|
President Pat called us to order with the customary ringing of the bell. Todd Gute’s invocation thoughtfully gave thanks for just about everyone and everything; thanks Todd! The Club delivered an inspiring version of "God Bless America." Lisa Smith circulated the mic among our guests who hailed from as far as Serbia, and one guest was 20 years old and expressed interest in becoming a Rotarian. Tobi Moore was thanked for sponsoring the many guests who are involved in Habitat for Humanity. Diane Sanborn shared that the health of the club is excellent. President Pat presented a red badge to Casey Jacobsen with LaFontaine Automotive. He reminded Rotarians there will be a New Member Orientation on August 2. In an unusual twist, Lisa Smith announced the July birthday – herself; the other 11 Rotarians with July birthdays stayed home so Lisa took the cake and ate it too. Bob Hoffman gave a presentation on the Club’s public relations efforts. Rotarians are people of action, he declared. The public relations efforts are designed to enhance the community understanding of Rotary. He shared that we can all be involved in spreading the word by being ambassadors for Rotary and sharing Rotary stories. President Pat echoed the sentiments with the concept that we are Rotarians 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Ken Beachler introduced our special music of the day performed by cast members of “Songs for a New World,” which is being performed by Peppermint Creek Theater Company. Cameron Gain beautifully sang “She Cries.” Rachel Raymer entertained us with a great performance of “Surabaya-Santa,” a song with an upbeat tempo and a life altering vision of Mr. Claus. Thanks to both for sharing your talent. President Pat thanked Julie Pingston for doing an excellent job as Chair of the Month. Chris Holman was Chair of the Day and after some joking, maybe it was joking, about Chris’ parole officer letting him be here today, he introduced our speaker: Vicki Hamilton-Allen, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity. “Just a few blocks away” was the theme of Vicki Hamilton-Allen’s presentation. Habitat for Humanity is a national organization with a “franchise” model that allows for lots of local control and the ability for innovative programming to meet specific community needs. Habitat’s Mission is “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.” They work to help with the housing needs of vulnerable populations; they partner with other agencies; they transform lives. Vicki talked about numerous examples just a few blocks away of people experiencing profound housing needs that Habitat for Humanity is able to assist with. She told us about the relatively new veterans program, and told us of a veteran just a few blocks from here and the deeply needed repairs to his home that Habitat for Humanity is helping to tackle. She talked about the critical home repair program and the story of a woman just a few blocks from here who sleeps in her bathtub to keep away from the rodents in her home and how Habitat for Humanity is helping her. She told us of the global mission of Habitat for Humanity and thanked Rotary of Lansing for a 2017 grant which helped them with a project in Kenya. Having heard Bob Hoffman talk about Rotarians being people of action, she gave several examples of how we can help including shopping at and donating to the 2 local Habitat for Humanity ReStores and working on the Rock the Block project in Baker-Donora Neighborhood. The link for the Sheri Jones youtube video is HERE. President Pat thanked Vicki for her presentation. In lieu of a speaker's gift, we will donate money to our Bio Sand Filter water project to provide pure water to developing countries in the Dominican Republic. We will meet at the Lansing Center next week our speaker will be Steve Lorincz, TSA Federal Security Director. His topic will be: "TSA - Path Forward". Chris Swope's email is chris.swope@lansingmi.gov. |
Have you ever wanted to belong to a super secret, elite, literary illuminati club? I can’t promise you the respect you’d get writing for the Harvard Lampoon, nor the influence you’d surely have if you were a member of Yale’s Skull and Bones society, but this I can promise you.... um yeah, drawing a complete blank here. Oh yeah, every now and then, the Club President will say something like, “Oh yes, in addition to our Pride and Joy Special Music, we have their ugly step child, the Editarian Committee. The good news is, you don’t have to sing, dance or play a musical instrument. In fact you barely need any skills at all! All you have to do is write up what happened at our weekly Rotary meeting for like 4 meetings in a year. If you follow my lead, you can make most of it up which eliminates the need for taking notes at the meeting! Best of all, you get to play the part of club martyr, throwing yourself into the pit of despair that is amateur writing for friends and family. Don’t bail on me now Theodore, remember, service above self! Contact .jpg)