Please mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

 

   Linda L. Brunk, RN, CPN, ACE-CHC is a 1981 graduate of the Aultman College of Nursing in Canton, Ohio.  She has been employed by Aultman for 34 years and has worked in pediatric nursing and telephone triage nursing. Brunk served as the clinical outreach coordinator for the Working on Wellness (WOW) community health program and currently acts as Aultman’s Community Wellness Nurse.  Brunk has been honored with numerous awards for her work in nursing, including the Pediatric Nursing Journal’s Outstanding Clinical Nurse award (1998), the Ohio Minority Coalition’s SHERO award (2010), the Stark County Minority Coalition Award, WOW Program (2010), Aultman Hospital’s Points of Caring award (2010), Canton Repository’s Stark County’s Top 10 Nurses (2012) and the WOW program was honored with the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s “Award of Appreciation” in 2012. Brunk presented at the ANCC Magnet Conference in 2010 and 2011 about the community outreach model utilized with the Aultman Hospital WOW program.

Brunk has honed her skills in community outreach as the founder of Penny’s From Heaven (2004-2009), a charitable organization that successfully raised funds for organizations in Northeast Ohio serving women and children with long-term illnesses.  Brunk’s work with Penny’s From Heaven sparked her passion for community outreach, and that passion has carried over into her role in the ongoing creative evolution of the Working on Wellness program and now as Community Wellness Nurse.  She recently received her Health Coach Certification through the American Counsil on Exercise.  She strongly believes in the importance of outreach as a tool to empower and improve the health of the community, and she considers herself very fortunate to have this unique opportunity and challenge in her nursing career.

 

   Just a friendly reminder for those who have signed up to ring the Salvation Army Bell this Saturday, December 5, 2015, at either Fisher Foods on 44th Street or Fisher Foods on Fulton Rd.  If you have forgotten the time you signed up for, please contact the office.

 

  The Rotary Club of Canton will participate in Canton's "Light-up Downtown" event on Thursday, December 3, 2015 from 5:30-8:30 pm.  We will open the Rotary office to the public, and we will have card stock, stickers, scissors, markers and other items to make Holiday cards for our military servicemen and -women who can not be home for the Holidays.  Cookies will be provided.

 

Any Canton Rotarians wanting to donate some of their time to this worthwhile endeavor are asked to contact the Rotary office at (330) 452-2882. Any amount of time you can give that evening would be greatly appreciated! Be sure to bring your kids or grandkids!

 

 

 

 

   Rotarians, it is once again the "giving" time of year when we remember the exceptional service the staff of Meyer's Lake Ballroom/Mr. Mike's Catering has provided to us throughout the year.  We will take donations again for these fine individuals on Friday, December 11th.

 

Any monetary amount is appreciated!  Just look for the "tip" containers which will be located on the attendance table to make your donation.

 

 

 

REGULA, RALPH                            Dec 03
NEUTZLING, VIRGINIA                   Dec 10
GORDON, SPENCER                       Dec 11
LUNTZ, WILLIAM L.                       Dec 11
ROBERTS, DAVID                          Dec 12
DICK, JULIA B.                              Dec 14
CLEVENGER, TOM                         Dec 16
SPRING, FREDERICK J.                  Dec 21
SHETZER, TIMOTHY J.                   Dec 23
WERREN, J. CURTIS                      Dec 24
GORDON, CRAIG                           Dec 25
MASON, JONATHAN P.                   Dec 29

JONES, PARA                             6 years
MARKLING, JAMES A.                 62 years
MUSTAFAGA, AMY L.                  19 years
MYERS, ROBERT E.                    27 years
SEELEY, BEN                              1 Year
SANDROCK, SCOTT P.               24 years
SCHRADE, DAVID J.                  14 years
MEYER, JANICE C.                    28 years
GOGOLEWSKI, DEAN                 1 Year
MARCHINO, REBECCA                2 years
FURBAY, TIMOTHY A.                25 years
MATTHEWS, J. DANIEL             40 years

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Each October is the annual fund drive for the Canton Rotary Charitable Fund. As Rotarians, we all subscribe to “Service Above Self”. The annual Charitable Fund drive is a way we can all follow the Service Above Self motto. The annual drive is critical to having the funds to support our traditional local projects such as: Rotary Scouts, Philomatheon Society, Sister Rotary Club in Dominican Republic, Junior Achievement, Stark County Library, Exchange Students (inbound and outbound), Project Warm and many more. We recently have not been able to grant funds to  all the worthy programs and charities that we would want to support.

I feel we are at a critical stage for our Rotary Club, a point where we need to show the community we are a valuable asset to the future growth of Canton and are an integral part of the change in Canton. One way to accomplish this is to have projects branded under Canton Rotary that are visible and recognized by the city and everyone who visits. For Canton Rotary to be able to make an impact that is permanent and branded in Canton, we need a healthy charitable fund.

I ask that each Rotarian donate to the Charitable Fund this year. While no donation is too small, we are asking that each Rotarian donate at least $100. If you cannot donate $100, please donate $25 or whatever amount you are able. Personally, I am doubling my donation from previous years, and ask everyone to do the same if possible.

We made a nice splash with our Canton Rotary Oktoberfest, let’s keep the momentum going with this year’s Canton Rotary Charitable Fund drive. Our goal this year is $15,000. Please join me in this journey so when we say we are “The Finest Rotary Club in the World” we know that each and every one of us is a part of making that claim true.

With sincere gratitude,
Craig A. Young
President-Elect

  

K.R. RAVINDRAN

PRESIDENT 2015-16

DECEMBER 2015

When the Canadian army liberated the Netherlands in 1945, they found the country on the brink of starvation. Seeing the suffering of so many, and especially moved by the faces of the children, four Canadian privates stationed near Apeldoorn that year decided to make that Christmas special for as many Dutch children as they could.

Together, they made the rounds among their fellow soldiers, collecting chocolate bars and chewing gum, candy and comic books. In their spare moments, they built toy trucks out of wood and wire, sawed scrap lumber for building blocks; one, risking the military police, sold his cigarette ration on the black market, using the money to buy rag dolls. Each thought longingly of his own family at home; each channeled his energies instead toward the children whose Christmas they knew they could brighten.

By 1 December, four sacks of gifts lay ready; the soldiers eagerly looked forward to the 25th. But two days later, they learned the date they were to depart for Canada: 6 December, long before Christmas. With mixed emotions, the soldiers decided that the best plan simply would be to take their sacks over to the local orphanage and leave them there to await Christmas.

The night before they were to leave the Netherlands, the four set off for the orphanage, one of them in a makeshift white beard and red cap. On their way, they were surprised to hear church bells ringing and see houses lit brightly, with Christmas still some weeks away. As they approached the orphanage, boots crunching in the snow, they saw through the windows that the children, two dozen girls and boys, were gathered at their evening meal. Only a few months after the war's end, food was still scarce; the meal was small, and the children's faces pale and thin.

"Santa Claus" raised the knocker on the door and knocked three times, hard. As if by magic, the chatter of young voices inside fell silent; a priest opened the door. His polite expression gave way to one of shock, as the children behind him erupted into cheers, rushing forward and swarming the private who had dressed for Christmas three weeks early – but exactly on time. For in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas comes on St. Nicholas Eve: 5 December.

For an hour, joyful chaos reigned as packages were opened and exclaimed over, sweets were tasted, dolls caressed. The last wooden truck, the last bar of chocolate, went into the hands of a little boy who had been waiting patiently all the while. After thanking the men, he turned to the priest and said something to him in Dutch, his face alight with happiness. The priest smiled and nodded. "What did he say?" one of the soldiers asked.

The priest looked at them with eyes full of tears. "He said, 'We told you he would come.'"

By sending joy out into the world, we do not sacrifice it for ourselves – we only multiply it. As we enter this season of giving, let us multiply the gifts we have been given by sharing them with others. Through acts of caring, kindness, and generosity, in our clubs and through our Foundation, we become and remain a gift to the world.