E-News for Week of June 15, 2020 (Jun 15, 2020)

"The Ramblings of the Mad Hatter"

Greetings Trenton Rotarians!

It was another exciting week for the club . . . a great warmup to prepare for Kathy's year! The week started with Past District Governor Donna Schmidt joining us at our weekly meeting and telling us about her new project in Ethiopia. This effort deals with microfinance - a chance for the people of Ethiopia to start working their way out of poverty. It has three main areas of focus. First is the treatment of type 1 diabetes which afflicts many children there (3,195 families in the area have qualified for the microfinancing; one of the requirements is at least one family member has to have diabetes). Second is an effort towards economic development . . . provide people with a means to feed their families better (which would help against diabetes) and purchase insulin for those in need. The third area is an emphasis on education. The hope is to give families a means to provide for themselves and help their children learn to do the same.

Monday evening we had our monthly 5:01 Meeting and the monthly meeting of the 6:01 Group of the Trenton Rotary. This was our first foray into a hybrid meeting, with four or five of us gathered in person and others joining us via Zoom. There were a few technical glitches, but overall it worked well and it was a fun and productive evening.

Thursday and Friday evenings found us at the first ever Rotary District 6400 Virtual District Conference. The speakers were fantastic (search YouTube for "Mike Foreman District 6400" to see a really cool video!). The information was inspirational. It wasn't the same as meeting in person, but it was the next best thing. We didn't bring home the Hedke Award (the Detroit Rotary Club earned that distinction), but we were honored for excellence in our club projects.

Saturday morning found a few Trenton Rotarians moving supplies and equipment from our old storage unit on Fort Street to our new, smaller unit at Safe Spot Storage on West Road. The new unit is indoors and climate controlled. It will allow us to store items that could not be stored at an outdoor unit with temperatures that vary from below freezing to over one hundred degrees.

You should have received an email from me regarding the upcoming Virtual Installation Banquet. Actually, you should have received two - I sent one via DACdb and one via ClubRunner. Please review the invitation as well as the letter detailing the event. We are providing boxed meals for members to pick-up. Your meal is included in your dues. Any additional meals cost twenty dollars. Please contact me with your intentions, including the number and type of meals you would like. I need this information by Wednesday. I can be reached at 734-552-2117. Otherwise you may email me at matt@funservicesmi.com<mailto:matt@funservicesmi.com>. Let's help usher in Kathy's year with enthusiasm! I look forward to seeing you there.

Enjoy the upcoming week. Continue to do the right thing . . . remember, your actions connect the world! Be a living example of the Rotary motto "Service Above Self."

Yours In Rotary,

Matt Hatty
President, The Rotary Club of Trenton, Michigan

Secretary's Corner

by Bill Jasman

As we begin to come to the end of the year, It has been a busy year. When you think of it, We've lost a few friends, gained a few more. Let us take time to remember all the service that those Rotarians served our club and honor them by helping to do those things that they would have done. Explore the world in Service by Past President John Bodell, Come to Rotary every week, and donate to the foundation like Ken Egger. Or be the honest servant to Rotary like Kyle Stack. Kyle was honored a couple of times this past week at the District Conference.

I have been asked to honor the initial honorees of the Kyle Stack Leadership Awards. Congratulations to all who were nominated. I look forward to working with all of you in the future and am already starting to line up some great speakers for January. We have a lot of work to do though. We have to develop a plan to execute our district grant to provide STEM Educational Toys and Arts type toys to our underdeveloped areas to try to help all of our school systems improve on their metrics. Our goal of trying to serve children with better toys will be fruit 10-12 years later. Just like the trees we've planted, just like the strategic. We still have a reading program to conduct from last year. We'll need a small team to take the Books, Activity Books, and Book Marks and gather them into classroom kits. We also need to work with schools to develop the plan, schedule the project, and deliver the materials. Sorry, this was so wordy, but it has been an honor to serve as secretary for the best club in our district, zone, and world.

Thank You!!

Thank you to all of the members of Trenton Rotary for your continued support of ChristNet during the COVID 19 pandemic. ChristNet, in collaboration with Wayne Metro Community Action Agency, opened a 24/7 “Shelter in Place” on April 5, to help keep our ChristNet guests and the community safe. We provide not only safe sleeping accommodations but three meals and snacks daily. The money you’ve donated is being used to help provide lunches, milk and juice throughout the pandemic. And, thank you to Larry Kearney for initiating a “drop off” program at his office and to those of you who have dropped off cereals, pastries, cookies and other snacks items. They’ve been enjoyed and appreciated. Trenton Rotary’s generosity is awesome!

Linda Dickman

ChristNet Board

To access the online version of the magazine and keep up to date on the articles, use this link: http://therotarianmagazine.com/