With the weather looking like it's shaping up (touch wood!) I've been getting outside some great runs. Other than the fresh air, the kms I've been running this week have been logged towards our club's Unbreakable 1000 challenge team. The Unbreakable 1000 challenge is in support of Cameron Helps, a charity dedicated to improving the mental health of Ontario youth through participation-focused running programs. The goal of the challenge is to run 1000km and raise $1000 as a team. If you're a runner, athlete, or looking to get in shape, please join our team - every km you run is another step to our goal. http://u1000.cameronhelps.ca/teams/5582-rotaract-club-of-toronto If you're not able to participate in the running, or if you're invested in our ambition, please consider donating to help us get to our $1000 goal as well! Perhaps sponsor the member of the team you think will score the most kilometers when we hit 1000 km! It's a tight race so far.

Rotaract District 7070 (of which The Rotaract Club of Toronto is a member) is pleased to invite you to the 2017 District Rotaract Conference! 'We have an amazing conference planned for this year! The conference will be held on May 6th, 2017 at York University, from 9am to 8pm. Our theme this year is "You've Got a Friend in Me: Share YOUR Story!" based loosely on everyone's favourite Pixar movie franchise, Toy Story. With this theme we want to place a focus on what being a part of the Rotary community means; supporting diversity & inclusion, lending a helping hand to those in need, and ultimately service above self. We also want to encourage everyone to use the conference, and their involvement in the Rotary community, to develop and share their story! Whether you are new to the community, or have been involved for years, we truly believe that the world of Rotary can contribute in endless ways not only to those dedicated to helping others, but to themselves as well- and we want to hear all about it! This year we are offering some amazing sessions, with very exciting guest speakers. Here's just a taste of SOME of the sessions you will get the opportunity to participate in: To Infinity and Beyond! - Keys to travelling with Rotaract Hamm's Keys to Launching a Business - The art of entrepreneurship Barbie & Ken: A Perfect Match - How to develop successful partnerships I am Buzz Lightyear - I Come in Peace - Yoga & Meditation How to Meet Other Aliens - How to network successfully! And back by popular demand is Rotaract Paint Nite- with your registration to the conference you will have the chance to participate in our collective painting activity where you'll be able to create and bring home your very own piece of the conference. We are also bringing something new to the conference this year- the Taming of the Dragon competition. This is an opportunity for high school students to come up with a social or business initiative that aligns with one of Rotary's pillars. At this year's conference, we will be hosting the qualifying round for the competition, and our guests will have the opportunity to watch each team's presentations. Now- we know you want to register, but how do you do it? Registration Link: Click Here to RegisterD7070 Rotaract Website: https://www.rotaractd7070.org/conference Early bird prices are on until March 31st, so make sure to get your tickets ASAP! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our committee, we are happy to help. Looking forward to seeing you all at the conference this year!

Today is International Women's Day - a day to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and, at the same time, reckon with the gaps to be closed. According to The World Economic Forum, the gender gap is not predicted to close entirely in the world until 2186... 169 years from now! If you ask me, that's completely unacceptable! While the road ahead seems long, I believe its these challenges that inspire us to do what we do, and live the spirit of Service Above Self. I am also a big believer in leading by example, and as I reflect on our club, I am so pleased to be surrounded by such strong individuals that lead the way in addressing these gaps. To see the formidable achievements of women, one does not need to look further than the leadership of members of our own club. To share a personal anecdote: when I started as president, no one could remember the last time the Rotaract Club of Toronto did not have a female president. This goes back beyond any recent memory of the past several years - Sarah, Neisely, Kelly, Netila, Chialing... I think this is truly telling of the leadership, passion and energy of the women in our club. Their impact has been so tremendous, I think to myself, "how on earth do I follow that?!" Let's not forget about the formidable cast that makes up the board of directors as well - Catherine, Heather, Jessica, Katherine, Sarah, & Quincy! According to my rough math, nearly two-thirds of our club members are women. These are women who are current or future leaders in their fields of work or study, and in the community. The tireless efforts of our members who engage in community service, fellowship, and sharing of professional development best practices make an immeasurable impact on the world we share. Last fall, the club, with the leadership of Catherine and Kallan, partnered with Fred Victor to establish an opportunity to serve underprivileged women in Toronto. Every month, members of the Rotaract Club of Toronto have volunteered at a downtown women's hostel and held celebratory parties for the residents, to give those residents an opportunity for something everyone deserves: good old fashioned fun! While I'm pleased with the contributions and achievements of our club, there's always more to be done (apparently 169 years worth!). But, I'm so proud to stand here with such an amazing group in living the International Women's Day call to #BeBoldForChange. Dennis President, Rotaract Club of Toronto

Wow I can't believe we're already into February! Regardless of which groundhog you get your weather forecasts from, there's still a little bit of winter left. We've got another great month in store for you all, why not keep the winter spirit going by joining us in our events? As always, everything will be in our calendar on the Info tab, but here's some info below. To sign up, please contact torontorotaract@gmail.com Peer Workshop: Job Hunting Skills (February 6, 6:00pm ) Location: Downtown Core, RSVP for details The professional development committee is working hard to serve you better. In 2017 we are adding peer workshop of professional skills. An opportunity to strengthen professional skills and gain perspective on how to brand yourself, through a variety of interactive components. February R2R Event (February 7, 6:00pm ) Location: The National Club (303 Bay St.) Networking event with rotarians and rotaractors. The cost is $10 per Rotarian. Rotaractors pay $5. If interested, please contact Katherine (k.kirkpatrickwahl@gmail.com) to sign-up for a spot. Please note that this is a MEMBERS ONLY EVENT and jeans are not allowed to be worn in the National Club. Volunteers Needed: Youth and Children’s Awards Selection Subcommittee - February 9th, 5:30 - 8:30 pm YCS is a committee that is made of Rotarians and Rotaractors to consider, review, and select charities that specialize in youth and children's health, wellbeing, and overall quality of life for funding and volunteer partnerships. The theme this year is mental health, and we will be sending out applications for charities in the sector of youth and children’s mental health to complete so they can apply for funds and sweat equity through the Rotary Club of Toronto and the Rotaract Club of Toronto. We need to create a subcommittee to review and select 6-8 applications to consider for this funding opportunity. Consider joining this subcommittee if you’re interested in helping decide where our funds are donated and enable well-deserving charities to make a difference in Toronto. Women’s Hostel Birthday Party (Feb 11th 2:30pm-5:30pm) Location: Women’s Hostel at 86 Lombard Street Need 5-6 volunteers to help orchestrate the birthday party. Young Professionals Networking by The Hip Haus Date: Wed, February 15 , 2017 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM Location: Bloke 401 King St W Networking Event for Young Professionals FREE. Our Professional Development team has gone to this before, and we are interested in sharing it with all of you. A group of us are going this month, and we want to invite you to come along. Fort York Food Bank (Feb 25th, 8:30-noon and 11:30-2pm) Location: FYFB at 797 Dundas St West Need 4-6 volunteers for each shift. Shift 1 (8:30am-noon) is cooking prep and cooking, Shift 2 (11:30am-2pm) is the serving and cleaning shift. If we can’t fit everyone in the kitchen, some volunteers can help out with grocery sorting

Join us for our next club general meeting, Monday January 30, 6:00 pm at The Office Pub (2nd Floor). Our guest speaker is Meera Vignarajah of Me to We. Also, we will be collecting gently used clothing at this meeting and bringing it to the St. Michael's Hospital Rotary Transition Centre. From the St. Michael's website: "Many people who are homeless in Toronto need Emergency treatment - but have to recover back on the street. The CAP identified a need to establish a temporary refuge for patients at St. Michael's who are discharged from Emergency, but have no place to go in the community.A donation from the Rotary Club of Toronto helped the hospital to create the Rotary Club of Toronto Transition Centre - the first of its kind in Canada. The Rotary Transition Centre is a 24-hour facility that is a safe and welcoming environment for homeless and under-housed patients, where they can get a meal, do laundry, watch TV, use the phone or speak to a social worker. Since 1999, the Rotary Transition Centre has served about 1,000 homeless patients every year."

First of all, happy New Year! We hope everyone had a relaxing holiday season. We're back to our meeting schedule Monday January 16 6:00 pm at The Office Pub. Hope to see you there! Secondly: Welcome to our new website! When this year's executive took the reins in July, one of the items that we all felt was due for a change was our website, and now finally as we start to get 2017 into gear, I'm very happy to show you what we've done to the place! We wanted a user-friendly place to share news, event information, meeting calendars, and pictures in a way that wasn't possible with our old website. We hope this is something you all enjoy visiting. There will be more features that will be added as we gain more familiarity with our new provider. What do you think so far? We'd love to hear your feedback! This website would not have been made possible without the tireless efforts by our own Attilio. Building a website from the ground up is not easy, and on the behalf of the Board of Directors, THANK YOU ATTILIO!