GRILL HOUSE SUPORTING ROTARY IN GIVE BACK DAY NOVEMBER 17TH - SAVE-THE-DATE
Rotary Club of Northbrook will be holding a Give-Back-Day on Tuesday, November 17th hosted by Grill House from 10:30 am - 9 pm. We get 20% back when anyone mentions Rotary when they order from the popular restaurant. These small fundraisers will benefit our club so please encourage, friends, family, colleagues to order lunch and dinner using the code word: Rotary!
Grill House offers a full menu of options to please everyone in the whole family. They are known for quality foods like their Oven Roasted Chicken, Grinders, Wraps and Black Angus Burgers, as well as a full offering of Greek favorites like Gyros, Souvlaki, Greek Potatoes and Homemade Spinach Pie. Don’t forget their full dinners with choices like Ribs, Seafood, Steaks and Chops with salads, rice and potatoes. You can order individual meals or Family Packs for 4-10 making dinner with your “bubble” easy!
Grill House is located at 3061 Dundee Rd., in the White Plains Plaza at Landwehr. Check out their menu at eatgrillhouse.com where you can place an order or call them at 847-205-2200.
MEET ALICE SILVA OUR FIRST ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENT
Last Tuesday, we had our club’s first Rotary Exchange Student speak to the club. Alice Silva – returned to give an update on her life and experiences since her 2007/2008 Northbrook trip.
The Rotary Exchange program proved to be more than just the opportunity to learning a new language. It instilled a sense of community involvement and cultural immersion. Alice says she loved Northbrook and fully enjoyed her experience as a high school student at GBN.
She was hosted by 3 Rotary families: Pat and Kathy Doland, Vera and Marie Mayer, and Carlos and Sandy Frum for 3-4 months each over the year. Alice felt this rotation gave her a more rounded perspective of American life.
No stranger to global exchange programs, Alice’s grandparents were the first in her family tree to be exchange students, and the tradition was carried on to their children and then their grandchildren. Almost all of Alice’s family members have participated as foreign exchange students. She says they originally came to learn another language and independence.
Her experience taught her many things, including:
Leadership skills – public speaking, decision making and responsibility
A new culture & language – she even got to experience other parts of the US through a trip to the west coast with other Rotary Exchange Students
Serving the community – she participated in community events and learned a sense of how we are all connected
Being thankful – she learned the importance of being thankful by sending thank you notes to all who offered her acts of kindness and assistance
Global experience – in addition to her US experiences, she participated in monthly meetings with exchange students from around the world. Today she is a Radiation Therapist, a wife and mother. She says that she has incorporated the 4-way test to vet her decisions as she goes through life.
Please check out our Rotary Facebook page and watch the meeting. Alice has included wonderful photos of her time here in Northbrook!
Our club received a certificate of achievement from the Rotary Foundation for donating over $1,500 in contributions to Polio Plus. In fact, we were the number 1 fundraising club for the cause. Donations for this initiative are ongoing through the spring.
If you haven't seen the End Polio Now sign at Triangle Park - please stop by and take a selfie to post. Thank you Rotarian Steve Brownstone, for his donation of the design and printing of this banner for our club.
COMMUNITY SERVICE – Update
The Rotary Blood Drive at Culver’s on Saturday included 31 donors. Thank you, Culver’s owner Kevin Weasler for providing not only the Pint donations, but for his social media pre-event promotions!
Thanks also to all our Rotarians who participated.
Feedback showed the location, medical staff and organization was very professional and well done.
If you missed this event - Larry Hewitt announced that the GBN Interact Club is hosting a blood drive on 11/18 and will send info to all.
CAN YOU HELP?
Larry Kanar has a friend who came in possession of a digital X-Ray machine. The club is looking for someone who can use it. Reach out to Larry for details.
Gary Moriello announced that we have 25 Rotarians signed up for Operation Santa Claus and we need more! We have 1,200 kids to buy books for! Please open your hearts and let him know you’re in!
TAX SAVINGS FOR DONORS
Rick Rivkin shared an article from the Wall Street Journal regarding tax moves for your 2020 taxes. Of note, individuals can deduct up to $300 in cash donations even if they claim the standard deduction and the limit of 60% for donations was eliminated. As always check with your accountant. Time to donate to Rotary to close the year.
Hunger does not take a break, children who do not have enough food get sick, recover slower, are hospitalized more often. They also have behavioral, emotional, academic problems that impact society. Hunger affects all of us.
“For the cost of a $5 latte, you can feed 20 hungry children. For $25 and a couple of hours of your time, you can feed 100 children - and virtually everyone would make that choice once or twice a year if available to them.”
Mitch Portugal is organizing a fundraiser for Feed 6 in December. In previous years we participated in the meal packing event hosted by the chamber at the Hilton. More than 200 volunteers packed over 10,000 meals.
Due to the pandemic, the program has come up with a concept called “Pantry Pack.” This effort will ship boxes and food items to volunteer’s home, who will assemble the boxes and pack them and return them to a location to be yet determined. It looks like the pantry boxes will be going to a food bank in Lake County.
We will need 11 volunteers from our club to pack, and perhaps as a group on Zoom. Stay tuned for details regarding the date and time from Mitch, the first 11 responding will participate.
From the Feed 6 website: Meal packaging has never been easier or safer! Now you and your family, friends, or colleagues can package hundreds of meals for food-insecure neighbors safely at your home or office. Outreach ships you 4 delicious, nutritious meal varieties, already pre-bagged and the pantry boxes come as flats. Simply assemble the pantry pack boxes and place 7 meal bags in each… 2 apple-cinnamon oatmeal, 2 deluxe mac & cheese, 2 rice and beans, and 1 tomato-basil pasta. Each bag contains 6 meal portions - for a total of 42 per Pack. All you need are gloves.
Now comes the fun! Make each Pantry Pack special - adding little touches, small gifts, cards, photos, inspiring messages, seasonal ornamentations, perhaps even decorating the box with crayon or sharpie art, or adding something tasty from your own pantry - essentially using the Pantry Box as a blank canvass for imaginatively expressing your creativity and giving heart - and rendering each box a work of art.
Throw a Virtual 'Pantry Pack Party’: Power up your volunteer experience by linking to other Pantry Packers in your family, at your church, school, or office, or in your social network through a ZOOM Pantry Packing Party! Create some very special holiday memories with others on-line.
Deliver the Goods: Select your favorite local charity, food pantry, church, school, or community service organization - and then arrange for delivery or pick-up. Surprise some family, child, senior, or veteran with your heart-filled gift of nutrition.
NOTE: Mitch will be emailing the club with the information and the first 11 to reply will be in. For more details about the organization their site is http://www.feed6.org/
