Liz Bear with Vita Living visited us at our weekly noon Rotary meeting.  She informed us they provide long-term comprehensive care and support for adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).  They are a Houston-based nonprofit organization and have been in service since 1982.  Vita Living offers three vital core programs for individuals with IDD: group residences in Houston-area neighborhoods, a centrally located day center, and case management across seven counties. Across Texas, an estimated 75,000 individuals with IDD wait up to 14 years for a residential slot. Vita Living’s experienced and caring staff save lives and renew hope on a daily basis for this greatly under served and vulnerable population. Thank you Liz for visiting with us today.

 

Photo by Alan Cookson

Photo by Alan Cookson.

Bear Creek-Copperfield Rotary President Bob Meek and Past President Jim Trebes presented students at Cardiff Middle School today with Kindle Fire Tablets. Students that met or exceeded the required number of books assigned by their teachers were eligible for the drawing.  It was exciting to see their faces when they received the tablets.  Congratulation Colts for a job well done.

 

 

 Alan Rockford. He is retired from NASA and was a astronaut suit fitter. He had many interesting stories about his time in the space program. We hope to have him back sometime to tell us about his time with the astronauts.  

 

 We are on track to end polio in 2018," announced Wayne Staton, District Chair for Polio Plus and he spoke at our club meeting last week. "Wayne Staton was born in the Lynchburg, Virginia area and lived there most of his life. He contracted polio when he was 8 months old. Polio left him with a weak right hip and leg. Mr. Staton graduated with honors with a degree in Physics from the University of Virginia. Currently, he is a Senior Technical Support Analyst at BMC Software. Here are some highlights of his Rotary experience: Past president of the Rotary Club of Sharpstown, 2Paul Harris Fellow, Paul Harris Society member, and Polio Plus Society member.

Our District Governor Bill Palko and Assistance Governor Alan Brevard visited our club August 24th. Bill presented his message and goals for his year and we shared our many projects with him.  Thanks Bill for your visit.

 

Bear Creek - Copperfield Rotary Club collected 500 gallons of water to provide for the approximate 400 children in the West Houston Trailer Park. This park has no drinking water and in the Houston summer this is a dangerous situation.  This club project was a joint effort with Roxanne Shewmaker, store manager, Walmart Neighborhood Market in Bear Creek, Nancy Johnson with Calvary Community Church and Richard Farias of the American Latino Center for Research, Education & Justice. Well done to all volunteers who made this possible.  Rotary Serving Humanity.

 

 

 

 

Great meeting yesterday at Spring Creek BBQ on Highway 6 N. Scott Rainey Space Center Rotary shared the global grant for the Babile woreda Water Infrastructures Construction and Rehabilitation Project located east of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Looks like it will help 3,500 households have clean safe water to drink. The children won't have to make the long trek to a poor quality water source just to get water in a bucket for the family. Instead they can go to school. Wonderful project through an international partnership between the Rotary Club Space Center and the international club Addis Abab East.  Thanks Scott for the information. 

 

Liz Bear from Boys and Girls Country visited with our club on Thursday March 10. Boys and Girls Country is located 35 miles northwest of downtown Houston. We are close to Cypress, Waller and Tomball areas. You can get to their campus either off of Hwy 290 or FM 2920. Boys and Girls Country provides a home to more than 100 children and young adults each year, and continues to be home for many who grew up here. Children ages 5 to 18 live on the Robinson campus in cottages with trained Teaching Parents and attend public school. Our young adults are encouraged to transition to the College and Career Campus around the corner while they attend college, work a first job, or join the military. Our clud says thank you for all you do for these kids.

 

 

 

Our featured speaker on Thursday was the District Governor Nick Giannone M.D.  Nick is a physician from Lake Jackson, and Rotarian for almost 25 years, He carried the Rotary President's direction of Rotary International which is ‘Be a Gift to the World’. Our club was recognized as being a very active club focused on helping our local community as well as the international community.