President Frank opened the meeting with the pledge led by Mikel Hoffman and grace by Werner Zumbrunn. Today’s guest speaker was Tom Russo. Frank Seibert’s guests were Gail Ryan and Greg McKenna; Scott Lockwood brought Rev. Tom Carney.

 

The “Bell Ringers” – Once again Michael Simon assembled an impressive Army of Volunteers to ring the bell for the Salvation Army last month; many thanks to all who participated: Stevie Lynn & Vinnie Beggins, Kathy Newkirk, Chris Korte, Ron Parry, Dennis Barrish, Kip Johannesen, Francis Turnbull, Tommy Lane, Werner Zumbrunn, Karl Brandt, George Murray, Rose B, Betty, Joelle Siemers, Chris Cunningham, Bill Visgauss, Frank Seibert, Mary Czaja, Jordan Fuentes, Mel Berman, Kirsten T, Tommy Bryant, Dave Kaplan, Warren Light, Neil Weingarten, Victoria Kilfeather, Alice Hagemann, Megan Noble, and Pat Schall.

 

 

Dictionary Project – Our Dictionary Project continues this month with book distributions to be held at West Islip elementary schools. The next one is on Monday, January 8th; subsequent event dates will be communicated to all members via e-mail. If you can help, please contact Pam Giarrusso (pgiarrus@optonline.net) NOW.

 

Babylon Ends Hunger – Megan Noble is organizing another “Babylon Ends Hunger” event, to be held at the Presbyterian Church in Babylon Village, on Saturday, February 3, 2018. The event will be co-sponsored by Babylon and Bay Shore Rotary, and Babylon and Bay Shore Lions Clubs – the project will be renamed “Babylon/Bay Shore Ends Hunger”. The goal is to package at least 60,000 meals for distribution to hungry people at home and abroad. We still need event day volunteers and cash donations; if you can help, please contact Megan (gldchmr@aopl.com) asap.

 

RYLA Fundraiser – Don’t forget the upcoming RYLA fundraiser, the first ever RYLA. INTERNATIONAL DAY. Take a trip around the world with cultural food, raffles, a live auction and special entertainment. The event will be held at Windows on the Lake, 235 Lake Shore Rd., Ronkonkoma, NY, 1-5 PM on Sunday, January 14th. To help them make this Spring RYLA the best one yet, you can buy tickets on the RYLA website:

http://www.ryladistrict7255.com/buy-tickets.html . Our club is planning to buy a table for the event; if you’d like to join in, please contact Frank Seibert (fjseibertcca@hotmail.com) NOW.

 

 

Tom Russo spoke of the operation and needs of the soup kitchen at the First Baptist Church in Babylon Village. Tom and his wife have run the soup kitchen since its inception five years ago.

 

He described how his passion for running and competing in charity events led to a broader appreciation of service to others (Service Above Self), and of his and his wife’s volunteer participation, helping to make our Annual Dirty Sock Run a success.

 

Tom related the genesis of the soup kitchen at the First Baptist Church, now serving 20-40 people on the last Wednesday of each month. He also described how the soup kitchen is supported with foodstuffs from a variety of local sources, and outlined their current need for additional donations.    

 

Tom concluded by thanking the Babylon Rotary Club for our continuing support of their food program. President Frank indicated that the BRC board will consider additional support for their soup kitchen when it meets next week.

 

Next Week’s Meeting – Since no guest speaker is scheduled, we’ll hold a Fellowship Meeting where we’ll have lots of time to chat with fellow members and guests. As a special treat, President Frank will report on the many exciting results of next week’s BRC board deliberations.