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Eighteen Rotarians were Zooming and the meeting was started by Zach Stach giving the invocation, followed by recitation of The Four Way Test. President Anthony told us that Salvation Army has seen an increase of 70% in meals served and an increase of over 1000% in the demand for food boxes. The need is so great this year and hopefully every member will find it in their hearts and ability to give generously (my words, not Anthony's)! Ken Harty led off our brags and fines by stating the newspaper was reporting that day of Mary Pettit being named a cultural ambassador for Keller Williams, a prestigious and life-time honor! Keith Olson reported that his seventh grandchild had been born, giving Elaine a total of 9 great-grandchildren. Following up on Keith's report of having numerous Rotary items of his fathers to give to anyone interested, John MacFarlane reported he already had a scissors and a letter opener. (This writer was a little distracted at this point for some reason so I am not sure I got that right.) Buzz Lundeen was upset about all the squirrels at his place chewing through wires and the nodding of heads suggested Buzz isn't the only one with a squirrel problem. Jane Neubauer was our program and she reported on the dental crisis in rural Minnesota. The need to improve oral health care access is specially acute for those receiving health services through public assistance. Reimbursement rates for dental care providers is the lowest in the nation at 31 cents on the dollar (and has stayed the same since 1984), while non-profit "critical access dental providers" receive 48 cents on the dollar. Insurance carriers pay around 78 cents on the dollar; bringing the reimbursement rate up to the same percentage for those providing services to public assistance recipients would cost more than $100 million.. In 2001, a half million people were dependent on public assistance for their health care and that number has increased to 1.5 million in 2020. Jane said there are a lot of ways we could help in addressing this crisis, including sponsoring a dental outreach activity, conducting an oral health supplies drive or donating to the local food bank to purchase oral health supplies, or giving to a local non-profit dental clinic. Jane talked about an upcoming meeting on the topic to be held on February 8, 2021; for more information Jane can be reached at 731-4163. |
