Vera LeFranc was born in Prince Rupert, attended grade 1 in Terrace, grew up on Haida Gwaii and lived in the Okanagan before ultimately moving to the Lower Mainland.  With connections to northern and interior British Columbia, Vera brings a unique combination of skills and experience to her role as COO of Elizabeth Fry Society of the Lower Mainland. 

With a degree in Business and Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University, Vera brings a solid mix of business sense and a passion for social justice and reconciliation to her work.

Vera is currently a member of the Provincial Child Care Council, with a mandate of providing support and advice to The PCCC provides advice on the policies and programs that affect the affordability, quality and accessibility of child care. Its members are appointed from throughout the province and represent key partners in delivering universal child care: Indigenous communities, the business sector, child care providers, the education system, the non-profit sector and local governments.

For over a decade, Vera worked with Vancity Community Foundation and the Surrey Homelessness & Housing Society to distribute almost over $5 million in funding to organizations working with Surrey’s most vulnerable. As well, Vera led the team that administers over $10 Million in Homelessness Partnership Funding annually to organizations working across the region to reduce homelessness.  This meant closely working with EFry and other organizations delivering programs to our most vulnerable residents.

From 2014 to 2018 Vera was an elected City Councilor with the City of Surrey where she led initiatives such as the Surrey Urban Aboriginal Leadership Committee, laying the foundation to ensure the full economic, social and cultural participation of the Indigenous people who call the City of Surrey home.  In addition, Vera was the Vice Chair of the Finance Committee, Co Chair of the Social Policy Advisory Committee including extensive work on poverty reduction, Co Chair of four very successful Social Innovation summits aimed at creating a culture and eco-system conducive to tackling significant social issues in the City of Surrey, Chair of the Surrey Aboriginal Social Innovation Strategy, grounded in the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, Vice Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Co-Chair of the Healthy Communities Partnership.  In addition, Vera was named by the Federation of Municipalities as one of the inaugural 2018 Top Ten Best for Canada Municipal Innovators. 

Vera spent has spent the majority of her career working within women serving organizations to advance women’s equality, provide employability and life skills training, develop programs that meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including crime prevention, housing and homelessness, and community economic development.

Vera has been married to Jen for over 14 years.  They live in Guildford and are deeply involved in the community volunteering to support young people who are exiting the foster care system. 

lperrynewwestrotary@gmail.com

Please plan to join us on ZOOM at 7PM, Thursday May 27th for a special presentation from Dr Robert T Ssekitoleko

Robert will be speaking about the Bio Medical Engineering Program our club has been involved with for the past  5 years. He will discuss the need for the services as well as the success of the program. He will share what some of the past students are doing now.

Dr Ssekitoleko is a lecturer, researcher and the head of the Biomedical Engineering Program at Makerere University. 

He completed his MEng Degree in Medical Engineering at Queen Mary, University of London in 2007. 

email lperrynewwestrotary@gmail.com for ZOOM link

Please plan to join us on ZOOM at NOON, Thursday May 6th for a 

presentation from St. John Ambulance to hear about the 

Start Me Up BC initiative.

As a social enterprise, the revenue generated by St John Ambulance BC&Y is reinvested in community services programs and training, which in turn further supports the mission of the organization to save lives at home, work, and play.

Please plan to join us on ZOOM at NOON, Thursday April 8th for a presentation from Freddie Marsh. 

In 2015, Freddie Marsh became a living kidney donor to his friend, Anna Maria.  Freddie is an advocate for organ donation and volunteers his time at BC Transplant sharing his story.  Freddie donated extra funds from a fundraising campaign to BC Transplant.  This donation went towards BC Transplant first, Live Life Pass It On Scholarship that will be awarded to two grade 12 students who lead an organ donation awareness project.  

Freddie has a passion for traveling and movies.

Contact Louise Perry by email for ZOOM link  lperrynewwestrotary@gmail.com

Spring has Sprung! Please join us April 1st at Noon on Zoom for a special program.

 Eric Young will present The Art and Science of Dahlias 

• Eric has been a volunteer with Rotary International since he joined the Rotaract Club in 2007 while in university.
• He has a BSc in Health Information Science from the University of Victoria and moved to Vancouver in 2014 to work at the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council as a Data Analyst. Eric has a strong interest in healthcare transformation and quality improvement and is passionate about using health information to story-tell and drive improvement work.
• In recent years, Eric picked up gardening, growing dahlias in particular. 
• This is a passion of his mother (Connie) and he took it upon himself to learn from her.
• In his spare time he enjoys spending time outdoors either running
• Contact Louise Perry by email for ZOOM link  lperrynewwestrotary@gmail.com

Claire is the daughter of Michael and Melissa Haffner, and is sister to Grace. She is in grade 11 at New Westminster Secondary, where she plays both basketball and volleyball. Claire also plays volleyball outside of school, and dreams of continuing to play for a university, as it is one of her biggest passions. Having played many sports in her lifetime and after taking the career course in grade 10, she has been looking at jobs in Health Sciences (physio therapy, genetic counsellor, etc). buat has also recently been interested in business and technology, and she looks forward to exploring her options. Claire also plays piano and has volunteered at many small events, but looks forward to  doing more volunteering in her community through the Hyack Ambassador Program.

Claire is most inspired by her parents, as they are the kindest, most supportive and hardworking people she has ever met. They always push Claire and her sister to do their best and make them take risks even when they don’t want to. She is very thankful to have them in her life.

Claire's most treasured keepsake is her Pandora charm bracelet. Almost every
important event that has happened in her life is represented by a charm. It shows her family, friends, travels, May Day and so much more.

Her proudest moment of her life so far was receiving female athlete of the year for her grade last year. "I worked really hard during the volleyball and basketball season and it was nice to
be recognized for my effort."

Claire's favourite thing to do in the Royal City, besides the Hyack Festival, is going down to the Quay in the summers, getting gelato at the farmers market and walking along the boardwalk with her friends. "At the end of the boardwalk, there used to be
beach volleyball courts and I loved playing there. Or relaxing in the hammocks the city would hang. It was the perfect place to relax."​

When asked who she would trade places with, past or present, Claire says:
"I have always wanted to know what it was like to live during the renaissance so I think it would be interesting to trade places with Marie-Antoinette. When I visited France, I got to go inside
the place of Versailles and it would be interesting to see how the royal family lived back then. The society was very divided and it would be different to live in a monarchy government, especially to be the Queen. However, if I was to trade places with her, I would want to leave before the French Revolution."

If she could give advice to her 13-year-old-self, Claire would tell herself not to care what anyone else thinks or says. "It’s typical to be self-conscious at that age but the only thing that matters is how you see yourself." She would also tell her 13-year-old self to not worry so much about the future and to just live in the moment.

Claire believes she would make a good Hyack Ambassador because no one loves this city more than she does. She
loves our traditions like the Hyack Parade and May Day. "We are a small community but our spirit is big. My parents grew up here and it only seems fair that I do my part to give back by
volunteering and representing my Royal City."

Since we can’t travel why not learn about each other’s past adventures!

Join us January 28th at 7pm on Zoom for a presentation from Rotarian Mike Crean - come sail away with Mike!

Since he was a youngster Mike was always drawn to the sea. His father was a marine physicist and they spent time on research boats and sailing. Over the years family and life made it difficult to spend much time sailing, but he was always drawn back to it. In recent years Mike was able to sail more and wanted to do a major ocean crossing. When a friend told Mike about the Clipper Race he decided to put himself to the test and do a leg of the Clipper Round the World Race. Novice, intermediate and experts can all participate in the experience of ocean racing through The Clipper Race, either round the world or on a single leg. The Southern Ocean is reputed to be the wildest ocean experience - he chose to do the Southern Ocean.  

For Zoom login contact lperrynewwestrotary@gmail.com    

An award-winning professional photographer, author, gallery owner and filmmaker, Gabor Gasztonyi lives in New Westminster with his wife, artist Judith Copland.

Gabor is a two-time winner of the prestigious Nikon Press Award.  He is a regular lecturer at Emily College University and Bernie Legge Cultural Award winner.

Recent exhibitions include The Sudanese,  at the Surrey Art Gallery, in 2015, as well as two selected and featured exhibits at the Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver. 

His film No Way Out premiered at the Harlem Film Festival in New York, in May 2019.  It won the award for Best Cinematography.

A dedicated member of Rotary, Gabor is currently the Polio Chair for District 5040 and is keenly interested in Rehabilitation for Polio Victims particularly in Ethiopia.  He is also interested in promoting accessibility for Rotary meeting places.

ZOOM in at NOON, October 29 for this presentation, Polio, a personal journey. 

For login information email lperrynewwestrotary@gmail.com 

DR. IRWIN STEWART HEARING HEALTH CENTRE – UGANDA

Special Club meeting October 15 on ZOOM. See details on the Event Tab.

Deaf and hard of hearing children in Uganda face a myriad of challenges, and very limited resources.  To address those challenges, the Rotary clubs of New Westminster in Canada, and Kololo-Kampala in Uganda are sponsoring the establishment of a Hearing Health Centre in memory of Dr. Irwin Stewart.  

The Centre will target children under 6 and their families.  Intervention at this stage has the greatest potential for lifelong impact.  The Centre will address early diagnosis, early intervention services, a pre-primary education program and parental support and outreach.  Additionally, it will provide staff and other ENT professionals with mentoring/training in modern prevention techniques and the treatment of hearing and other ear disorders.  This will help to sustain the initiative. The Centre will be partly based in a clinical setting at Makere University Hospital in Kampala.  University personnel can provide only limited support.   Professionals will be hired locally.  The Centre will be operated by a registered NGO, Hear His Voice.  Dr. Brian Westerberg of Vancouver, a colleague of Dr. Stewart, will coordinate medical and professional support from Canada.

Dr. Irwin Stewart, and his wife Lois, spearheaded many overseas humanitarian health projects and dedicated much of their retirement to improving Hearing Health Care in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and Uganda.  Irwin was a hugely committed Rotarian, a member of the Rotary Club of New Westminster who served Rotary in many capacities, including District Governor.  As a physician, Irwin was recognized as a pioneer in the medical profession, he was a full Clinical Professor at UBC, Head of Otolaryngology, Professor Emeritus, a member of the Fellowship of Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) who received many honours including the Order of Canada.  Both Irwin and Lois exemplified Rotary’s motto “Service Above Self” and they have left a huge legacy of service in hearing treatment, education, and training through their volunteer efforts, at home and abroad, and very significantly in Uganda.  They will forever be remembered as humble and kind humanitarians.

The Hearing Centre builds on and extends the work begun by Dr. Stewart and continued by Dr. Westerberg and others through a number of Rotary projects.  Establishing the Centre, and naming it in honour of Dr. Stewart, are fitting tributes to a remarkable Canadian Rotarian.

Funding for the Centre is coming from a Rotary Global Grant project sponsored by the two Rotary Clubs.  A good deal of the $133,000 (US) project cost is being provided by Global and District Rotary Foundation grants, along with a $40,000 (US) contribution from the Government of Canada.  The Rotary Club of New Westminster is committed to raising $23,000 (US) to complete the project funding.  Some donations have been received, and the Club itself will provide part of the funding. 

The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.

Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.

With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.

Our mission

The mission of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.

What impact can one donation have?

• For as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio.
• $50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.
• $500 can launch an anti-bullying campaign and create a safe environment for children

Back row (left to right): Gerda Suess (Sergeant-at-Arms, Rotary Club), Nick Cheng (Director, Rotary Club) and Jason Lesage (Executive Director, Queen’s Park Healthcare Foundation)

Front row (left to right): Hamid Mahmoudi (Manager, Clinical Operations, Rehabilitation), Dave Vallee (Past President, Rotary Club) and Richard Prill (President, Rotary Club)

A great project with outstanding results. A total of 39 patients were seen by 2 eye doctors as well as students and teachers from Douglas College. 

Most of our patients were referred to us from various agencies in New Westminster. Thank you to our partners, volunteers and Tim Hortons for the treats.

Rotarians Richard Prill and Jim Dodd at the loading of the Philippine container on June 3. Basic arrangements for the container were made by Elena Agala who is shown in the picture. 

Zul Kanji, Director and Co-ordinator of UBC Dental Hygiene Degree Program and Susan Schmitz,

Clinical Associate Professor, UBC Dentistry with Louise Perry and Dave Vallee.

Photo Courtesy of Gabor Gasztonyi

On August 18, 2016 our Club presented a cheque of $5,000 to cover next year’s operating costs in providing free dental care to low-income families in New Westminster.