals of Rotaract are:

1. To develop professional and leadership skills;
2. To emphasize respect for the rights of others, and to promote ethical standards and the dignity of all useful occupations;
3. To provide opportunities for young people to address the needs and concerns of the community and our world;
4. To provide opportunities for working in cooperation with sponsoring Rotary clubs;
5. To motivate young people for eventual membership in Rotary.

Sounds cool, right?

So basically this means that Rotaract clubs promote Rotary spirit through volunteering, fundraising, social events, attending Rotary meetings, professional development through speakers and workshops, and so much more.

I have some numbers again! If you continue reading this, you should probably be warned that I really like numbers...
8,383 Rotaract clubs
171 Countries
>190,000 members
69 Rotaract clubs in Canada
(Numbers taken from the Rotaract first quarter report of 2010-2011. I don't actually know what time period that entails, but it sounds recent!)

So here is your overview of Rotaract. Quick. Easy. Not very War-and-Peace like. (Not ragging on War and Peace, it's just the longest book I could think of at 11:50pm on a Wednesday. It's terrific, you should read it).

Tomorrow's topic: What McGill Rotaract has done, is doing and will do!

Annnnnnnd here is your procrastination source since 'tis the season (this one is not as productive as yesterday's, but still pretty awesome):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COr_k621YM4



I really like this factoid idea, so here is the next one:
Colonel Sanders (of KFC fame) was a founding member of his Rotary club in Indiana. True fact.

Woohoo Rotaract

Hello internet!

I'm not even sure who reads this, but for those of you who are, please let it be known that this is my first blog post. Ever. Exciting, right? (I should probably specify that this is Marie, the VP of the club this year). I've taken on the task to blog every once in a while, to keep you, well, I'm not sure really what I'm exactly trying to do. Entertain/inform/keep you coming back comes to mind...

So for my very first blog post of ever, I figured I'd talk more about what exactly Rotaract is. I don't know about you guys, but most people (myself included many years ago) usually give me a funny look when I mention "Rotaract", and usually guess that it has something to do with wheels when I mention "Rotary" (granted, most people I talk to are engineers).

Hmm I take it back. Today I'm going to tackle Rotary, since they're really where it all starts. Tomorrow, Rotaract!

So Rotary. It is huge. It is a 1.2 million member strong global organisation. The motto is "Service above self". And basically, Rotary takes this to mean many things. Rotarians take part in projects at the local, national and global levels, both volunteering and fundraising.

Rotary International also has many programs that it maintains, including Polio plus, the organisation for which we raised funds at our wine and cheese last week. They also promote international relations and placing people from different backgrounds with similar interests together. This happens through conferences (from national to international levels), as well as (this is applicable to students) exchanges and scholarships.

In short, this is what the official website has to say:
"Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world."

So here are some numbers:
>1.2 million members
>33,000 clubs
>200 countries
Started in 1905

And PROCRASTINATION SOURCE:
http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/Pages/ridefault.aspx
A video about Rotary that seems to be made by the same people that make those high school science tapes...but it's pretty interesting!

Random fact of the day: The North Pole is not considered a continent like the South Pole because the ice of the North Pole floats on the ocean, while the ice of the South Pole sits on actual ground – the continent of Antarctica.

And back to heat exchangers and pumps I go! TTFN!

PS I like comments.

Hey y'all, McGill Rotaract is hosting a wine and cheese event at our next meeting! With all the stress of midterms and papers, come relax with us, drink, and be merry. We'll also be speaking shortly about McGill Rotaract, Rotary International (McGill Rotaract's parent organization), and Rotary's PolioPlus program which seeks to eradicate polio across the world. There is a suggested donation of a few dollars that will go toward the PolioPlus program, but any donations are accepted.

So take a load off, have a few drinks and some tasty cheeses, and hear about a good cause. See you all on Thursday at room 302 of the SSMU Building. Also, check us out on facebook to learn about any possible changes to the event; just look up "McGill Rotaract" when you are logged in.

Welcome Back!

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a great summer, and are ready to start an exciting new year with McGill Rotaract! We will have a lot to get involved with, including some of our favourite activities ie/ Montclair Elderly Home visits, Volunteering at Dans la Rue, Tyndale- St. George Mentorship Program, Cocktail Party Fundraiser , and the Fundraising Blitz week in March.

We will keep this site updated, so keep an eye out for new posts! You can also check out our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2201242499&v=info#!/group.php?gid=2201242499&v=info

Our First Meeting dates will be September 9th and 23rd in room 433A of the SSMU building at 6:00 pm.

Hope to see you there!

Fundraising Blitz

Hi all!

Now that our Aqua Show fundraiser is over (and again, thank you to those who helped and attended!), our next big event for the semester is our annual fundraising blitz in late March. In the past, events during these two weeks have included bake sales, samosa sales, movie screenings, and of course our famous 24-Hour Twister. As usual, we are looking for other new, creative, ideas for fundraising events that we can do during the blitz. If you have any thoughts, please email us or post them here!

Rotaract's Water for People Fundraiser

Prepare for a night of music, art, alcohol, free food, and fun! McGill Rotaract presents The Aqua Show to benefit Water for People, a "charitable nonprofit international humanitarian organization dedicated to the development and delivery of clean, safe water and sanitation solutions in developing nations."

Free up your night and join us for an evening of excitement to help a worthy cause!

The lowdown is as follows:
The party is happening on January 16 from 7-11 PM at the Conseils des Arts de Montreal at 1200 Sherbooke Street East.
Closest metro is Sherbrooke on the orange line. Walk 4 blocks west towards Parc Lafontaine on Rue Cherrier or take the 24 bus from Metro Sherbrooke to Rue Du Parc-Lafontaine and then take a minute walk west on Rue Cherrier to the place.
It's a big, Romanesque building with columns, impossible to miss.
Tickets are going for $15 for students and $25 for adults and for what you get, it's a steal!

To get tickets, you can:
e-mail: mcgill.rotaract@gmail.com
phone: 514-618-0351
or you can buy tickets at the door.


If you got a minute, check out the great work Water for People is doing around the world:
http://www.waterforpeople.org

Holiday Gift Wrapping

Every December, the Montreal Children's Hospital organizes a gift wrapping in the mall. We usually have members who help out and they always have a ton of fun! Plus, it's a nice break from studying for finals. Don't worry if you're not an expert gift wrapper- it's good practice, and you'll have other people with you in the booth.

If you are interested in working a shift (or a few), MCH is looking for people for the whole month of December, the 3-18th and the 20-24th; they will be at 3 locations downtown so there are plenty of opportunities, but spaces fill up quickly so try and submit your shift requests as soon as possible!

Shifts are:
Monday through Friday: 10AM-2PM, 2PM-6PM, 6PM-9PM
Saturdays: 10AM-2PM, 2PM-5PM
Sundays: 12PM-2PM, 2PM-5PM

You can email rosemary_gallant@hotmail.com with the day(s) and time(s) that you would like to volunteer.

Potluck!

Our last meeting of the semester will be in two weeks, Thursday November 26th, and we thought it would be fun to have a small potluck. If you are coming and planning on bringing something, please leave a comment to let everyone else know what you're bringing!

Montclair

Next Saturday, Nov. 21st from 2-4 PM, we will be making a trip to Montclair elderly home in NDG.

We are going to meet at the Sherbrooke 24 bus stop in front of the Roddick Gates (Sherbrooke & Mansfield) to catch the 1:06 pm bus. If you are not there, unfortunately we as a group will leave without out you, as we need to get to the residence by 2. From the 24, we will get off at Sherbrooke/Decarie, and catch the 102 or the 105, whichever bus comes first. From that we will get off at Somerled / Walkley (102) or Sherbrooke / King Edward (105) and walk the two blocks to the residence. If you miss us at the Roddick gates at 1:06 that's no problem, just take the next 24 that comes, get off at Sherbrooke/Decarie, and take the 105 as it comes more often. Don't worry if you're a few minutes late in this case!

For future reference, or if you are traveling from elsewhere and meeting us at the residence, the address is:
Montclair Senior Home
4413, av. Montclair
Montreal, QC

If you are traveling by yourself, just ring the front doorbell and tell them you are with McGill Rotaract.

If you have not yet signed up and are interested in coming, just leave your name & email in the comments section!

Rotary International Convention

As you may already know, the 2010 Rotary International Convention is going to be held next June, in Montreal! This event is once in a lifetime, guaranteed you will never see anything like it, unless you are lucky enough to attend another convention. There will be people attending from all corners of the world- Rotaracters, Rotarians, Youth Exchange-rs, the list goes on. In addition, because Montreal is such a great cultural city, the events this year are going to encompass that and undoubtedly be amazing. Even if you are not planning on being in Montreal this summer, it's definitely worth a trip back for the weekend (June 20-23) to attend if you are able.

Registration is open, and will be available up until the event, but if you register before December 15th, the cost for Rotaracters is only $75 (compared to the Rotary cost of a few hundred dollars). After then, until March 31st, the cost is $100, and after March 31st the cost is $125.

The registration form can be found here: http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/c10_registration_form_en.pdf
and can be mailed to the nearest Rotary International office (the address is on the form). Unfortunately, as Rotaracters, we can't submit the form online, it can only be mailed or faxed in.

If you need accommodations for the weekend (at New Residence Hall), you can download the registration form here:
http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/c10_hotel_reservation_form_en.pdf
or book online at https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=77308

In addition, there will be a Rotaract pre-convention on June 18-19, the two days before the convention. There will be a separate sign-up/registration for that, and we'll keep everyone up to date once we have more detailed information!
(UPDATE: The Rotaract preconvention website is www.rotaract2010.com)

Please email McGill Rotaract (mcgill.rotaract@gmail.com), or myself (nicolette.neumann@mail.mcgill.ca) if you have any questions or need more information! I really encourage everyone who is able to attend to do so, it's sure to be an amazing experience.

Dans La Rue

On Sunday, November 15th, we are going to be volunteering at Dans la Rue, helping them package the food that they distribute on weeknights. We are leaving from the Roddick Gates at 10 AM (if it is more convenient for you to meet us there, please arrive no later than 11 AM and notify us that you will be traveling on your own). We will email more specific directions/addresses once we have a final list.

If you would like to join, please leave your name and email address in the comments; we need to have a finalized list by November 10th (both so Carolyn can know how many people to expect, and because they need to do a small background check on anybody coming, but nothing to be worried about!). If you are on the list, we will expect you to be present on the 15th, so please do not sign up unless you are certain you will be there.

Bake Sale

On Thursday, November 12th, we are having a huge bake sale day, with tables in both McConnell Engineering and the Leacock lobby. Which means we are looking for LOTS of volunteers to both bake, and sit at the tables during the day. We will be selling from 9:30 to 4:30 (or whenever we run out of food). Even if you can't bake or sell, drop by and help support us by buying If you can help out, please leave a comment with the following info:

Name
Email Address
What you will bring, to which building
When you can sit at the table (please specify which location!)

Fashion Show Committees

We are forming committees for our upcoming fashion show in January! Each is headed by an executive and we're asking everyone to choose an area to primarily help with during the fall planning.

Committees are:
Location/Theme/Decoration : talking with our location, Espace Reunion, decorating the venue, setting up chairs/tables/etc the day of the event, lighting, any logistical details related to the venue itself

Clothing, Hair, Makeup: approaching designers/companies to get their sponsorship & clothing donations, anything related to the fashion show component itself

Publicity: closer to the date, putting ads in newspapers, online, printing posters, marketing

Tickets: designing & printing tickets, scheduling collection at the door

Food: approaching supermarkets for sponsorship/donations, cooking the day of the event... don't worry, even if you are not a chef we will be doing a lot of simple veggie/fruit/cheese plates and still need help cutting/assembling!

Alcohol: buying or getting donations, setting up a bartending schedule, getting a liquor license (this can be done as close as the week before the event)

Music: we will have a live band time (during cocktails/hors d'oeuvres) and then a DJ for the show itself.... figuring out sound system (possibly renting equipment), communicating with bands/DJ and making sure they are accommodated.


In addition to these committees, we will be asking everybody to help sell tickets and publicize the event to their friends/family/acquaintances closer to the date! For now, please leave a comment with your name, email, and committee you'd like to join, or send us an email at mcgill.rotaract@gmail.com.

Also, we are looking for models, bands (appropriate music, ideally acoustic and quieter since the space is not huge, and people will want to chat, remember we will hopefully have Rotarians attending!), and photographers for the event, so if you or any of your friends are interested in helping out, please also send us an email!
Thanks!!

Bake Sale

On Wednesday, October 7th, we are having a bake sale in the McConnell Engineering main building from 9:30-4:30 (or until we run out, whichever comes first). We're looking for volunteers to both bake (sweet/dessert items only please, i.e. nothing that competes with a samosa sale...), and sit at the table to sell. If you are baking, please drop off your item at 9:30 or as soon after that as possible! The shifts are every hour (9:30-10:30, 10:30-11:30, etc).

If you are able to help out, please leave a comment with your name, email, and what you are baking, or what time you can help sell!