July 23, 2026
President Greg rang the bell at 12:02 bringing our meeting to order. David Hartman delivered the invocation followed by the Pledge and song, America the Beautiful, lead by the golden voice of yours truly.
President Greg continued with our guest introduction including Deanna Cupp and Rebecca Walton who came with Alan Donaldson. I could not catch all the brags in the Bucket, but Jeremy Woodward has a new daughter, Congratulations Pop!
We had several announcements: Foundation Chair, Benay Ayers presented an award to Rod Tieken for his remarkable support of the Rotary Foundation totaling $10,000 given over the past several years. Our club’s yearly goal for foundation support is $12,000. Our club is one of the highest per capita supporters of the Foundation in our District.
Also, our District is developing a New Member Welcome Kit and our President reminded us of the Club Runner app available for free download.
Cara Sauceda then introduced our Speaker, Rachel Wolff, the Executive Director of The Boys and Girls Clubs of Wichita Falls. Rachel is a graduate of Wharton Business School and has an extensive international volunteer and work history. Our Boys and Girls Clubs were sponsored by our Rotary Club 97 years ago.
Rachel continued with how the B&GCs help shape the lives of 8–10-year-old children. Club activities and goals help the kids manage stressful situations like generational poverty, natural disasters, and not keeping up with grade level in school. She emphasizes the risks of obesity in children, bullying and dealing with detrimental online media. Continuing, she addressed “an apathy for the future” that many young people develop because of a rapid grow up pace and use of cell phones rather than developing interpersonal relationships.
Boys and Girls Club’s programs focus on school academics, physical games to avoid obesity, provide children with councilors when parents are absent and cyber safety training. B&GC partner with our local food bank as some children only get one meal daily and health department visits can be arranged. Over 4,000 children a year benefit from the Boys and Girls Clubs locally and partnerships are made with Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
After a brief Q&A, President Greg announced a Donation to the WFISD Foundation in Rachel’s name and led us in the 4 Way Test.