Welcome to Rotary Foundation Month! This is my favorite week of the year (or at least in the Top 3) because our Rotary Foundation Director, Maile Foster, will be presenting all things Foundation! I've been in Rotary for 9 years and I've been pretty immersed in Rotary-centric training but there are still things I learn every time Maile presents! The Foundation is what feeds our projects, just as Rotarians provide the oxygen to put the funds in action! Be sure to listen closely to Maile when she explains HOW we actually get the funds we donate back to our club! The bottom line is that we need to keep that foundation funded - and our club is really good at that!!
Yesterday, Samantha Chapman and Cass Daley hosted a VERY special event. We partnered with Hardings Nursery to plant an ash oak tree in memory of the 3 wonderful Rotarians that passed away in 2019. We celebrated Ted Beckett, Ken Schinstine, and Caroline Morrison Brown. Mrs. Beckett was able to attend so that made our event even more special! We will be installing a plaque at the base of the tree that lists their names and our club. It was a beautiful way to honor, remember and celebrate 3 Rotarians who made the world better by being in it. I really liked Ted, although I probably didn't know him quite as well; I adored Ken and I only wish I knew Caroline, but we DO know her son, Charlie Brown, so she must have been pretty amazing!
I am always astounded at the commitment of our club members. You are such good people. We don't "do" Rotary because of a paycheck. In fact, we PAY to be Rotarians. But our payOFF as club members is priceless. To see how Mrs. Beckett was touched by the tree planting was great proof that we did a good thing. I challenge and encourage the club to continue honoring those who've passed on with a beautiful tree planting tribute. The tree is planted at the Beidleman Nature Center, right next to the office building on their property. If you weren't able to make it, please visit in a few weeks after we've installed the plaque. It's a beautiful setting - so many levels of lovely in this project. Thank you, Samantha and Cass, for coordinating this really special event!
This week's Random Awesome Deed suggestion is to share every day this week, ONE moment of gratitude from your day. If you don't have anyone at home to share, consider calling someone or emailing even. When you start to look for positive things, you will see SO. MANY. MORE. It's really a gift to you AND the person you choose to share this with. It may encourage your person to start to look for more positives in their day! I promise you that after the first day or so, you will find many more than your one gratitude moment to share. This is what I live for - finding the positives, which make the negatives a bit easier to handle and maybe a little less noticeable.
Now let's go forth, be great stewards of Rotary and Catalysts of Caring in our Community!
Please be well, be safe, and be kind. There are a lot of people needing just that.
Mr. Liosantos will speak to the Club about PPACG’s role in transportation planning for the region and answer questions about the transportation planning process at the state and regional levels. Includes updates on the “GAP” project and other transportation projects in our area.
John is a graduate of the University of Arizona. For 16 years, prior to moving to Colorado Springs and PPACG in 2018, he worked in several positions at the Pima Association of Governments, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Pima County Arizona. As the Director of the federally designated MPO for the Pikes Peak Urbanized Area, John has responsibility for the federally required short-range transportation improvement program and the long-range transportation plan.
Our club will be hosting another Rotary Rally on Tuesday afternoon (Nov 30) at 4:30 PM at Ivywild!
If you are planning to attend, be sure to extend the invitation to anyone you know who wants to meet weekly with other amazing people and do good things for our community! The event is FREE to attend but everyone pays their own tab! Ivywild has amazing appetizers and very creative cocktails! (So fancy!)
And also, attending a Rotary Rally event does count as a club member's makeup for missed meetings!
Hope to see you there!! See Holly Flores, Membership Director, or Kathleen Saltmarsh-Voss with any questions!
You are invited to “An Evening to Experience ShelterBox”
Our event will be held on Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT.
Each year, ShelterBox holds a benefit highlighting the lifesaving work the generous support of our donors has enabled. We hope you will join us for an hour of inspiration as we share exclusive updates from ShelterBox Response Team members on our current response efforts. Whether you are new to ShelterBox or a long-time supporter, the Evening to Experience ShelterBox is an hour of inspiration, hope, and stories that personify “Service Above Self”. You will hear from families whose lives were transformed after receiving ShelterBox aid.
ShelterBox is the official project partner with Rotary International for disaster relief. “Through this project partnership, Rotary members around the globe can collaborate with ShelterBox to support communities in desperate need of emergency temporary shelter and vital supplies following natural disasters.” – John Hewko, General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Rotary International.
An Evening to Experience ShelterBox is free to attend, registration is required.
“We are looking for 4 to 5 people to be on the Diamond Awards committee. We spend about 10 hours actually working on the committee during the school year. We spend maybe five hours during our own free time reading applications and nominations from students about their favorite teacher from District 11 high schools. Reading the nominations occurs from the end of December through the beginning of February. Then we ask the committee to go with us to the high schools to notify the teachers they have won-which is another two hours of time if their schedule allows it. We then have two presentations at the Rotary Club where we invite the winning teachers and their principals to a rotary luncheon and we honor them by giving them a Diamond chipped Clock from Luisa Graff Jewelers, a longtime Rotarian, and a check from the Community Service Fund that they are able to use for themselves. All told that is another three hours for a total of 10 hours. I mention this because I know people work full-time, or even retired people have plans and things to do.
So all in all it’s 10 hours which stretches from the end of December until the first week in April. We are looking for 4 to 5 interested members who may have fond memories of teachers in their lives and how they may have changed and help them along the way. This committee was started 22 years ago by Jack Kinney- another longtime, beloved Rotary member- and if you are interested in the committee please reach out to Cass Daley, Jody Richie, or Vance Valades.
If you are interested in participating in our International Committee, please email Jordan Davis at Jordan@sociallyexceptional.biz to be added to the notification list!
If you have bulletin announcements, please email the EXACT WORDING of your announcement to KSaltmarshVoss@yahoo.com by Wednesday at 5 pm. I don't write your announcements but I do make them nice 'n' fancy!
As you're doing your shopping online, did you know that you can support our Rotary Club with every Amazon purchase? Here’s how:
Go to smile.amazon.com (not amazon.com). Amazon Smile is the same company, same account, same password, but the Amazon Smile program gives one half of one percent of every purchase to charity. No, it’s not a lot, but it’s also not nuthin’ (to be exact: about $150 for the Club so far). So again, go to smile.amazon.com
Sign into your Amazon account as you normally would
On the very top left of the page, next to the AmazonSmile logo, are three horizontal bars. Click there for the drop-down menu.
Scroll ALL the way down to “Your AmazonSmile”; it should be the last option right before “Sign Out”; Click on “Your AmazonSmile”
On the right side of the page, click on the “change charity” box under Your current charity (Note: If you are currently supporting another charity, that’s awesome! These instructions are for those who are not doing so. Also, if you have not previously selected a charity, your default option will be St. Judge Children’s Research Hospital.)
Type in Community Service Fund of the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs; click Select
That’s it. You’re all set. Just remember to go to Smile.Amazon.com when you shop from now on.
