The Rotary Club of Belleville met at lunch on Thursday, March 26th to celebrate Rotarians for their on-going attendance and commitment to Service Above Self.  Consistent attendance may sound simple, but it requires engagement in service and strengthens the Club's ability to continue to serve in the community, across Canada and world wide.  Each member of the Club who achieves perfect attendance during a Rotary Year wins hands down in the area of reliability and respect and helps to build a vibrant Club.  A 100% attendance pin was presented to Liv Ahlnas, Karen Baker, Jared Bellemare, Tracy Bray, Cristina Cadavid, , John Chisholm, Peter Coy, Paul Fleming, Heather Hall, Janeen Halliwell, Hazzem Koudsi, Nadine Langlois, Ruth Mathieson, Tim McKinney, Collin Myers, Kerry Paul, Carmella Ruberto, Dianne Spencer, Michael Summers, Jill Vanderkooy, Tracey Vandervoort, Joanne Wheeler, Ken Wheeler.

 

Rotarians were also recognized with a Paul Harris Fellow award for contributions as individuals to service, leadership, Service Above Self with some Rotarians making financial contributions in their name of $1,000 U.S. to the Rotary Foundation.  The Rotary Club of Belleville also recognizes members who have completed 5 years of active service in the Club.  There are a number of Paul Harris recognition levels, but all acknowledge appreciation for their contributions over the years.  All levels of Paul Harris Fellow recipients are shown in the Rotary Roster and updated every year.

 

All in all, the following were recognized and reflect the very best of Rotary.  Anya Deane Best, Peter Coy, Melanie Cressman, Paul Fleming, Janeen Halliwell, Ryan Hilmi, Ryan LaPalm, Peter Malone, Tim McKinney, Mark Musca, Collin Myers, Rosi Ouellette, Coreen Reynolds, Carmela Ruberto, Jennifer Savini, Margaret Seu, Jamie Trudeau, Tracey Vandervoort.

 

Special mention of Past President Karen Baker who was recognized as a major donor, making a tremendous impact through personal giving to the Rotary Foundation, all for positive and lasting change locally and globally.  A special Peace Award was present to Karen by current President Tracey Vandervoort.

 

All of these recognitions are a positive reflection of the Club and its focus on Service Above Self.

 

 

 

Tim McKinney introduced Janet Jarrell, Executive Director of the Quinte Arts Council, today's guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Belleville.  In 2018 Janet took over the position of Executive Director and her past experience in the arts, business world, strategic marketing, finance, passion for story telling and her overall hands-on approach to the organization has proved to be very beneficial.  The icing on the cake is the Umbrella magazine, created as a vibrant publication, celebrating every sense of ideas, voices and extraordinary artists who shape the cultural life of our region.  The magazine is a vital platform for sharing the richness of arts and culture in our community.  Janet shared with us that she was born and raised in Belleville, in the farming community and is the 5th generation of her family to live and work here.  She can walk to Chisholm Mills.  

 

Janet shared the Quinte Arts Council's values, vision and mission, stating that the arts are for everyone and that they are committed to fostering accessibility and inclusivity, ensuring that all people can experience and contribute to the arts.  Their goal is to reflect and celebrate diverse perspectives through artistic expressing.  Their belief is that art and culture can enrich rural communities, contributing to a vibrant local economy and quality of life.  Arts are an essential voice at the table with all levels of government, shaping policies and priorities.  The Quinte Arts Council is committed to building and sustaining partnerships that strengthen and unify the arts community. Artists and arts organizations are to be valued, supported and celebrated by the community, empowering arts workers to achieve creative success with viable, sustainable careers.  QAC is the community leader in advancing, cultivating, promoting and advocating for a vibrant and diverse arts community in the Quinte region.  The geographic region served is from the southernmost tip of Prince Edward County, north to Bancroft and east and west from Napanee to Brighton.

 

The big news was the Community Mural Mosaic Project, inviting everyone to help create a stunning 12 x 24 foot mural mosaic to be unveiled in June downtown Belleville.  Your artwork could be part of it!  Purchase a kit for $40, receive paint and assigned tile and paint your tile in your own unique style.  Submit digitally by April 15th and your artwork will likely become part of the massive mural mosaic masterpiece.  An opportunity to leave your creative mark on a public artwork that celebrates our community....one tile at a time.  Visit Community Mural Mosiac Project and let's create something extraordinary together.

 

The Quinte Arts Council supports arts education, recognizing artistic excellence and fostering opportunities for aspiring artists through its Arts Education, Awards and Bursaries Program.  This program has invested more than $300,000 in support to our local schools and arts community!  Brenda Snider thanked Janet for her presentation and her leadership in all that QAC accomplishes.  Arts bring community together and there was some talk about what sort of project could QAC and RLB (Rotary Club of Belleville) put their minds to as a potential fundraiser.  Can you smell the smoke?

 

 

G.E.M. Munro was very pleased to visit, once again, this luncheon that included a number of service clubs and volunteers, all very essential to the existence of the Amarok Society.  And it all started with the Rotary Club of Belleville.  Originally, G.E.M. and his wife Dr. Tanyss Munro were asked to help improve the school system in Bangladesh that they quickly identified as the worst school system they had taken on.  Bangladesh was the poorest city in the world which posed a different problem.  The area was a squalor of violence and misery, teeming with children who had no opportunity for education, a problem not being addressed by anyone.  G.E.M. and Tanyss decided to try, but realized building schools was not the answer as it would not diminish the number of children getting educated.  They needed to find a sustainable effort and that's when they started to teach mothers to become teachers.  The young mothers then taught 5 children to read and write and the Amarok Society was born.  They met with criticism as international agencies felt the effort would not work, that women could never learn to teach.  That argument has not been heard now after 20 years of proving them wrong and 33 schools later.  G.E.M. is continually stunned by what the mothers have accomplished through their internal strength and courage.  G.E.M. shared a touching story of one young mother who he first met when she was begging outside a grocery story with her young child, she was a mother at 11 with 3 children.  This young woman was reluctant to be taught and to teach, but after several attempts, G.E.M. achieved his mission of turning learning into love.  The more you give away, the more you have.

 

Sharon McConnell, Chair of the Literacy Committee thanked G.E.M. for sharing such an impactful message.  Hats off to both G.E.M. and Tanyss in bringing hope and education to the very poor parts of the world.  The Rotary Club of Belleville is very proud to be a partner in supporting the Amarok Society.

Detective Sergeant Martin Charbonneau and Detective Constable Devan Aris were pleased to share up-to-date information and awareness to the Rotary Club of Belleville on latest fraud trends and scams and how best to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.  Both are members of the Belleville Police Service, assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division, responsible for major crimes from homicides to complex frauds.

 

Latest fraud trends include home repair scams, grandparent/emergency scams, gift card scams, identity theft, romance scams, crypto investment scams and bank investigator scams.  Always recommended is to ask for identification and verify the company before allowing anyone to do home repair work such as roofing or paving of your driveway.  Get multiple quotes and consult trusted friends and family.  Avoid paying money upfront and don't rush to make a decision, always do your homework and never leave unknown workers alone in your home.  Grandparent scams come across as emergent in nature and scammers impersonate a grandchild, loved one, lawyer or police officer and claim urgent bail or fine payments are required to get the person out of hot water so to speak.  The scammers may request cash via courier or mailing.  Please note that Canada does not use a cash-bail system and the goal of the scammer is to create panic and urgency.  Don't be fooled. Have a code name that only trusted family members would use to identify themselves.  Gift card scams involve asking victims to pay using gift cards and once they have photos of the cards, they drain the balance instantly.  Never pay or accept payment via gift cards.  Identity theft occurs when personal information is stolen and used to impersonate victims for financial gain.  Protect your sensitive information by shredding personal documents.  Victims can contact Equifax or TransUnion for credit protection services.   Fraudsters are professionals convincing people to cash counterfeit cheques or money orders, they may even compromise a person's familiar social-media contacts.  If something feels off, trust your instincts.  Romance scams may sound attractive to start off, but a person should be wary of people they meet on the internet.  Do not send money to someone you have met online, thinking you have made a positive, emotional connection,  If you receive a telephone call from someone posing as a bank employee or investigator, claiming your account is compromised, always hang up and call the number on the back of your bank card to verify if a fraud has occurred.

 

If you find yourself a victim of fraud, report the incident to your local police service and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center.  Notify your bank immediately and contact Equifax or TransUnion to place alerts or protection on your credit.

 

Rotarian Graham Whitehead, a retired police officer, thanked Martin and Devan for their very informative presentation.  No doubt about it, police investigations into frauds has changed significantly over the past few years.  We must all be smart and alert.

Rotarian Seth Nagendran has yet to celebrate his first anniversary as a member of the Rotary Club of Belleville, but he has well earned his spot as the Chair of the Kids Against Hunger Committee.  Kids Against Hunger has a powerful history.  In 1999, a businessman named Richard Proudfit officially founded Kids Against Hunger with a mission that still drives the organization today -- to significantly reduce the number of hungry children in the U.S. and around the world.  Twenty-five years earlier, Richard had seen hunger and poverty when he travelled to Honduras and that changed his life forever, dedicating his life and resources to solving world hunger.  Since then, KAH has delivered over 162 million meals to children and families in need across 65 countries.  That's the power of one person's commitment, multiplied by thousands of volunteers like Rotarians.

 

The KAH meal is a special formulated rice-soy casserole packed with nutrients.  Each package contains rice, fortified vegetable protein, dehydrated vegetables and a carefully balanced blend of 21 vitamins and minerals.  One single meal pack can feed up to six people.  Efficient and impactful!  About one-third of the meals packaged stay in Canada, supporting food banks, shelters, reserves and community programs.  The rest are sent globally wherever the need is greatest.  In Canada, 1 in 8 households is food insecure.  That's over 4 million Canadian who don't know where their next meal is coming from.  1 in 6 Canadian children under the age of 18 is dealing with food insecurity as we speak.  That's why Kids Against Hunger exists.  That's why we do what we do.

 

Seth acknowledges he couldn't have done this packaging event without the support of many in the community.  A special thank you to Loyalist College for hosting the event and providing a team of volunteers who worked alongside everyone else.  Other community groups included the Quinte Skyhawks, Belleville Soccer, Holiday Inn Express, Belleville Spirit Football League, who put together their own teams of volunteers.  Sponsors included Rotarian Jared Bellemare, People Minded Business (Rotarians Paul Fleming and Janeen Halliwell), the Rotary Clubs of Wellington and Campbellford, Rotarian Kelly McKinney and Rotarian and Past Chair of KAH, Jennifer Savini.  On top of that, 100 volunteers who came and in one hour and thirty minutes, packaged 16,200 meals.

 

Past President Tracy Bray was pleased to introduce the speaker today, His Worship Mayor Neil Ellis, the 77th Mayor of the City of Belleville, Ontario.  Mayor Ellis is a proud lifelong resident of Belleville, deeply rooted in our community.  He entered public office in 2006, first serving as Mayor.  In 2015 to 2021, Mayor Ellis served as a Member of Parliament for the Bay of Quinte until 2021, chairing the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs and serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.  He returned to municipal service in 2022 with a renewed focus on addressing the challenges facing Belleville, including healthcare recruitment, affordable housing and long-term economic and infrastructure planning, always with a strong emphasis on collaboration and community engagement.  Mayor Ellis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Psychology from Carleton University and professional designations through McMaster University's Directors College.  A dedicated civic leader who believes that the work of municipal government matters most in the daily lives of people who live and work in the community.

 

Mayor Ellis was pleased to pause today to review and reflect on the past and future of the City of Belleville.  The municipality provides 65% of all services available and offered in the City.  Services that would be noticeable immediately.  The City budget will be released in the next week and he feels there will be much discussion around outside agencies and their presented budgets, user fees, garbage bag tags, social services being provided to the unhoused.  These are some areas where the City is subsidizing the services available, certainly all priorities.  Doctor recruitment is another major area that will be discussed.  Since 2006 the City of Belleville has recruited 60 doctors and the population has grown by 6,000.  It is felt that an additional 35 doctors should resolve the shortage.  Mayor Ellis spoke about the hard work and commitment by Karen Poste who is responsible for doctor recruitment.  She recruited 11 doctors in 2024 and 14 in 2025, 12 family doctors and 2 specialists.  The City is looking at a retention program similar to what Prince Edward County has in place where doctors receive $300 to $400 for every new patient they take on.  Another area of attention is industrial land available for new businesses.  It takes three years to prepare land for sale and with industry looking at Belleville, it is crucial to be positioned in the market.  Council will have to make decisions of expanding industrial land, probably to the north and west.  There is new building underway and a reduced budget with respect to the new Fairgounds and it is anticipated that the work should be done for the next fair.

 

Mayor Ellis mentioned the municipal election to take place in October.  He is committed to run for Mayor and to encourage members of the public to get involved and consider joining Council.  Thanked by Dave Allen for explaining some of the challenges of funding services and overseeing City budgets.  And for all Mayor Ellis does for the community.