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Call to Order President Nick called his first meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. He thanked President-Elect Rebecca Bahar-Cook for subbing for him the week prior. President Nick led Rotarians in the recitation of the Four-Way Test. Reflection Chris Swope shared a quote he read: “Ask yourself what is really important. Have the wisdom and the courage to build your life around your answer.” To no one’s surprise, Chris said that our democracy and voting are very important to him. He had the opportunity to travel to Milwaukee for some training. He took a day-and-a-half-long course on ethics in election administration. He said, “Although it’s a no-brainer, if you’re running an election, you believe in giving people the opportunity to vote and doing what you can to encourage people to vote and treat people fairly.” Class ended Monday afternoon. Tuesday afternoon, Chris got an alert on his phone about the arrest of 16 Michiganders who participated in the false elector scandal. One of them happened to be an election official from Southeast Michigan – a township clerk. It deeply upset Chris, that an election official would allegedly be involved in a criminal act. “We all do different things and focus on what we believe to be important,” Chris said. “The important thing is to do our very best, to be the best example of whatever it is we do.” Patriotic Song Rotarians sang “America the Beautiful,” featuring John Dale Smith on piano. Introduction of Guests & Visiting Rotarians Susan Angel volunteered for mic duty. Kimberly Garland introduced her guest, Noah Mitchell, an intern at the Delta Dental Foundation. He has been interning for about two weeks. He is starting his senior year at Michigan State University, majoring in Finance. He is also involved with Young Life Organization, mentoring young men at East Lansing High School. Health of the Club The health of the club is good, according to President Nick. Announcements President Nick also announced that the Delta-Waverly Rotary Club is hosting an annual golf outing, as noted in the Rotogram, Aug. 3. District Governor Sharalyn Davis will visit our club Aug. 4 and present Paul Harris awards. Special Music Just when she thought her duties as president were wrapped up, Past President Courtney Millbrook returned to the lectern to introduce our special music guest – Travis Williams – who has performed for Rotary many times before. He sang, “Tonight at Eight” and “Make Them Hear You,” from the musical “Ragtime.” He had phenomenal range, and he held his note longer than most without passing out. We heard you, Travis. Bravo! Chair of the Month/Chair of the Day Rebecca Bahar-Cook introduced Amber Paxton, an exemplary professional who has dedicated over a decade of her life in service to the City of Lansing as its first and only Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment. Amber is passionate about empowering and lifting up the Lansing community, from kindergarten to retirement. Amber innovatively spearheads the Lansing SAVE program – an initiative that automatically enrolls students at kindergarten into children’s savings accounts for post-secondary education. Rebecca thanked Rotarians who have contributed to Lansing SAVE, including Justin Sheehan of Lansing Promise; Bradley T. Funkhouser and Lolo Robison on behalf of CATA; Kellie Dean from Dean Transportation; and many others.  Amber is originally from Flint but is now a proud resident of Lansing. She discussed a partnership between MSU Federal Credit Union, Lansing School District and City of Lansing to create children’s savings accounts through Lansing SAVE. Lansing SAVE universally and automatically enrolls every kindergartner into the program, and seeds the account for educational expenses after high school. Amber discussed the mission, vision, impact and need for Lansing SAVE. The current average balance of Lansing SAVE is $15.25. The average balance for kindergarten to college at graduation is $1,046. The budget calls for $5 million over the next 5 years, which will seed each CSA with $500. Research shows that students with $500 in savings believe they can and will go to college, tremendously improving their odds. Amber reported that they are about halfway to their goal to raise $500,000 by the end of September. She encouraged all who can to give. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Lolo Robison’s email address is lrobison@cata.org. |
