Written by Patrick Hart

 

 

 

Tucker Olson opened the meeting this week, and Dan Lutter led us in singing "America the Beautiful." 

 

In a happy moment that bodes well for our club’s future, we admitted not one but two new members this week.  Fred Rajan and Scott Adams both joined with great enthusiasm that made everyone feel confident that they will prove themselves fine additions to our organization.

 

Terri Dreher has set up the itinerary for the Friendship Mission to South Africa.  Participants will be leaving during the second weekend in October, and the cost will only be about half of what you would pay going through a travel agent.  Contact Terri if you have any interest.

 

Misericordia candy sales is coming up on April 27 and April 28 and Richard Babjak could still use more  volunteers.

 

Ron Lapins announced that Monday golf will begin on April 30; and he reminds everyone that there is no scientific reason to believe that an unseasonably miserable bout of weather in the middle of April will extend to the end of the month.

 

Our Charitable Giving Dinner will be on May 2.  There will be no morning meeting that day.  Festivities will be at White Deer Run starting at 5:30 with dinner at 6:30.

 

Rick Mittelman urges everyone to read the article on Shelter Boxes in this month’s Rotary magazine.

 

Tom Zengeler has set up our first highway cleanup of the year.  We will meet on Saturday

May 5 at 7:00 a.m in Sunset Foods parking lot, and under Tom’s leadership we will no doubt put a shine on Route 137 that has seldom been seen in the course of human history.
    

Richard Babjak bragged about his daughter studying for her PhD in Scotland.  The young lady has made a trip to a number of African countries for an organization working to prevent human trafficking, and in a single month they managed to save 45 people from human trafficking. 

 

Steve Risley’s youngest daughter is enrolling at Marquette University.  He also bragged that last Wednesday he had taken an Honor Flight to Washington DC as a guardian for an elderly World War II veteran.

 

Tom Zengeler bragged about his son, who is starting high school, being accepted at Lake Forest Academy in the face of very stiff competition.  

 

There was no Fun and Frolics, but Tucker fined everyone anyway.  He also fined Tom Zengeler extra for noticing that there was no fun involved in the event.  Tom did not say this, but as anyone who has read “1984" knows some people in power believe that Thought Crime is a very serious offense and apparently Tucker is a big fan of the book.

 
PROGRAM: 

This week Chelsie Coren who is an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer performing a one year service stint at Northern Illinois Food Bank spoke to us about her organization. 

 

Northern Illinois Food Bank is a member of Feed America, which has two hundred food banks throughout the United States dedicated to mitigating hunger.  The organization divides the country into territories, and the territory of the Northern Illinois Food Bank includes thirteen counties, including Lake in the northern part of the state.  Cook County is not included since it has a large enough hunger problem to require their own food bank. They help feed 71,000 people a week.

 

The Northern Illinois Food Bank helps 800 organizations such as food banks and soup kitchens purchase food at a reduced price.  They also operate several programs directly to further their mission, such as their pack back programs to give school children food to take home each Friday to help feed their families.  These are children who receive supplemented meals at school, and the program aims at filling in the nutrition gap over the weekend.  Another direct program of theirs that is still in the startup stage will provide lunches for poor children at parks over the summer.

 

The organization receives about 82% of the food they distribute in donations from super markets and food manufacturers, 8% from government, and they purchase the remaining 10% . They receive contributions from private donors, and they are holding a 5k fund-raiser at Independence Grove on May 12.     

RAFFLE: 

This week we had $26.00 in our weekly raffle, and $76.00 in our progressive pot with only 50 card left.   Terri Dreher unsuccessfully went for the big money, and Rick Schoeneman won the weekly prize.
  
NEXT WEEK:

Fun & Frolics and Bingo: Rich Schoeneman

 

Greeter and Prayer: Steve Risley

 

Program: Aaron Lawlor, Chairman of the Lake County Board

 

“Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank