Stories

Toronto East Rotarian Benito Del Monte Medina gives his classification talk to our Club.

Dave McLennan [left] of Boots On The Ground receives a cheque from TERC member Joe Runza [right].

April Burrows, Country Director of The Hunger Project Canada, talks about her group's unique and grassroots approach to improving the lives of people in Africa and South Asia.

Pauline Fortier [left] is inducted as the latest Toronto East Rotarian by Membership Chair Virginia O'Reilly [right].

Toronto East Rotarian Brian Smith [left] presents a cheque to WoodGreen's Michelle Kerr [centre] Vice President, Development and Kerri Nichols [right] Manager, Annual Programs.  Our Club helps out by supporting the Woodgreen Christmas Meals on Wheels Program.

TERC member Joe Runza (Centre) was at it again last weekend participating in a skate-a-thon at City Hall for Building Roots.  Since 2013 Building Roots has led innovative projects to provide fresh food access with meaningful engagement that transforms communities.  Joe is picture with Lisa Kates (left) and Darcy Higgins, both of Building Roots.

There was a lot going last week at Toronto East Rotary Club!  We had a great guest speaker, a visiting Rotarian and two -- count 'em two -- cheque presentations.

Thank you to the speakers (shown above) and the audience who attended last night's TERC Forum On Mental Health. As one audience member said, "This was extremely informative."

Thanks to the many golfer and sponsors, TERC held another successful tournament this year. We raised over $12,000 for charities local and worldwide! A special shout out to Jim Cremidas and team who organized the event. A great time was had by all.  For more pictures, view the photo album here.

An excellent day last Saturday at Kick the Stigma. Thanks to Al Munn, Joe Runza, Virginia O'Reilly, Hugh Stuart and Karen Somerville for participating at our table, underneath our beautiful TERC tent. We engaged lots of families and children - passed out lots of information about TERC. The children were encouraged to do a drawing in return for a treat and you can see from the attached collage of some of the drawings that there were lots of young artists in attendance. We also sold some draw tickets for the Leafs' tickets kindly donated by Joe. The winner was an L. Smith from the community.

Last week at Rotary, TERC member Leslie Savlov presented an engaging and informative classification talk entitled, Life, Love and Graphic Design.  Thank you Leslie!

Last week, Gina Iuliano Marrello spoke to us about Financial Literacy in the Ontario Classrooms.  Gina is Superintendent of Student Success at the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Sam (left) being inducted by Membership Chair Virginia O'Reilly and, his sponsor, Joe Runza.

Joe Runza (far left) and Jim Anastasiadis (far right) of TERC present a cheque for over $4,000 to the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation.  Joe and Jim raised funds for the hospital by organizing and participating in a skate-a-thon.  Kudos to Joe and Jim! 

TERC member Shaheynoor Talukdera (right) presents a cheque to Joanne Green (left) of Opportunities for Advancement for the purchase of boxing equipment.

Thanks to TERC members and friends for participating in the Daily Bread Food Bank food sorting. In the photo attached, everyone is taking a break from sorting bushels of zucchinis, cucumbers, leeks and green beans, all donated courtesy of some of our generous farmers. A very productive afternoon!

Marshall Otto (above) talks to TERC members about the Second Harvest Food Rescue.

Ron Denham talked to our club today about the Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG).  He was the founding chair of the WASRAG, A group of over 1800 Rotarians helping people in the developing world improve life and livelihood through the provision of safe water and sanitation. In that capacity he has fostered many water and sanitation projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, and in many states in India.  Ron [on the right] is bring thanked by TERC member Tom Andrews.  Ron, thank you for taking time to speak to TERC!

Last week at Toronto East Rotary Club (TERC), Helen Knelsen of Lakeridge Health Foundation accepted a cheque from TERC members Joe Runza and Jim Anastasiadis. Joe and Jim held a successful skate-a-thon to raise funds to fight cancer for Lakeridge and Michael Garron Hospital.

Last Thursday, international documentary photographer, Juris Kornets, presented us with some of his latest work.  Juris was commissioned by a child-centred international development organization, to photograph children and document the issues they face living in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Paraguay and Nicaragua.  He told us of his travels and the stories of the people he met.

Today, TERC members and friends worked at the Daily Bread Food Bank sorting over a ton of food.

TERC member Shaheynoor Talukdera [right] presents Joanne Green [left] with workout clothes for the women of the Shape Your Life (SYL) boxing program.  SYL is a unique and free non-contact boxing program for self-identified women who have experienced violence. The program uses trauma and violence-informed approach to provide a safe space for participants to foster respect and empowerment through boxing lessons.  For more information, please check out the SYL’s website.

Last month, dozens of Rotarians and friends had a fun filled evening at TERC's Robbie Burns Supper in support of the Rotary Foundation and the End Polio Now campaign. Thank you to all those who supported our cause!  To see more photos, go here.

Our thanks to Dave McLennan, a retired police officer and founder of Boots On The Ground, a non-profit, volunteer organization providing safe and confidential peer support to First Responders – Police Officers, Firefighters, EMS and Corrections Officers - impacted by the exposure to trauma in their positions. 

Last Thursday, Dave spoke about the development and implementation of the Boots On The Ground program. He outlined the services presently being offered and their vision for the future of this organization.  This dedicated team will soon be providing confidential Peer Support 24/7 to First Responders across the Province.  Full details of the organization can be found on their website -- www.bootsontheground.ca.

Last Thursday saw the induction of our newest Rotarian.  Congratulations and welcome to Robert (Bob) Kitchen!

Last week, Joanne Green spoke to our club about the Shape Your Life (SYL) Boxing program.  SYL is a unique and free non-contact boxing program for self-identified women who have experienced violence. The program uses trauma and violence-informed approach to provide a safe space for participants to foster respect and empowerment through boxing lessons.  Thank you Joanne.  For more information, please check out the SYL’s website.

Rod Cohen (right) of Blake Boultbee Youth Outreach Service (BBYOS) accepts a cheque from TERC Past President Joe Runza. (BBYOS) was established in 1989 to work with high-risk youth and their families in Blake-Boultbee, a Toronto Community Housing neighbourhood.

TERC members and friends spend a day helping out at the Daily Bread Food Bank. Our motto, "Service Above Self".

On December 6th, TERC members Joe Runza and Jim Anastasiadis will skate 100 continuous laps around East York Memorial Area to "Ice Cancer"!  Donations made to this event support Michael Garron Hospital and Lakeridge Health.  Download the form to make a donation or use the Donate button on our website. [If using the PayPal Donate button please specify "Skate-A-Thon" in "Special Instructions".]  The skate starts at 9:00am and you're welcome to come out and cheer them on!

On November 15th, Toronto East Rotary Club held it's own Remembrance Day luncheon.  Past President Jim Anastasiadis thanks our speaker Lt Col Paul Brunberg.  In the second photo, Richard Radcliffe, President, Sunnybrook Veterans Council (second from the right) and Katharine Baldwin, Manager, Sunnybrook Veterans Centre (second from the left) received a donation from our club.

Last week, we had the pleasure of  having Elizabeth Witmer as our guest speaker.  A former member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament, Elizabeth now heads the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.  TERC President Karen Somerville (left) is shown thanking Elizabeth. 

TERC members attend a luncheon recently at Michael Garron Hospital.  Members heard about the renovation and transformation planned for the hospital.

Tomorrow (August 31st) we are thrilled to have Pete Bombaci of The Generator Project as our guest speaker.

Pete is a passionate, grassroots brand builder who both develops business strategy and then translates that strategy into 360° multi-channel activation. He has a passion for building great culture and leading cohesive teams focused on a well laid out vision. His background includes senior level leadership roles across a broad experience base which has taken him from sales to marketing to CEO type roles, from for-profit to not-for-profit and from working for major corporations to having launched his own independent consulting business and a passion initiative, The Generator Project.