My break out room was talking about Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”, jet skis, working from a firehouse and learning foreign languages. Soon we’ll break out of our Zoom Room Break Out Meetings and make small talk in person! We will be in person starting on July 16 (virtual option will still be available). The Lansing Center is dealing with staff shortages and it may take a few meetings to get the sea legs back in full form and function so be patient to the staff. President Julie called us to order at12:32. There were 51 in attendance. Melanie Dart gave a thankful for our Foundation and all it does invocation. Our patriotic song was by the US Army Field Band at Fort McHenry.
This week’s meeting doubled as our Club Foundation’s annual meeting. Donna Gardner took charge and gave a gentle reminder that the Club and the Foundation are separate entities. The Club was formed in 1916 and the Foundation was formed in 1976. We filled 6 seats on the Foundation Board by an extremely quick, but unanimous polling of the members. Wiesner, Sonnenberg, Cauley (the better half one) Kern, Miklavic and Shaski were all elected. We were informed via Power Point that participation is incrementally increasing with 59% of us contributing to the year end holiday party; 60% of us contributing to the birthday campaign and 58% of us contributing to the Paul Harris. Remember, there’s a 4th opportunity to give and that’s through the endowment (or as I like to call it, “Kick the Bucket to Rotary”)!
Over the years, our Foundation has contributed to the well being of over 150 organizations in the Lansing area. Our international grants have gone to 22 countries. Another way to give is by getting something back from your online Amazon purchases (google Amazon Smile; click “get started”; search for Lansing Rotary Foundation; click “select”). So far we’ve netted $12.00 from Amazon Smile, but if we all followed the instructions, who knows! We could double or triple that if only a few of you switched it on (at no cost to you).
Between 1916 and 2020, our Foundation has made grants totaling almost $3.5 million. $2.2 million of that went to local recipients, while approximately half a million went to international projects. The rest, approximately $730,603, went to Paul Harris. Our Foundation has grown to approximately $4.5 million and expects to distribute approximately $170,000 annually to local and international projects. The first $32,000 of that goes to Rotary Park until 2027 with the balance being a roughly 60/40 split between local and international grants. Sam Tucker gave us the run down on local grants and Kurt Sonnenberg did the same in record time for international. We should be thinking about what our next big project will be!
Yeah, I know, kind of a short report. I’ve used up all my creative energy preparing for Julie’s roast! Have a great week!
Kevin Schumacher's email is: schumacher@glassenrhead.com