After enjoying last weeks’ time together at the Rotary Pavilion in Broadway Park we met as usual at 1164 North Friberg Avenue. Hal L was at the front desk and Steve L made us feel welcome. Pres Dan gaveled us to order, Keith O provided the invocation asking The Lords blessings on farmers, food and fellowship. He also led us in singing ( Bob R take note ) #1 Sing Everyone, Sing, #76 Down by the Riverside and #3 Smile. There were no guests and one visiting Rotarian; Guy Olson from the morning club.
Keith O and Randy K declared the peach sale a success and promised an unabridged report next week. The key takeaway from their presentation was get your peach money to bagman Randy “muscle” K or he will hunt you down. There was a minor problem with over ripe fruit and about five lugs were replaced. Several folks saw fit to speculate on what caused the difficulty. The consensus seemed to be that some of the lugs of larger fruit- defined as less than 40 per lug- must have missed the truck they should have been on and sat on the loading dock for a couple days. Kathy A reminded us that helping with unloading qualified for a makeup
Brags and Fines
Pres Dan Recognized Keith and Randy for their work on the peach sale
Pete W His nephew, a fighter pilot, is leaving on his first deployment, three months in Kuwait.
Keith O Spent last week end in his RV in Pine Island State Park doing absolutely nothing.
Steve A A cougar was spotted across the river from his home.
Mary P Thanked the leaders of the peach sale effort.
Visiting Rotarian Guy O let us know the Olsons were in Pine Island because it was a convenient place to meet friends from Ft. Dodge, Iowa.
Program
Salvation Army Lt Anthony N. introduce today’s speaker Breanna Grundmeier who is the Pathway of Hope coordinator. Breanna is from Underwood, graduated from high school there and has since earned degrees in Psychology and Business from UMD. .
The Salvation Army’s Pathway Hope is a new approach to provide targeted services to families with a desire to break the cycle of crisis and enable a path out of intergenerational poverty. It is unique in that it shifts from treating the symptoms to treating root causes. Breanna shared with us that among the world’s 35 wealthiest countries the United States has the second highest child poverty rate. One sixth of Americans live in poverty including 22% of the children. A child raised in poverty is 32 times more likely to live in poverty than one who is not. It is estimated that poverty costs America $500 billion per year.
Pathway to Hope helps families by assisting them in breaking down the barriers such as unemployment, unstable housing and lack of education and leading down a path toward increasing stability and ultimately to self-sufficiency. This includes bringing together community services available to clients, bringing the Salvation Army’s resources to the client, setting and aligning goals with the client, focusing on the outcome. It is designed to build on the capabilities of clients and empower them to overcome barriers and give them hope. It is a long term program.
Breanna mentioned a couple of cases and it easy to understand how the system that exists today can be frightening and almost impossible to navigate absent the confidence and consoling the program provides.
The program is available in Fergus thanks to a Bremmer grant. Its future is dependent on further funding. Breanna has served 19 clients.