Community Service Budget Increase

At our club assembly time on Friday, December 21, the Community Service Committee, led by Director Colette Givens-Lanton, provided a review of their work in discussing ways in which our club can assist the Families of ISDs 54 and 211. District 54 includes the local elementary and middle schools while District 211 includes Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates and Conant High Schools.

A major issue identified by the committee is the changing local demographic that has resulted in the schools serving an rapidly increasing population of impoverished families. The schools reported that the number of children that qualify for the National free lunch program has risen to 42% of the population in the high schools. As you already know, our club is supporting the food pantry program at Mead Middle School, which provides a resource for food for 70 - 90 families each quarter. The club has been recognized by District 54 and the Illinois Board of Education for this project and the District has asked us to partner with them on an expansion of the program at Keller Middle School. The committee reviewed the project and proposed to the Rotary Club Board of Directors that we assist with the startup of the Keller Food Pantry program, which is expected to cost up to $10,000. The school board will build space to house the pantry. Our money will be used to assist with the acquisition of shelving and initial operating costs, much of which may be donated as in-kind contributions. Our contribution to the startup may be as much as $5,000.

To determine the amount to provide, the committee sought information from Pete Hannigan, club member and former principal of Mead, who was recently promoted to assistant superintendent for District 54. Pete indicated that the Mead Pantry has an annual operating cost outside of the school budget of approximately $10,000 and he would expect Keller to have a similar annual cost. The committee recommended that our club participate in our partnership with these programs at a level of 25% of the annual cost of the two pantries - $5,000. The Club was also awarded a $1,000 Rotary District 6440 Simplified Grant for this program that will also be committed to this effort.

District 211 has proposed that our initial effort with them should be for us to join in their “Blessings in a Bag” program, which has been sponsored by Meijer and Walmart. Each week, students who participate in the program receive a backpack filled with food to help their families through the weekend. The program costs $40 per student per semester and the committee proposed that the Club sponsor 40 students at Hoffman Estates High School and 40 students at Schaumburg High School for a total cost of $3,200.

Our annual budget for Community Service projects plus the District Grant totals $6,000. The Board recommended to the Club membership and to the membership of the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffmann Estates Charitable Foundation, Inc. that the Community Service Avenue of Service budget for the 2012/2013 fiscal year be increased up to $10,000 to fund these projects.

At our club gathering of December 28, 2012, the meeting was briefly suspended to conduct the business of the foundation on motion by Mike Turgeon, seconded by Glen Szurgot. The Foundation meeting was presided over by Foundation President Ed Haag. It was proposed by Club President Ted Gross on behalf of the committee that the Foundation membership approve an increase to the Community Service Committee budget by up to $10,000. There being no further business for the Foundation to conduct, a motion to adjourn and resume the club meeting was offered and approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Leo Miller, Club Secretary