President Justin opened the meeting and welcomed 30 Rotarians and guests attending. Paul Tully gave the thought for the day: an admonition to “build more bridges and fewer walls” to strengthen friendships. 

GUESTS AND HAPPY STORIES: Jerry Wall led us in the Pledge, and Roger Berube introduced visitors before Happy Dollars. Paul Tully recognized Marla Keefe and Mary Pat Donnellon for running the Beach to Beacon, plus his daughter and two friends, finishing third as a relay team in the “Tri for a Cure” triathlon. Amy Chipman was happy her Cape Elizabeth home escaped last week’s torrential rain. Katharine and Jerry Wall will visit their daughter in CT this weekend. President Justin passed along a message and $5 from Ian and Kathryn Nagle, away at their brother’s wedding.

DISTRICT GRANT! Back in January, Ken Johnson from Farms For Food Equity (FFE) explained to us that in Maine, nearly 30% of planted crops go unharvested due to labor shortages, market conditions, weather, overplanting, or field turnover. FFE raises funds to purchase more of those crops and coordinates with Wayfair and Preble Street to get that produce into the market. It helps farms, employment, and gets more produce where demand is never ending. Tom Talbott was impressed enough to submit a District Grant request, and it was approved! $500 from our club, and $3500 from the District will go to FFE to help the cause!

To back up our Grant, we’re asking Portland Rotarians to volunteer at the Preble Street “Food Security Hub Kitchen”, 75 Darling Avenue, South Portland. 

1. To volunteer, you need to register. We’re encouraging you, as well as family members and friends to take that step, using this link:  REGISTRATION
2. You can watch this 6 minute Orientation Video, or you can sign up for a 1-hour tour of the facility/Orientation. You must do one or the other, there are important food and kitchen and safety rules to know and follow.
3. After steps 1&2, you can sign up for a shift that fits your schedule. Team up with other Rotarians, combine with family – you manage your time!
4. Shifts run Mon-Fri 7am-1030am, or 12:30pm-3:30pm. Sat/Sun 11:30am-2:30pm

This is a new approach, rather than us picking a date/time and asking you to attend. 

Volunteering can start right now.  Our club goal is 100 hours of volunteer time between now and the end of October, so that’s an average of 10 hours a week, or 1 shift/3 people per week.

 Let me know who is on the team, and keep track of your time .

Second, get a photo of you working so we can make a collage. Some posing is ok! FMI: Tom Talbott

JUST A MINUTE: President Justin introduced a new meeting feature: A Rotary Magazine Minute. Katharine Wall chose the August cover story about a Topeka, Kansas Rotarian who had been incarcerated, found sobriety, returned to school, and wanted to give back. She created “Intersection to Care,” helping disrupt human trafficking of women leaving incarceration who were being lured with housing and money into coerced labor. The program provides basic services, safe housing, technology mentoring, and therapeutic classes, while changing the culture around reentry. The Topeka Club has helped more than 1,000 women since 2022.(Photo)

FOOD RELATED: Roger Berube needs volunteers to sustain a food rescue project with Hannaford Supermarket. Every 3^rd Sunday of the month, from 6:30 -10:00 am volunteers pick up product from Hannaford and deliver it to local food banks. Email Roger for details.(Photo)

FORE! President Justin put in a plug for the Westbrook Rotary Club which is holding their annual golf tournament on Monday, September 28^th starting at 9 am. Justin is looking to put a PRC team on the course. $500 per foursome. Contact Justin to join him.

READERS: David Patterson thanked the many volunteers who participated in the “Raising Readers” project at the Portland Boys & Girls Club. Ten Club members read for over 1,000 minutes during the six-week program. A Fall program will start at Lyseth School in late September. Stay tuned! (Photo)

NO WIN: Bill Milliken supervised the raffle, where Kirk Duffy just missed the big prize, drawing the Queen …. of Diamonds! The lovely Queen of Hearts sleeps silently dreaming of her suitor…

FLICKS:  Catch Sam Chipman’s award-nominated short film, “Money Haul”  at Oxbow Brewing at 49 Washington Avenue, Wednesday, August 26^th beginning at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $15 for a triad of  films. Make it a fun night out! 

WE GOT YOUR BACK: Amy Chipman updated us the Back-to-School project with the Boys & Girls Club. The backpacks and school supplies are on order. Contact Amy to join a solid crew of Rotarians already signed up. The date will beThursday, September 10^th at 4:00 pm, planning to stuff 100 backpacks. More details to come!  (Photo)

LAST WEEK'S PROGRAM: Meg Garrett-Reed, Affordable Health Care in Maine | by Tom Talbott

Meg Garrett-Reed, Executive Director of Maine’s Office of Affordable Health Care, joined us recently to talk about something that affects just about everybody: the cost of health care. Meg was appointed by Governor Mills in 2023 as the first director of the office. Her group looks at health care spending in Maine, what is driving the increases, and what might be done about it.

One number that stood out was that Maine households under age 65 are spending about 10% of their income on health care. Middle-income families are actually getting hit the hardest as a percentage of income. Meg said the problem is not simply that people are using more health care. Inpatient hospital use has actually gone down. The bigger issue is the price of the services themselves, especially hospital and outpatient care.

She also talked about the consolidation of hospitals and doctors into larger health systems. With fewer separate providers competing with each other, prices can go up, and eventually those higher costs show up in insurance premiums paid by employers and individuals.

The questions afterward brought up some good points. One member asked why we shop around for almost everything else, but not health care. Meg said Maine does have a website called CompareMaine where people can compare costs, although not many people in the room seemed to know about it. She also pointed out that most people simply go where their doctor sends them.

Another question was about the Affordable Care Act. If health care costs were a major issue when the ACA was passed, why are we still talking about the same problem more than a decade later? Meg said the ACA did help expand coverage, but helping people get or pay for insurance does not fix the actual cost of the care itself. Efforts to change the way hospitals and doctors are paid have also been difficult and have met resistance.

Another member asked where all the extra money is actually going. Meg said that can be difficult to track because the state does not have access to all of the spending data. Her office is looking at hospital consolidation, commercial health care prices, and payment systems that put more emphasis on results and quality instead of simply paying for every service provided.

The main point was pretty clear. Health care costs are rising faster than incomes. If insurance is going to become more affordable, the cost of the care itself has to be part of the discussion.

What are the Seven Areas of Focus that our Foundation addresses? First is Promoting Peace through training adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.ers, etc., or used in global grants as match funds.