Home Page | Rotary Club of Metropolitan Savannah

Metro meets on 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 12noon at the Jewish Educational Alliance, 5111 Abercorn St., Savannah, GA

Over The Moon Diaper Bank - Donations Drive
Apr 22, 2024 – May 07, 2024
Club Social: Culinary Institute tour & drinks
Savannah Culinary Institute

Apr 23, 2024
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Service: TIMA Yard Clean-up
Tybee Island Maritime Academy

Apr 27, 2024
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Service | May 2024

Hello Metro,

Is there a best month of the year?! There MAY be! Here's a look ahead at this coming month's service projects, including a timely diaper donations drive for Over the Moon!

MAY SERVICE PROJECTS

Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia - Saturday May 4 Sign up here

Metro + Junior League + Jaycees will be at Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia's new location on Chatham Parkway to pack food for their Summer Feeding program. Hooray for a community effort!

Please note that we currently only have 3 people signed up for this service project. If we don't get to at least 15 volunteers by end of this week, we may need to reschedule that day, so please sign up if you are able to join on the 4th so we can get a headcount and make some decisions. Thank you!

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Over the Moon Diapers Donations Drive - now thru May 7

Our friends at Over the Moon Diaper Bank are in need of diapers, pull ups and baby wipes, so we're going to help them out with a donations drive. You can donate by:

Ordering directly from their Target or Amazon wishlist, and items will ship directly to OTM. Please include a gift message and say you're with Metro Rotary so they know who it's from.
Bringing items to the JEA at our next meeting on May 7 (or earlier) and drop off at their donation barrels in the lobby.

This is a great way to get those make-up attendance credits! For every $25 donated, you'll get one make-up credit. Max 3 credits. Please send your proof of purchase to me and I will compile for Sara.

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Emmaus House - Monday May 13 Sign up here

The 2nd Monday of each month is now "Metro Monday"! We will assist with the soup kitchen from 7:30-9:30am. This service project is for adult volunteers. Minors 13 and up can volunteer accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

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Hope to see you there, and as always--

Thanks for being ridiculously awesome!
Ro

Announcements | April 2 Meeting

Posted by Jamie Arkins

PRESIDENT UPDATE & COMMITTEE REPORTS

President-Elect Kristen Crawley presided and kicked off the meeting with the 4-way test:

GUESTS/VISITORS:

Danietté Thomas - fashion designer and consultant (guest of Zerik Samples)

CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS:

TODAY (April 15) is the last day to order a Metro shirt! If you do not already have a black Metro t-shirt or your current one doesn't fit, please share your name & size here by EOD today!

April Birthdays & Anniversaries:

Birthdays: Cindy Mullally (4), Jamie Arkins (8), Kristin King (17), Sarah Smith (21), Tony Uhrich (21), Robert McCorkle (25), Suzanne Kirk (26), Kelley Waldron (26)
Club anniversaries: Michael McLeod (11 y), Lee Beckmann (10 y)
Wedding anniversaries: Beth & Michael Whalen (19 y), Cody & Nicki Tharpe (18 y)

MEMBERSHIP MINUTE:

Kristen asked Zerik and Leigh what the benefits are of giving to Rotary Foundation.
- Leigh loves the matching gift aspect of our club
- Zerik loves the growth process aspect of our giving and that we get to determine where our additional funds go.

Something you don't know about Leigh: she was a debutante. The riskiest thing she's ever done was watch the sunrise on Mount Haleakala and their brakes failed on the drive down. The most fun she’s ever had was also camping and hiking on the mountain.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS:

This year’s Preston Johnson Speech Contest was a huge success: 3 places/awards were given!
Service day at Re-Purpose and check presentation. 17 members attended, and press releases in WTOC and Savannah Business Journal.
Superfluous award to Whitney Shephard

UPCOMING DATES (PROGRAMS & SOCIALS):

April:
- 4/16: Program: Michael Schwartz, Safety Valve Project
- 4/23: Club Social: Culinary Institute tour & drinks
  - Join Patrick Phelps at 5:30 PM for a hard hat tour of the building - PS Tavern afterwards
  - Please wear closed-toed shoes and pants for safety in the construction space.
- 4/30: 5th Tuesday Family of Rotary Park Night @ Hull Park
May:
- 5/7: Program: Cecilia Arango, A Personal Odyssey

SERVICE:

4/27: Tybee Island Maritime Academy, 9am–12noon Landscaping
5/4: Second Harvest, 8am–11am Summer Feeding program

DISTRICT EVENTS:

Register for District Conference in Jekyll Island - lots of fun activities and dynamic speakers: April 26^th-28^th, 2024.
- Register online HERE
- Deadline for hotel discount is March 26.
- 3 Credits per full day of attendance at district conference
Oslo Summer 2024 GRSP Scholarship Opens for Georgia college students
- Spend summer attending school & exchanging cultural customs in Norway, 6/24 - 8/2/2024
- Application is now open & closes Jan. 5, 2024.
- Applicants must have completed sophomore year of college by Spring 2024 & have the recommendation of a Georgia Rotarian.

MEMBERSHIP:

Check your attendance in ClubRunner. Is it accurate? Email if not: metrosavannahrotary@gmail.com
Membership Committee - reaching out if not meeting 50% attendance to discuss options
Visit the “Members Only” area of the website for more info
If you are interested in being on the Board, please reach out to Kristen Crawley
“Fireside Chat”: First step for a new member. Thu, 3/28, 5:30 PM @ Habitat for Humanity Restore on 701 MLK. If you are interested in sponsoring a member, check out the “Members Only” area of the website for more info!
Sponsor Challenge: Anyone who sponsors a new member this rotary year will be entered into a drawing to be held on June 18 (last meeting of the Rotary Year!)

NEW MEMBER PROGRAM:

Fitz Haile: Data and Analytics Consultant, United Way. Sponsors: Kristen Crawley & Jordan Chase
Ruth Hutson: Outside sales rep for SESCO Lighting. Sponsors: Laura Lee Bocade & Denise Grabowski
Emerson Ingram: Systems Engineer Contractor & Senior Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton. Sponsors: Jeff Brady & Will Gruver

YOUTH SERVICES:

Clubs with at least 40 points qualify.
- Points for activities like meeting regularly, completing meaningful service projects, growing membership, and engaging with sponsoring club.
ALL 3 OF OUR CLUBS GOT 50+ POINTS!

LEGACY PROJECT:

Metro's 15th anniversary in 2027, currently saving $ for this
Currently have 6 nominated projects
Project nominees are acquiring more information from “owners” - top 2-3 will be presented to club
Contact John Bennett to submit ideas or for more information

Service | April 27 & May 4

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Hey Metro,

Don't be a fool, stay cool this April and May the 4th be with you! Here's a look at the coolest service projects coming up in late April and early May:

APRIL SERVICE PROJECT

Tybee Island Maritime Academy - Saturday, April 27 Sign up here

Join us at Tybee Island Maritime Academy (TIMA) on Saturday April 27th from 9am to noon as we help the school mulch and spruce up their backyard. Head to the beach afterwards!

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MAY SERVICE PROJECT

Second Harvest - Summer Feeding program - Saturday, May 4 Sign up here

Join us at Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia's new location (it's beautiful!) on Chatham Parkway to pack food for their Summer Feeding program.

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Hope to see you there, and as always--

Thanks for being ridiculously awesome!
Ro

Featured Guest Speaker | April 2

Featured Speakers: B ruce Clemens, PhD, PE – The Peoples' Consultants - Agua del Pueblo & Rotary Club of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Bruce has been a Rotarian for 16 years. He strongly recommends attending an international convention and loves meeting people from all over the world. He thanked us for all the wonderful work our club has done and highlighted our current and past service partners.

There’s poverty all over the world, but in Guatemala there’s no “safety net” for when things fall apart. 26% of the world lacks safe drinking water, and 46% lack access to safely managed sanitation. For example, a volcano destroyed a water spring and Fr. Greg brought a firetruck to help bring water to towns. The Panimaquip system has been adopted after the deadly Hurricane Stan in 2005.

Bruce shared pictures of San Lucas Toliman (1972) and a current picture of their Agua del Pueblo office, run entirely by Guatemalans. They were founded during the civil war. 5% were brutally killed during the 25 year war. Two American priests were assassinated during this time.

Guatemala now has the highest GDP in all of Central America. They are rich in commodities, but the distribution of wealth has put them at one of the highest poverty rates in the world. Drastic race differences between the Mayans and ladinos.

WASH is a water and sanitation project that provides clean water to inhabitants all around Lake Atitlan. Improved sanitation will help preserve the lake and prevent the growth of the blue green algae. Water allows locals to invest in livestock and improve their lives. Digging wells by hand is the result of the government attempting to control it’s citizens and keep them in poverty. Walking miles to obtain fresh water, for example, takes hours out of their day. They are in their 4^th phase of the “Save the Lake” project, all which are funded by global grants and support from the Rotary Foundation and clubs all over the world.

A common issue, as recent as 2017, is that girls are not staying in school due to the lack of privacy and bathroom resources.

Bruce presented a schematic of a water treatment system that also produces a fertilizer and water that can be re-used for irrigation.

In addition to public health, there is a level of raising consciousness, developing tax collecting and joint decision-making to improve their community. Road development, electricity, and school planning has resulted after the water projects. One other big shift is allowing indentured employees to live on their land (previously working on the fincas and treated like slaves.) Today, very few families have reliable water - only the wealthy families. Reforestation is also an ongoing issue.

Bruce is asking us to think about anyone who might want to plan a 10-day trip to learn more about the continued development in this town. The next trip will be in Jan. or Feb. 2025 and they need a minimum of 5 participants. If you are interested, reach out to Bruce at 864.423.5559 or bruce@aguadelpueblo.org or bruce.wayne.clemens@gmail.com.

Metro Savannah Rotary is a diverse group of professionals who are passionate about service and connection. We offer flexible meetings and attendance, so members can create a Rotary experience that meets their needs.

We're proud to be members of Rotary International, believe strongly in its mission and traditions, and partner frequently with other clubs in the area. What really sets us apart is our attendance flexibility each month (2 lunch meetings, 1 social, and 1 service event), unique style (the question we always ask ourselves is, "Will it be ridiculously awesome?"), affordable dues (less than the cost of a dinner out per month), and our commitment to the community (click on the "Service Partner" tab to catch a glimpse).

If you're looking for a Rotary experience unlike any other, check out Metro!

Stay Safe and Healthy,

Jasmine Mills

president@metrosavannahrotary.org