Richard J. Cantz, Jr. was named President and CEO of Goodwill Northern New England in July 2018. A nonprofit social enterprise for over 100 years, Goodwill at its core reflects social, economic and environmental sustainability, with a goal of moving 10,000 households in the region into stability. Cantz, a former member of Portland Rotary, will speak Friday on the scope of Goodwill’s operations.
Cantz joined Goodwill in 2003 as the Director of The Goodwill Fund. Over the years, he has held various positions of increasing scope in the areas of advancement, program development and public policy including Senior Vice President, Strategic Development and Public Policy. Before joining Goodwill, he served as Vice President, Resource Development at the United Way of Greater Portland. Prior to that, he spent five years at The Opportunity Alliance (formerly Youth Alternatives) providing case management services for youth in the Maine foster care system, as well as homeless youth.
Cantz received his bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology from Springfield College, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1993, and is also an Upsilon class graduate of Leadership Maine.
Through the years, Rich has served as a board member of multiple organizations including Woodfords Family Services, Mission Possible Teen Center, Guitar Doors, and the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.
Bits and Pieces | by Erik Jorgensen
Bruce Jones reminded us in his invocation that, despite cancellations everywhere, the sun, winter, music, kindness, conversations, hope and the value of today are, among other things, not cancelled.
Erik Jorgensen noted that he came in second in the six-way race for Secretary of State – he survived four ranked choice run-off votes but finally lost by a small margin in Round 5. He has no regrets.
Ellen Niewoehner thanked the people who participated in St. Vincent De Paul’s Thanksgiving dinner. Our members packaged 150 hot meals that were distributed to people in need. Tom Ranello led the effort, which was a modified version of our usual serving and cooking work.
The Club continues to think about how to honor our late volunteer extraordinaire, Loretta Rowe, our organizational face for years. Loretta did everything for the club. The Board will be donating a granite bench honoring her to be installed in Rotary Grove along the waterfront in the east end of Portland. The cost of this will be $3,000, so please consider chipping in. The board also announced that it will rename the Youth Service Award at Portland HighSchool to the “Loretta Rowe Portland High School Youth Service Award.”
A round of Happy Dollars raised a few bucks and provided a snapshot of what Club members are grateful for at this moment:
President Ellen Niewoehner thanked Bowen Depke and the Program Committee for working above and beyond in their continued effort to do great pandemic-era programming.
Ellen is also happy that all in her family are still healthy, including her 90-year-old dad.
Dave Small is happy that he has sold 7 out of 8 of the condos he is developing in Westbrook.
Paul Tully said he missed seeing his daughter in person at Thanksgiving but reported that she will be having a baby. Congratulations on this pending new addition to your family, Paul!
Speaking of pregnant people, Bruce Jones reported that he has two people expecting in his family. For those of you keeping score, that’s going to be double the grandchildren!
Elise Hodgkin chipped in $10 for her two kids. Neither of them is expecting.
Liz Fagan was also grateful for her grandchildren.
Mark Foster is happy that his sister is doing well surviving a case of advanced cancer. We wish her all the best.
Charlie Frair just finished his book on gambling, to be released in February or March! Odds are at least 10-1 that you’ll have the opportunity to get a copy.
Laura Young is happy that her kids are flourishing: Katie is in Boston doing engineering, Megan is farming in Hawaii. It seems fair to think that maybe Megan has the better deal…
Bob Traill reports that his grandson, an ace ventilator operator at Maine Medical Center, contracted COVID. The good news is that he’s getting over the illness. Lots of worry, but they are over the hump!
Michel Kanyambo was happy to be sending $20 to celebrate his return to Rotary! We are all happy too that he’s back.
Jan Chapman reports happiness at having seen bluebirds at her feeder -- and she has a family member getting over COVID.
John Marr was happy that he was briefly let loose from his house in order to ring the Salvation Army bell for Rotary in Monument Square.
And Peter Goffin found a stack of thank you notes from 20 years ago following his year as Portland Rotary president that never got sent. All intended recipients who are still alive will be getting them!
Members Gather in Club Assembly
by Juliana L’Heureux
The Rotary Club of Portland met in Club Assembly for its Friday, December 4 meeting to hear news of committee work and the club’s finances. President Ellen Niewoehner thanked the club for the support and the good level of participation from Rotarians during the weekly ZOOM meetings. She acknowledged with appreciation the exceptional meeting programs organized by the club’s program committee led by Bowen Depke, and quarterly chairs Rusty Atwood, Roxane Cole, and Justin Lamontagne.
Club Treasurer Scott Blakeslee presented the club’s two financial reports, one covered the Membership organization, the other is the 501(c)3 Charitable Fund. Membership club revenues exceeded expenses by $3,500. The savings reflected the impact of COVID on club operations with the cancellation of conventions and no costs for guest speaker lunches while meetings are held on Zoom. There is no charge owed to the Clarion Hotel for holding our weekly space until we can return to meeting in person.
Scott noted that while the Maine Outdoor Challenge (MOC), the Flags for Heroes and the Cornhole Tournament raised a total of $29,000 for the year, the MOC is now gone and revenues will reduce until another fundraiser is put in place. The reports are included here for review.
(Tax deductible donations to the Charitable Fund can be designated for specific purposes by sending Elise Hodgkin an email after making an online contribution, or mail a check with the designation described to Rotary Club of Portland Box 1755, Portland Maine 04104.)
Bruce Moore reported on the Recovery Task Force progress. “It’s been difficult during this pandemic to do our usual hands on volunteer work,” he said. “So far what we’ve been able to do is support community programs financially and to learn about next steps for our recovery task force.”
Bruce noted that Jonathan Sahrbeck, the District Attorney of Cumberland County, spoke at a recent club meeting about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), such as divorce, abuse, or incarceration of a parent. Researchers know stress affects every stage of brain development, beginning prenatally and at every stage of life throughout adulthood. PDG Dave Underhill facilitated involvement of Rotary Clubs in a training program to address ACES, which took place in September in York County and New Hampshire. This program trained 30 trainers including some Rotarians, who will, in turn, train 30 more. The District is planning a live web training session on January 14 at 6:30 pm. “This will be a great opportunity to learn more about ACES and what we can do to combat this problem,” Bruce said.
Bruce also reported that research indicates Maine youth are the most anxious in our country—they are the third most depressed in our nation—and our teen suicide rate is on the rise. In the 2019 Maine Integrated Youth Survey, less than 60% of middle and high school students could state "I Matter to People". To respond to this crisis, Maine Resilience Building Network is creating a new program called the Mattering for Maine Youth Initiative. (See linkhere.) Attending a roundtable discussion on December 4, were Pender Makin, Commissioner of Education in Maine and Barrett Wilkinson, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-Portland Public Schools. Our Recovery task force may want to get involved in this initiative, possibly by expanding our mentoring in Portland schools or supporting community education efforts.
The City of Portland held a public hearing in November about having a safe injection site in the city. This is a harm reduction issue that had been strongly supported by Jesse Harvey and will be discussed at the January District Recovery Task Force meeting. A scholarship fund has been established in Jesse’s memory at the University of Southern Maine. Bruce said that the Recovery Task Force will discuss a contribution from our club at their next meeting. For those interested in making a donation, here is the link.
District Governor Elect Dick Hall reported on a number of activities and programs planned by District 7780.
A Paul Harris Fellowship will be awarded to Dr. Irav Shah, Director of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, on Tuesday, December 14, by the Rotary Club of Brunswick. Anyone interested in joining this presentation can let Dick know, so he can send a link to the virtual meeting.
Rotary District 7780 is holding only virtual programs at least through September 2021.
A Grow Rotary meeting is scheduled for December 12.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Forum will be held on January 14.
The Mid-Year Leadership Forum is tentatively planned for January 18 in virtual format only.
A World Peace and Understanding event is planned for February.
The International Rotary Assembly will be held February 1- 11, 2021, for 3 hours a day. Dick and his wife will participate.
Rotary International is still discussing the convention in Taipai in June, but no one really expects it to happen, so it will probably be virtual. Changeover will probably be an outdoor picnic/barbecue.
Dick noted that Rotary may be teaming up with the Maine CDC and DHS to assist with the distribution of the COVID vaccine, including transportation, volunteers at immunization sites to handle registration, data entry, parking , guides etc. More information is forthcoming.
President Ellen said she will call on other program chairpersons to present at the December 11 meeting. She requested suggestions from members on ideas for fundraising projects. One suggestion was to request a donation request to be added to the dues invoices. Appreciation was extended to all members for the ongoing support by participating in the weekly meetings made easier to attend with ZOOM. “I am glad we are still meeting,” she said.
Moment of Reflection
AS IF TO DEMONSTRATE AN ECLIPSE
by Billy Collins
I pick an orange from a wicker basket
and place it on the table
to represent the sun.
Then down at the other end
a blue and white marble
becomes the earth
and nearby I lay the little moon of an aspirin.
I get a glass from a cabinet,
open a bottle of wine,
then I sit in a ladder-back chair,
a benevolent god presiding
over a miniature creation myth,
and I begin to sing
a homemade canticle of thanks
for this perfect little arrangement,
for not making the earth too hot or cold
not making it spin too fast or slow
so that the grove of orange trees
and the owl become possible,
not to mention the rolling wave,
the play of clouds, geese in flight,
and the Z of lightning on a dark lake.
Then I fill my glass again
and give thanks for the trout,
the oak, and the yellow feather,
singing the room full of shadows,
as sun and earth and moon
circle one another in their impeccable orbits
and I get more and more cockeyed with gratitude.
Speaker Schedule
December 11 | Rich Cantz, President, Goodwill
December 18 | Greg Mitchell, Economic Development Director, City of Portland
December 25 | NO MEETING
January 1 | NO MEETING
January 8 | Craig Freshley, Makeshift Coffeehouse
January 15 | Heather Paquette, Hannaford
January 22 | Steve Hewins, Hospitality Maine
January 29 | Sarah Hansen, Greater Portland Landmarks
February 5 | Joey Spitz, Kinotek Software
February 12| TBD
February 19 | Karen Nason, Ghost Karen’s Kitchen
February 26 | Peter Vigue, Cianbro
March 5 | Caroline Croft Estay & Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest
March 12 | Brian Corcoran, Shamrock Sports
March 19 | Stefanie Trice Gill, IntWork LLC
Dick noted that Rotary may be teaming up with the Maine CDC and DHS to assist with the distribution of the COVID vaccine, including transportation, volunteers at immunization sites to handle registration, data entry, parking , guides etc. More information is forthcoming.
