From Community Service Director Barry Twynam:

Every Tuesday from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm, St. Augustine's Parkland Church hosts Auggie's Café, a place where anyone can congregate for a hot meal, and some fellowship and conversation.  Totally financially self-sustaining, thanks to the blessings of locally-provided donations of food and cash, each week between 50 and 100 nutritious meals are served to all who are in need.  A small army of volunteers provides cooking, clean-up, and conversation that is given in the spirit of helping those in need of food and companionship.

A few months ago Patti Zeglen, Yvonne and myself visited Auggie's Cafe for lunch.  They serve a decent nutritious meal to all who come; that day there were 40-50 people.  I can only describe the experience as what a community gathering should be like:  there were old, young, native, white, black, homeless ... all are welcome.  The room was loud because of all the interaction.  It is totally a non-judgmental experience for all who attend.  

About a month ago, probably longer, Yvonne Naughton approached me about trying to get a matching grant for Auggie's Cafe kitchen renovation.  Currently, because of health regulations, the kitchen staff cannot clean dishes while meals are being served. They are looking at trying to renovate the kitchen and install a commercial dishwasher.  

Yvonne proposed challenging our Club membership to contribute to this cause and then use those collected funds towards a matching grant application.  Yvonne is kicking this off with a $100 contribution.  I thought this over and I decided to do what Lyle Houston does with the Rotary Run for Life.  I will match our Club members total contribution dollar for dollar.  Because I know there are some cruel, creative types in our Club and I need to protect my family's inheritance, I will need to cap my contribution to a maximum of $2000.  Once we know the total collected, we will make an application and see if we can add in a matching grant to the cause.  So feel free be cruel, large or small!

Please make cheques payable to “Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation” and put “SG Rotary – Auggie’s Café” in the memo line. They also have to be personal cheques, not company ones.