The Rotary Club of Beaumont, TX, is a large and diverse fellowship of inspired business, professional, and civic leaders with significant community connections that foster the ideals of Service Above Self and high ethical standards.
For the health and safety of members, CLUB MEETINGS WILL CONTINUE WEEKLY USING ZOOM until further notice.
25
No meeting this week. Happy Thanksgiving!
December
9
ANNUAL MEETING: election of Board members and Trustee member
12
"Ring that Bell!" Salvation Army Bell-Ringing; the front entrance of Parkdale Mall; 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; sign up online or phone the Rotary office at 409-842-1913
15
Board of Directors meeting; hybrid; 11:30 at Eleganté and 11:45 a.m. on Zoom; contact the Rotary office to have a link to join the meeting sent
16
2020 Annual Holiday Party; Noon-1:00 p.m.; on Zoom
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Election for 2021-2024 Board of Directors and Board of Trustees
On Wednesday, December 9, the membership will elect four Rotarians to serve on the Club's Board of Directors and one new trustee for the Beaumont Rotary Foundation. The newly-elected will serve for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2021.
The Nominating Committee selected qualified candidates who will appear on the ballot. A sample ballot appears below and if you click on it, you can open a larger version that is more easily read. While the ballot shows the nominees for the two Boards, we will not be able to use printed copies of the ballot this year. We will be voting electronically using Zoom on December 9.
You must be present at the Zoom meeting on December 9 to cast a ballot by voting on the electronic poll, so please make plans to attend.
As you consider your vote, please remember that according to the Club bylaws, a person must have been elected to a 3-year term on the Board of Directors to be selected to serve as Club President. Article 3, Section 4 reads: ".. the president-nominee shall have been a director elected by the membership at some time previous to his or her selection." In other words, you could be voting for a future club president!
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Soon, and very soon, you will hear that familiar sound of bells ringing at the doorways of businesses. That's right, it signifies that the holidays are upon us and that the Salvation Army has started their "bell-ringing" campaign!
Every year, nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army in the form of meals, shelter, after-school programs, job referrals, youth shelter intervention programs, rehabilitation services, and more. It is certain that the number of people needing assistance from the Salvation Army will be considerably more because of the COVID pandemic. The gifts you help collect through the Red Kettle will enable these local Salvation Army programs and services to continue providing help and hope to those in need.
For a number of years, the Rotary Club of Beaumont has been one of the many organizations that tend a booth at Parkdale Mall and participate in the collection process. It is a demonstration of "Service Above Self."
Gary Moncla is Chair of the project and is asking YOU to volunteer to help this year. Please sign up for the hour(s) you can help on Saturday, December 12. This is an outdoor service project so everyone should be safe from COVID spread, but you are encouraged to also wear a facemask and distance yourself from others while serving. Sign up your spouse or a friend or two to work with you, and if the sign-up form does not allow enough room, phone the Rotary Office (842-1913) and ask that the number of spaces be expanded for your group. Thank you.
Members of the Rotary Club of Beaumont delivered supplies to the students and staff at Vincent Settlement Elementary School in Sulphur, Louisiana. Category 4 Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron, Louisiana on August 27th and then swept across Calcasieu Parish including the Sulphur community.
The books, games, gift cards, and (possibly the most appreciated gift) TP was greatly appreciated by Vincent Elementary Principal, Carla Williams. The Pre-K through 5th graders were finally able to return to school on November 19th due to COVID-19 restrictions and damages incurred by Hurricane Laura.
They still have much work to do, but even though everyone was wearing masks, it was obvious they were smiling.
Many thanks to the Southeast Texas Food Bank for contributing books and other supplies, and the generous support of Rotarians with the Rotary Club of Beaumont and the Beaumont Rotary Foundation for their financial support. Each teacher was given a gift card valued at $200 to help them purchase supplies and other classroom needs that were destroyed by the storm.
Members of the Rotary Club of Beaumont who delivered the supplies included Larry Beaulieu, Club President Cindy Cherry, Butch Cherry, Service Project Chair John Lee, Tim Sudela, and Dana Timaeus.
Article and photos by Tim Sudela
We are so grateful to John Limbrick, owner of EZ-Go Rental (pictured center). John, a friend of John Lee, offered the use of his delivery van, drove the load of supplies to Louisiana, and helped to unload too. How generous and giving!
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James Han
November 24
Glenn McWherter
November 24
Ana Pereda
November 24
Larry Beaulieu
November 25
Carolyn Fernandez
November 25
Eddie Arnold
November 26
Amanda Ellis
November 26
Teri Hawthorne
November 29
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CELEBRATING
ROTARY ANNIVERSARIES!
We celebrate your
membership in our Club!
John Worthington
November 28, 2012
8 years
Jennifer Gregory
November 29, 2017
3 years
Marianne Laine
November 29, 2017
3 years
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We send wishes for a quick recovery to our friends and fellow Rotarians who are ill, are anticipating or recovering from surgery, or just in need of encouragement, support and good wishes.
Recovering from Covid-19
Rene Greenwald
Jennifer Gregory
Mark Hall
Dan Parker
Karyn Husbands - non-COVID
All Rotarians
especially those who are unable to attend meetings via Zoom
We miss you and look forward to when it will safe for Rotary to meet in-person again!
If you know of members who should be added to this list, please advise the office staff at 409-842-1913.
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Rotarians, we really need you to become a part of the weekly meeting! Very few people are volunteering for the head table assignments and we spend a lot of time each week trying to recruit talented Rotarians! Look at your calendar and select a date that is convenient for your schedule. Red Badges are strongly encouraged to volunteer for this opportunity so you can move closer to your blue badge and members can get to know you better too.
This historic Zoom meeting was held in conjunction with the Palestine club. President Cindy Cherry and her counterpart, President Rhonda Herrington, opened the joint meeting of the clubs.
Tabitha explained that there are 6 such officers in the Evanston office. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has had over ten years of various non-profit experience. The Foundation has had a four-star rating for over ten years to designate organizations whose funds have been administered well and without excessive fees. Only 1% of charitable organizations have received this distinction of fiscal responsibility.
Today Rotary is the world leader in promoting peace and goodwill. The RI Foundation started with one donation of $26 and is now over $1 billion dollars. The seven areas of focus of the Foundation are peacebuilding, disease prevention, clean water, maternal and child health care, basic education and literacy, community economic development, and supporting the environment. Club members should be aware of these areas as our speakers are honored each week with a donation to one of these areas.
The funds included in the Foundation are Annual, Endowment (future planning), Polio and Disaster Response.
The Annual Fund is created by member donations through their yearly pledges ($100 per year is requested per person). These funds are credited to the club and the district and become the factor for our District Grants which are awarded to clubs each year. The original funds are split evenly to district and global areas. In three years, the District receives the one half back in order to award the District Grants. In 2020-21, the return amount will have been based on 2017-18 contributions. Every year approximately $126 million is received by the Foundation and 1,403 Global Grants are awarded. 31% of Rotarians support the annual fund. Paul Harris Fellows account for 18% of the annual fund with 23,000 members in 141 countries.
Polio Plus has created immunization of over 2.5 billion people. This project is in conjunction with WHO, UNICEF and the Bill Gates Foundation. Presently these groups are working as a team to possibly assist in the vaccination of COVID-19 as the framework is in place and resources are in place.
A good portion of contributions to the Annual Fund have been diverted this year to Disaster Response due to global conditions of COVID-19 and the heavy hurricane season. This will probably impact the District Grants in three years-time.
The Endowment Fund is utilized for future planning.
Members can give to the Foundation with Rotary Direct which allows a monthly, quarterly or annual automated draft from their accounts to the Foundation or by check.
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Link to the Zoom page which includes this and the recorded meetings for October - December 2020.
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Soon, and very soon, you will hear that familiar sound of bells ringing at the doorways of businesses. That's right, it signifies that the holidays are upon us and that the Salvation Army has started their "bell-ringing" campaign!
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