Meeting Recap - March 14, 2011

Posted by John McIntyre 
on Mar 16, 2011
 

(Pictured: PP George Basye, John Collentine, & Mead Kibby)

 

Invocation

Peter Dannenfelser provided the Thought for the Day, requesting a moment of silence for the great suffering occurring in Japan as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.

 

Recognition

President Scot at last meeting put $100 toward his Eddie Mulligan and, in honor of Steve Solomon’s presentation, matched that with $100 toward his Paul Harris.  Several Rotarians were able to attend Judge Kim Mueller’s investiture as Sacramento’s first female federal judge (and a more impressive jurist and leader you’ll never find) and so made gifts in honor of that occasion and in recognition of her. These included PE Ken Noack, Jr., Bob Rosenberg, PP Fred Teichert (who also made an additional gift in Steve Solomon’s honor (I think…), Diane Woodruff and PP Tim Pinkney. PP Beverly Brautigam made a $100 gift in Steve Solomon’s honor, ED Hal Shipley made $100 gift to support recovery in Japan, and Dan McVeigh made a gift of $320 -- $10/year for each of his years at Downey Brand, LLP.

 

Announcements and Events

  • Loaves & Fishes on March 29th.
  • Happy Hour at Lounge on 20 – 5:30-7:30pm on March 29th.
  • KVIE volunteering on March 30th.
  • Rotary Brown Bag on April 4th.
  • Rotary Day at the River Cats is April 10th – you can still sign up!
  • Bids for Kids on May 14th – still need auction items!

 

Rotary Club of Sacramento Foundation

Larry Gilzean and Susan Sheridan provided an update on our local Foundation, which is, in IRS terms, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit “support organization,” which supports the Club’s humanitarian efforts.  It was started in 1971 and was built from a bequest by 30-year member Sam Cohn with a gift of $1,596. Sam's daughter, Jean Rubin, was present to represent him. That initial gift has been built through additional gifts and good investment to $2,748,791 today. Three of the original Foundation Trustees, Past President George Basye, John Collentine, and Mead Kibby (pictured above), were seated at the head table and recognized for their long standing membership in the Club. George Gibson and Tom Bolton were also original Foundation Trustees.

 

In 2010, the Foundation saw a 13.6% return on its investments (exceeding their 13.2% goal). Larry clarified that the Club does “annual fund” efforts to bring in money and the Foundation is the repository, provides the charitable tax-deductibility, handles planned giving, manages and invests the funds collected, and distributes funds for humanitarian purposes. In 2010, $327,000 was distributed.  The Foundation Board currently is guided in its investment decisions by Sharon Morrison of the Savant Group.  Larry noted that three of the Foundation's named funds, and those members (and their spouses) were acknowledged: John Snyder, Bill Stone, and Phil Knox (with Phil’s son Tom Knox attending in Phil’s honor). The Club’s Legacy Circle donors were also acknowledged.

 

Speaker Steve Solomon, Annual Giving Officer for Rotary Foundation

Steve Solomon’s life has been changed by Rotary. He got his start as a kid with support from the Buffalo Grove, IL Rotary, which supported his efforts as an Eagle Scout and sent him on his first Rotary Scholarship trip to South Africa. His experiences included Rotary-related connections and efforts with Jane Goodall and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and he parlayed those connections into getting both of these leaders to appear at Rotary events.

Steve noted that the Rotary Foundation had distributed $2.7 billion in humanitarian support since 1947. He made a case for supporting our local foundation and Rotary Foundation and reminded that gifts to the Rotary Foundation are ‘matured’ for three years, with those earnings supporting Foundation management expenses, and then 50% of the funds from our district return there for special projects, and 50% goes into the Global Fund.

 

Conclusion

President Scot ended the meeting at 1:30pm with encouragement to each of us to be good Rotarians.

 

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday, March 21st and will feature speaker John Blount of Rotary International.