Rotary Club switches to online meetings

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This article was published 20/04/2020 (2240 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Rotary Club of Winnipeg-Charleswood has adapted to physical distancing.

The club held its first virtual meeting on March 23 over the video conferencing app Zoom. Members are staying in touch, and finding ways to help the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mandy Kwasnica, president of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg-Charleswood, said it’s been a smooth transition.

“It’s been really good actually. We started out with sending invites to members with instructions about (Zoom.) It’s very user-friendly, you can see everyone’s face, it’s great,” Kwasnica said. “We’ve been running meetings pretty much as normal; it’s as if we’re still meeting in person.”

Zoom allows users to host meetings, webinars, conferences and general calls. The club plans to continue meeting virtually every Monday until the pandemic has run its course.

The club usually meets at the Breezy Bends Country Club in Headingley. Kwasnica said around 80 per cent of their membership was present for the online meetings. She added that it’s made the meetings more accessible, as some members previously struggled to access transportation.

Due to the pandemic, most of the club’s fundraisers and donation drives have been postponed or cancelled, as the virus shuts down daily life in Manitoba and elsewhere.

But the members are still looking to help where they can. So they’ve set up a donation drive for the Westgrove community. The club had previously supported Westgrove School’s breakfast program, helping children in need start the day with a meal.

“When (the pandemic arrived), (the members) immediately thought: ‘well, what about the families in Westgrove?’ We knew that with the school closing down, the breakfast program was on hold, so how are (the children) going to eat?” Kwasnica said. “So we set up a food drive. We coordinated with our members, drop it off at a member’s house who lives in the area, who delivers the food to the Westgrove (Family) Resource Centre.”

The club started the donation drive after their first meeting in March. Kwasnica said they’ve donated about $4,000 worth of food to the resource centre so far. The club is involved in multiple fundraisers and charitable organizations, and has also supported Westgrove School in the past by funding education initiatives.

Usually, members would pay for dinner at their Rotary Club meetings at Breezy Bend. Instead, they’ve committed to donating that money to the various charities in their area.

The club will reschedule its fundraising events when the pandemic is over.

The Winnipeg-Charleswood Rotary Club meets every Monday at 5:45 p.m. For more information, or to donate food, visit the club’s website at portal.clubrunner.ca/1000