Harbourside Remembers at Bayers Lake
This is Remembrance Week and we paused to remember, reflect and give Thanks for the freedom of movement and expression , a debt of gratitude to Veterans who have paid the supreme sacrifice and others wounded in conflict both physically and mentally. He outlined his childhood experience in Scotland during the dark days of WWII., then in 1948 the creation of the United Nations, facilitated by Rotarians around the world (in line with our objective of Peace and goodwill to all). He led a Moment of Silence followed by a rousing National Anthem.
About 20 of us got together at the Comfort Hotel for the once a month supper hour meeting.
Murray
Nicoll was Chair and he opened the meeting with a Time for Remembrance
The Happy Bucks period afterwards evoked family wartime memories from some members present.
After a sumptuous supper, our Guest speaker was Brenda Saunders Todd, a former member of our Club.
She spoke about her voluntary organization, Dress for Success Halifax. This is an organization of volunteers who help women, disadvantaged by income, or other factors, to get into the workplace, particularly the business world, where first impressions in an interview are truly important. To be well dressed at that interview gives them a ‘head start’. The group supplies good quality women’s business clothing of suits, blouses, shoes, purses and even jewellery to give a woman that self confidence needed. The apparel are all donated, usually from the business community.
If a woman is successful in the interview and gets the job, she can then join the Professional Women's Group. This provides a network of employed Dress for Success women the partnership of support, practical information and inspiration to achieve self-defined success in career and life.
Financial literacy workshops are also an important component of the Professional Women's Group and these teach low-income women how to become economically independent by creating fiscal goals, constructing budgets and investing in their futures (see http://www.dressforsuccess.org/affiliate.aspx?sisid=27&pageid=1)
Women
making the transition from unemployment to work face myriad challenges, from
understanding corporate culture to handling personal finances, often without
any support systems in place to help them navigate this daunting change
The organization relies on donations of good clothing and of money to keep this important community service going. They are having a major fund raiser at Kings Wharf, Dartmouth later in November, tickets for which were sold out within days of being on the market.
We thanked Brenda for this tremendous ‘gift’ to the Community.
Submitted by Murray Nicoll
