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.
Meet Taliah Belcher a Lamar sophomore who is double-majoring in Finance and Accounting.
Taliah Belcher serves as Secretary-Treasurer for the Student Government Association, Vice President of the College of Business Student Advisory Council, a member of the Finance Association, the National Association of Black Accountants, the Honors Student Association, and she serves on the University Sustainability Committee.
How does a student working toward earning two rigorous degrees become deeply involved in so many student leadership roles and multiple organizations? It's called giving-back. It's called being a servant-leader. It's called "Service Above Self."
In addition to hearing about her commitment to service, Taliah will tell us more about Cardinals S.O.A.R., a project close to her heart. In the month of February, when we usually celebrate "Rotary Has Heart!" and give significant service to our community and world, come hear and learn more about giving from the heart to the children of BISD by participating in S.O.A.R. at our partner school, Martin Elementary.
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Virtual Head Table for February 10
Invocation:
Pledge to USA Flag:
Debbie Maxwell
Registered Nurse
CHRISTUS-St. Elizabeth
Introduction of Guest Speaker:
Teresa Simpson
Chair, LU and BISD Business Partnership
Lamar University
If you would like to serve on the head table at a date in the future, please sign up online at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054ba5a62fa3f49-head or phone chair, Mandy Clayton at 409-718-7056 or email arclayton@lit.edu
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CALENDAR OF ROTARY EVENTS
(Club events & opportunities for meeting makeups)
For the health and safety of members, CLUB MEETINGS WILL CONTINUE WEEKLY USING ZOOM until further notice.
February
13
Service project: Southeast Texas Food Bank School Tools Teacher Drive Thru Giveaway; 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
14
Pick up #1 for those "socially-distancing" on pickup; 5:00-6:00 p.m.; Boy Scout Office building; please let Chairs know in advance that you want to pick up on Sunday p.m.
15
"Show Your Colors" Flag Project for Presidents Day; 5:00 a.m. or before; Boy Scout Office building, 4650 Cardinal Drive
23
Board of Directors monthly meeting; 11:30 a.m.
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BOARD ACTION
The end of the year and January 2021 brought a number of membership changes.
The Board terminated:
Slate Babineaux
James Fuller
Tisha Self
Bo Weinbaum
Bailey Wingate, and
John Worthington
Resignations, accepted with regret, from:
Kathleen Alsup
Sheri Arnold
Carly Broussard
Gary Coker
Ivy Pate
Amber Sawyer
The Board approved a new member proposal:
Carlos A. Caballero
Process Improvement Engineer
Optimus Steel
Classification: "Steel Industry-Engineering"
Proposed by Rebekah Maxwell
Carlos was a member of the Lamar Rotaract Club and is eager to become involved as a Rotarian.
Remember to voice any objection to the above within 10 days.
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The Southeast Texas Food Bank has a great program called School Tools which provides school supplies to those who need them. Because the pandemic has created a situation where parents and students are unable to visit the School Tools distribution site, the Food Bank will be distributing packages of school supplies to the teachers in 40 schools and the teachers will then distribute to the students.
On Saturday, February 13, volunteers are needed to help with School Tools Distribution day, giving supplies to the teachers in 40 local schools or helping with traffic control. The signup site shows they need volunteers beginning at 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. when the teachers will drive through the line and items will be put into their vehicles. This is similar to the SETX Food Bank food distributions we have taken part in, and it is very organized and well-planned. Your valuable time will be respected.
If you can volunteer, please go to the Food Bank sign up site at: https://setxfoodbank.org/get-involved/volunteer/. Look for the volunteer section "2nd Saturday School Tools." While the sign-up shows for the full 5-hour slot, volunteers may arrive late or leave early if necessary.
All volunteers should check in to the School Tools Warehouse located at 2100 Gulf Street.
Thank you for your time and service.
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Volunteers are needed to help at the Beaumont Health Department, 3040 College St., with COVID vaccine distributions. They can use volunteers to assist the medical staff with the lines at check-in, walking patients to the assigned stations and those sort of tasks. (You won't be asked to do medical tasks that you aren't qualified to do!). Add your name to the volunteer list and indicate a good phone number. An administrator from the BHD will phone you and schedule a date and time that is convenient for you. At the current time, they are administering the vaccine on Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. They may extend to weekends if more vaccine becomes available.
The third Monday in February is Presidents Day and we recognize the national holiday with our "Show Your Colors" flag project. Co-chairs of the project, Pat Anderson and Gary Moncla invite you to call or text Pat at 409-782-4057 and volunteer today! Don't be concerned if you have not been a flag volunteer before. You will be paired up with another person who has experience, and you'll find yourself having a good time before you know it!
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Rotarians, we really need you to become a part of the weekly meeting! We need volunteers for leading the invocation and the pledges. Please consider volunteering! 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.
Roy was fondly known by many as "Huck" in his early years as a Rotarian. He was a member of our club for forty-four years, from November 7, 1975 until January 30, 2020, when he and his wife relocated to Florida.
Rotarians will remember Roy always taking his seat at the back table on the left side of the room in recent years so he could leave at the sound of the closing bell to take his position at the badge boxes and send everyone out with a warm smile and wishes for a good week.
May he rest in peace.
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PROGRAM REVIEW
February 3, 2021
"Energy Efficient Programs to Benefit the Consumer"
Mark Delavan and Pam Williams
Entergy Texas
by John Lee
Pam Williams, Customer Service Manager for the Eastern Texas Region, and Mark Delevan, Commercial Solutions Program Manager, presented a program detailing accomplishments by Entergy Texas in 2020 and programs they offer which can save small businesses money and help make them more energy efficient. Pam started the presentation by giving us an overview of the major milestones for Entergy Texas in 2020. The new Montgomery Power Station came online earlier than planned and is able to give a significant boost to the power grid which supplies Southeast Texas. New solar resources will be coming online soon, which will help reduce our carbon footprint. Entergy Texas was able to expand backup generation capabilities for grid resiliency, and Entergy Texas crews did a great job restoring power after the back-to-back hurricanes Laura and Delta hit the area.
Pam said that their normal community engagement was limited due to COVID protocols, but that over $1 million was donated to help communities with both COVID and hurricane relief effort. Entergy introduced new payment options to help those affected by either COVID or the storms. They are also providing resources to help customers who have small businesses take advantage of local, state, and federal resources to which they otherwise might not have had access. The company is near completion on the deployment of the advanced meters in their Texas territory, with the latest count showing 98% deployed. Pam went over the benefits of the new meters which include faster identification of outages, better communication, greater efficiency, and access to the Smart Tools application. You can go to MyEntergy.com for more information.
Mark then spoke about the year ahead and programs geared toward helping small businesses increase their energy and cost efficiencies. Entergy Texas will pay incentives to businesses who will make recommended changes to improve their energy efficiency. They paid out over $1.2 million in incentives in 2020 to help small business customers save money and reduce their carbon emissions. They expect to pay out the same amount in 2021. Entergy Texas must be involved in the project from the initial planning stages – this is not a reimbursement program. Projects must meet Entergy guidelines and any qualified business can submit through the website. You can reserve a slot for your project by submitting an inspection or a drawing. To receive the incentive, the project must be completed by Nov. 15, 2021. An example of a company taking advantage of the incentives is Home Depot, who was awarded major incentives for switching their stores to all Led lighting. There are also incentives offered if businesses purchase or rent electric equipment such as forklifts, man lifts, or other industrial equipment instead of the old gas-powered kind.
Pam and Mark thanked us for inviting them to speak and said they always enjoy updating our club and seeing some old friends!
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Link to the Zoom page which includes this and all the recorded meetings for January- March 2021.
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The Southeast Texas Food Bank has a great program called School Tools which provides school supplies to those who need them. Because the pandemic has created a situation where parents and students are unable to visit the School Tools distribution site, the Food Bank will be distributing packages of school supplies to the teachers in 40 schools and the teachers will then distribute to the students.
Volunteers are needed to help at the Beaumont Health Department, 3040 College St., with COVID vaccine distributions. They can use volunteers to assist the medical staff with the lines at check-in, walking patients to the assigned stations and those sort of tasks. (You won't be asked to do medical tasks that you aren't qualified to do!). Add your name to the volunteer list and indicate a good phone number. An administrator from the BHD will phone you and schedule a date and time that is convenient for you. At the current time, they are administering the vaccine on Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. They may extend to weekends if more vaccine becomes available.
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