President Bob Sweitzer opened the meeting by leading in the Pledge of Allegiance and Linda Trevorrow followed with the invocation that is a favorite Irish Blessing. Welcome March!
PROGRAM:
Linda Trevorrow, President of our club's foundation presented the program this morning so that we might have a better understanding of our foundation in its present form and the options for what might happen to the club in the future. The power point presentation, created by De-de Mulligan, is attached to these minutes and will give further clarification.
First of all, a distinction. Every fall we conduct a campaign for our members to give to The Rotary Foundation. This is an international foundation that supports the world-wide service efforts of Rotary International. Members become Paul Harris Fellows through their donations. This past fall our club raised more than $17,000 for that foundation, Its total assets are more than $1.5 billion dollars and they receive more than $400 million in annual contributions..
By contrast, our club has the Stow-Munroe Falls Rotary Club Foundation. Our foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization which allows us to solicit for grants and to give individuals a tax deduction for their donation. The club as a whole is a 501(c)(4) . We do not need to have a 501(c)(3) for our fundraisers, as the Ohio Revised Code says that we can have gambling under a 501(c)(4) and technically, many of our fundraisers, such as the Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction are gambling. Our foundation has separate trustees and by-laws that are different from the club's trustees and by-laws.
The board members of our foundation have been studying the foundations of other clubs such as Kent, Akron and Lakewood. They have large foundations. They have campaigns and events to sustain and grow the balance in their foundations so that non-profits can apply for the money that it awards through their interest. Our foundation only has a balance of about $30,000 and now is working on spending down that money through support of the club's projects.
We are at a decision point of either disbanding our foundation or deciding to strengthen it by methods like soliciting pledges, asking for bequests, and becoming the beneficiary of life insurance policies or required minimum distributions. If we continue to give away money we could put the foundation out of business. It was originally created for tax purposes and with the modifications that have been made in the tax laws, that is no longer as much of an issue.
The club needs to make a decision as to which way to go. Do we have a long-term vs, short-term focus? Do we want to establish a legacy? In our current track of spending down our money to assist the community, our foundation will be out of business eventually. There are expenses in both financial and manpower ways that should be considered. If we truly want to have a foundation, the club needs to make some decisions about how to move forward strengthen the balance. If not, it is possible to disband our foundation.
Further discussions need to happen in making this decision both by the two boards and the club membership in general.
BUSINESS MEETING:
Bob thanked Linda for the program and also thanked Sgt. at Arms, Todd Hearty for manning the sign-in table alone. Nancy Binzel and Chris Abercrombie were our visitors this morning.
CELEBRATIONS:
Mary Parr was excited that some of her pieces that she submitted to Women in the Arts were accepted. They are now on display at Great Harvest Bread Co. in the Oregon Plaza.
Linda Trevorrow announced that her daughter, Laura, has become engaged. She also asked for prayers for her sister and brother-in-law who live in Jerusalem in the midst of the turmoil going on around them at this point.
Rotary Anniversaries: Brad Ruth (27 years), Don Coughlin(26 years), Carrie Malotte, (18 years) and Rich Bedell (16 years) all have Rotary anniversaries this week.
Happy Birthday: John Pribonic is celebrating his birthday on Saturday.
Blue Badge: Denise and Eric Green have both earned their blue badge. Denise was here to receive her's today.
Drawing: Linda Trevorrow's table had the winning ticket but she drew the queen of hearts so the pot will continue to grow.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bunny Trail Hop: On March 28 from 10:00-1:00 children and their families will be at Silver Springs Park to gather treats and enjoy games and activities from 10:00 to 1:00. We will have a table there in the 70 degree weather and need people to work from 9:30 to 11:30 and 11:30 to 1:30. Sign up as you sign in.
Banner Exchange: Thanks to Gail Moseley for putting all of the small banners that people have brought back from visiting other clubs onto one big banner. When you visit another club on vacation, give them one of our banners. They are in the podium.
Golf Outing: Chairperson, Scott Miller shared the information about our Golf Outing which will be Friday, June 12 at Fox Den. See the “Save the Date” Card attached to these minutes and share it with your golfing friends who might be interested. The first committee meeting will be this Monday, March 9 at 6:00 at the Stow-Nut Donut Diner. Also let Scott know if you can volunteer the day of the event.
Coffee Drive: Annette Oborn announced that the coffee drive for the Haven of Rest will be extended for another week. We have contributed 221 cans so far. Acme has Folgers on sale for $8.99 a can this week so it is a good chance to add to the total.
Membership Application: Nancy Binzel's application has been approved by the board, so if you have any comments, get them to Bob Sweitzer by next Wednesday. Her application is attached to these minutes.
Foodbank: We need all the help we can get at the Foodbank next week. If you can possibly help, please plan to be there from 4:30 to 6:30.
Zoom Link: If you can't make it to a meeting but would like to attend, use the new zoom link attached to these minutes. You are missed when you are not here.
Board Meeting: The board will meet again on Friday, March 13 at 7:15 a,m, at City Hall. Board members are expected to attend and all are welcome. Don't let the date scare you!
Bob closed the meeting by leading us in the Four-Way Test.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Monday, March 9, 6:00 p.m. Golf Outing Committee Meeting at Stow Nut Donut Diner.
Wednesday, March 11, 7:30 a.m. Regular weekly club meeting when Gary Aleman will speak about the Stow-Munroe Falls Community Foundation.
Wednesday, March 11, 4:30-6:30 p.m. volunteer time at the Foodbank
Friday, March 13, 7:30 a.m. Board meeting at City Hall at 7:15 a.m.
Wednesday, March 18, 3:00 at the high school, judging the Four-Way Speech Contest
Saturday, March 28th 9:30-1:30 Bunny Trail Hop at Silver Springs Park. Volunteer to help.
Friday April 24 and Saturday April 25 District Conference at the Marriott in Warrensville Heights on Harvard Rd.
Saturday, May 9th Heroes Day
Friday, June 12, Golf Outing at Silver Springs
Wednesday, October 14 Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction