Noon Meeting Highlights
As it was the first meeting of the month, we noted all of the birthdays and anniversaries for the month of May.
The program was packed with information, so we began early and the meeting was full of information.
The main highlight from a Club business standpoint was the presentation Debbie Doig gave entitled, "Your Money at Work".
In summary, we can and should be very proud of the approximately $146,000 we raised in the past Rotary year through direct sponsorship, peaches/pear sales, unplanned money (from the auctioning of the wine we have done) and, finally, from the recent recycle event.
After all the work we have done to put the money to use, we have approximately $34,000 to carry over into the new Rotary year.
Importantly, Debbie reminded the Club that the decision was made to utilize money for specific projects that would have major impact. So, with that,
we then welcomed Diana from Project C.U.R.E.
Diana revealed that our Club is responsible for the sponsorship of TWO containers of medical supplies. One will go to Ukraine and one will go to Sierra Leone.
Diana introduced us to a gentleman named Adam from Wyoming. Adam's story was quite compelling. He shared his personal story. Adam is a rancher in Rawlins, Wyoming. He was drawn to becoming involved in the Ukraine and went there to see for himself what the situation was.
Through his personal experience meeting people, touring bombed hospitals and schools, and really getting to know what was going on, he returned to Wyoming and began to raise funds. His story is worthy of an inspirational book, to be honest. Not having ever done anything like this before, he just shared his experiences and found that through that, more people were willing to donate. And so it began. We all marveled at his quiet and faithful determination to make a difference and it was not lost on us that he should become a Rotarian! (Later during Happy Dollars, Ray gave a donation and let Adam know when and where the nearest Rotary meeting is in Wyoming with a laugh and the sincere hope that Adam will join us!)
Diana finished off the presentation by sharing photos of Ukraine and of Sierra Leone. She told us details of the efforts in both places and showed us the very containers we will be sending. She also reminded the Club that there is a need for Assessors at Project C.U.R.E. If you have the time and are so inclined, there is information about how you could be one of the very special people who volunteers through Project C.U.R.E. to travel the world and help determine where supplies can and should go.
There will be more information forthcoming as to how exactly we as a club can become involved in packing the supplies for our two containers AND in sending personal notes, etc, to the recipients. So, stay tuned for details.
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You may recall that last week, Arthur gave The Rock to Elaine for her devoted service to the Club. Well, this past week, Elaine passed it to the very deserving hands of Terre Cone. We all know how devoted she is to Community Service!
To wrap up the meeting, we celebrated a few happy dollars. Of special note, Jan and Jerry Silifreund joined the meeting. Jan donated $89 Happy Dollars for Jerry's birthday. There were other Happy things to be noted including Neil being back from Cozumel, a forthcoming trip to Niagara Falls, and Jim Bramley gave $10 with a short story about the kids at Sedelia Elementary giving him a big hug as he read the final book of the school year. We all should be happy and proud of all the good that comes from our club and its members and goes out into the world near and far!
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FINAL NOTES, ETC...
PLEASE keep decorating Project Angel Heart bags.
From The Sunrise Group:
The Sunrise Group sponsored an effort with Thunder Ridge High School's metal shop department to build and place trash containers in one of the four parking lots on the campus. Trash was an issue and a nuisance. Together with the "PeaceJam Club" who will empty the cans, Sunrise was able to get the lots taken care of. The Group has decided to continue the effort and over time will work with the metal shop to build more cans for the other three lots. It is a great way to help in the community and involve the metal shop kids and the PeaceJam kids.
From Fly'n B we have the following update:
What a great "smashing" electronics recycling event we had Saturday. About 80 Wind Crest residents and staff disposed of 2 1/2 pickup truck loads of unwanted items taking up valuable space in our apartments. Out of gratitude, we collected voluntary donations totaling $1,062. A check will be presented to the Highlands Ranch Rotary Foundation on May 23rd which will allow us to begin funding some of our own projects for the coming year. Special thanks go to: our sister satellite club, Sunrise, for letting us piggyback on their event; HR Rotary member, Jim Bramley, his daughter and schoolmate, who loaded and delivered the goods; and of course, our own members who manned the collection lobbies and promoted the event.
Our program this Thursday is Dave Talbot, Crutches4Africa. He is hosting a container-loading event this Saturday bound for Africa. I will be transporting a SUV load of crutches from Project Cure. If you have a few hours to spare, you can join in the event. Details Thursday.
If you ordered baseball game tickets for the game Sunday, bring your checkbook to pay Anita. $33 + a small processing fee per ticket. We are carpooling from Wind Crest to the Lincoln light rail station. Time details, at Thursday meeting. There are three extra tickets available if you want to go.
Flyers will be out soon about the May 25th Blood Donation drive. You can help by giving blood (if able), an hour that morning directing traffic, or by helping identify donors among your friends at Wind Crest.
Your last bit of homework before Thursday; Come to the meeting with any project ideas that Fly'n B Rotary "might" want to do this year. Estimate the cost. I am attending the HR Rotary Foundation meeting on May 16th and will be presenting our proposals and budget request.
Don't forget: We have the Carter's private dining room reserved for us after Thursday's meeting. Let's have a good turnout for a fellowship-oriented dinner together.
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