Back to Business!With 2020 in our rearview mirror, we opened 2021 with a business meeting on January 6. A representative of each of our Club Committees provided our members with a “mid-Rotary year” update. Lots of great projects on tap for 2021 including Hoopathon (our club fundraiser that supports the Strathcona ROTARY Youth Leadership Program), ongoing support to the local Rotaract and Interact Clubs with which we have strong connections, and potential international project (Project Amigo with which we have had a significant history in past years and possibly new support to the El Tigre Rotary Club for their youth projects in Venezuela).
The Science of COVID-19 Vaccines Explained
Following up on his presentation in mid-2020 on the role of polymerase chain reaction assays used in Coronavirus assays, our own in-house scientist, on January 13, Jim Miller gave us a biotech researcher’s view of the new vaccines currently in production, (or soon to be), around the globe. Jim walked us through how each of the new vaccines works, explaining the main characteristics of the different technologies, as well as the outstanding questions and issues. It was a very timely and interesting presentation as we all stand by for our turn to receive our jab. Here's hoping we can convince Jim to come back to discuss hydroxychloroquine with us!
January 20 –Ariel Qi and Sandra Radic from the Rotaract Club of Vancouver @ UBC
Ariel and Sandra, President and President-Elect of the 40-member UBC Rotaract Club, gave us an overview of their exciting club activities.
Their main committees are Community Service, Fund Raising and Professional Development.
The UBC club had a productive year in 2020, leading various initiatives such as their ongoing Senior Home Virtual Visitations, their online CareerCon event, their Movie Night Fundraiser Series. This term they are working on an international project in Ghana, a digital literacy campaign and workshops for high school interactors.
The energy and ambition of this Club’s membership is inspirational, as demonstrated by these committed and talented young leaders.
Vancouver Sunrise is pleased to be supporting the efforts of the UBC Rotaractors.
Ivy Liao and Jenny Feng visited us on January 27 to update us about their experiences since they received the Rotary Strathcona Youth Leadership Scholarships in 2019. Both are Britannia Secondary IB grads who were highly involved in school and community leadership activities. They were both on the table tennis team (Ivy was on the girls' team which won the provincial championship, and Jenny was the team manager), and Ivy was valedictorian in their grad year. Jenny was involved in Green Club, Grad Club, Student Council and Score Keeping...as well as participating in RYLA...to name a few of her many pursuits!
Ivy is a member of Canada's Olympic Table Tennis team, and is the 2019 Under 21 Champion, as well as having won a bronze medal at the Pan Am Games in Lima. Her match training has been interrupted due to the pandemic, however, she is still training with her brother at home, while she also spends time with family at home and bike riding around the city.
Ivy is in her second year of the Sauder B.Comm. program at UBC and Jenny is in her second year of Population and Quantitative Health Studies in the Bachelor or Science program at SFU. Both young women shared their experiences with the impacts of the pandemic including the challenges of online learning and the loss of part-time employment and their sporting and leisure activities at university and in the community.
Jenny has been able to continue her volunteer service virtually as a mentor in the Girls Who Leap program at Britannia, as well as perfecting her knitting and cinnamon bun baking skills at home.
They are both remarkable young leaders whose stories reinforced the importance of our efforts to support and serve the needs of future generations.
Annual Club Valentine Auction is Next Week!
Treat yourself or your loved one(s) to a special gift or experience from the list of items donated for our 2021 Annual Club Valentine's Day Auction (Pandemic version). Check out the link below if you have an item to donate or to pre-plan your bidding strategy (single bid or partnering up with others) before the live Zoom event at our February 10 meeting. Proceeds go to support club administration and other needs.
