After a bit of online conversation among the early arrivals, President Pat muted all of the Zoom participants and called our virtual meeting to order promptly at 12:25. Scott Keith shared a very thoughtful invocation, reminding us that we have much for which to be thankful and the importance of maintaining a giving attitude. President Pat then shared John Dale’s piano rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. Diane Sanborn reported that the health of the club is good. Rebecca Bahar Cook shared the responses to the April birthday question regarding the strangest think you have ever eaten. A response shared early was gasoline, which seemed quite strange until all of the other responses were shared. (Unfortunately, I was having trouble hearing Rebecca and can’t share more details of the responses.) The April Birthtarians (I’ve always wanted to call them that) had a 60% contribution rate with almost a full week to go in the month. Happy Quarantined Birthday to all! President Pat let us all know that the Board has decided to bill only dues for the second quarter since the club is not providing lunch for our virtual meetings. If you would like a refund for the lunch portion of the meetings cancelled in March, please contact Cathy. When we begin meeting face-to-face again, billings for lunch will resume. There is a fundraiser for our Foundation currently scheduled (but subject to change) for June 9th at Urban Beat. This fundraiser will feature several musical Rotarians – including John Collins, Linda Lynch, Ed Castellani and President Pat – along with a couple of guest musicians. Admission will be by donation – whatever you are able to give. As a bit of a teaser for the fundraiser, President Pat introduced Ed Castellani on guitar. Ed played Black Mountain Rag and Take Five – which we all learned was named because there are 5 beats in each measure. Few knew that Ed had such mad guitar skills! With a request that any questions for our speakers be entered in the Chat, President Pat turned the meeting over to President Elect Julie Pingston, who was serving as Chair of the Day. Julie began by thanking President Pat for his willingness and efforts to adapt our meeting to a virtual format. Program has been a bit of a scramble, with speakers, scheduled far in advance by Chair of the Month Nanci Yeadon, cancelled, and then rescheduled. New speakers had to be secured when original speakers were not able to participate as planned. That led to the opportunity to highlight the local situation and efforts to provide services in the midst of COVID-19. Teresa Kmetz, Lansing Rotarian and President/CEO of Capital Area United Way began the presentation with an overview of how the non-profit community is responding to the changing situation. There was an early recognition that there was going to be a huge response needed and that there was a definite need for collaboration and coordination. There are three phases to the response. The immediate response began two weeks before the Stay-at-Home order was issued. During this phase, partnerships were formed between various non-profits to insure that duplication was eliminated and assets, as well as gaps, were identified. Coalitions were formed around specific needs, i.e. senior nutrition, homelessness, etc. There has been a lot of problem solving on-the-fly. Requests have been made to the community for funding and there has been a great response. After the immediate response, the middle (and current) phase began. United Way reinstated the Emergency Relief fund that assists struggling ALICE households. (ALICE stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed.) This fund helps to fund gaps in services with money going to providers, not clients. Central Michigan 211 data is updated daily, reporting the number of calls and the assistance that is being requested. This data helps guide decisions made by area non-profits. Teresa turned the platform over to Michelle Lantz, Lansing Rotarian and CEO of the Greater Lansing Food Bank. Michelle began by stating that new decisions are made daily as new data is available and that area non-profits are learning to work together better. She appreciates the funding and efforts by United Way to foster and support various collaboratives. When this crisis began, the Food Bank, which servers 7 counties, saw the food need immediately double and began scaling up as quickly as possible. They do not provide front line services, but work through about 150 food pantries and agencies. About 10% had to close, evaluate their operations, and then reopened with a different delivery model that took COVID-19 into account. The volunteer program used by the Food Bank for much of the food handling was suspended. The 35 staff members were shifted to handle jobs that had been done by volunteers. Fortunately, the Food Bank was well stocked at the time, and was able to place immediate orders for additional food. They are also still receiving shipments from USDA. They have not seen an overall downturn in what can be provided. Much of the food is distributed through mobile food pantries. Food is preboxed and loaded into client’s cars by volunteers in a drive through operation. Some cold items, such as milk and other dairy products, have been added to existing pickups. There has been some food scarcity. The supply chain was having trouble keeping up with demand and shipments were 4 – 6 weeks out. This has been exacerbated by closings and hoarding, but the situation has eased. The Food Bank has started thinking about their strategy for the recovery stage. Michelle expects that there will be quick, but informed, decision making and that agencies will be working together for capacity building. She expects that the recovery will be an 18 month long process. Teresa concluded the presentation by noting that many non-profits had 2 months or less of cash on hand when this crisis began. They are now faced with fewer donations and are unable to generate cash through fee-based services. Donations are sorely needed during this time. In response to questions, Michelle indicated that there can be 500 or more cars at some of the drive up pantries. Demand varies a lot by location, but all locations are seeing increased demand. She also shared that the Food Bank has historically received a lot of donations from local groceries – such as Meijer and Kroger – but that stream of donations has stopped as they are having difficulties keeping shelves stocked for customers. That has led to more reliance on purchases. Jeff Bezos donated $100 million to America’s food banks, and a portion of that donation was available here. This money had to be spent within 35 days. Another question had to do with non-profits applying for Paycheck Protection Program funds. Teresa indicated that non-profits were encouraged to apply for this funding. Another Rotarian wondered if churches were filling a roll in the crisis response. Michelle indicated that many of the food pantries are run by churches and that other churches were stepping up to assist. The Food Bank is also working with school districts, who began distributing food to students and their families, but were quickly overwhelmed by requests from the general public as well. Part of this assistance includes redirecting some of the requests to other resources. Finally, one Rotarian was eager to find volunteer opportunities for their college student who is unexpectedly home. Teresa stated that volunteer opportunities are limited right now, but the United Way is a clearing house for volunteer opportunities. You can check the volunteer center at micauw.org for details. President Pat thanked Teresa and Michelle for sharing with us and announced that our speaker recognition gifts will be going to a local agency to assist in the COVID-19 response locally. Next week our speakers will be from Potter Park Zoo. President Pat concluded the meeting by thanking Julie Pingston for all of her efforts to schedule speakers for our Zoom meetings. |