December 16, 2014 

 Meeting called to order by President Vince Garcia at 12:30 p.m.

Pledge:  Kirk Schmidt

Thought: Bill Barton, read by Jeannie Kegebein 

Write to be understood.

Speak to be heard.

Read to grow!

   Leureasee Clark Powell, American Author

Guests:  Mark Donnelly, principal at Starlight Elementary School, and four 5^th grade students with outstanding attendance – Tommy, Alan, Alexa, and Maryeli

Visiting Rotarians: none

Correspondence and announcements:

 Airfare available to Guatemala courtesy of Ron Ince - Kirk Schmidt

 Freedom Rotary Christmas Dinner success with several “thank you” – Vince Garcia

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Detective: in the absence of Jorge Zamora, students from Starlight Elementary School assisted Pablo Barreto in fining members who answered questions regarding the history of holiday-related facts, and also about safety tips from PG &E and the Fire Dept.

Raffle: Pablo Barreto gave holiday and clean living gifts

Program feature:  Speaking with us today about Encompass  Community Services is Monica Martinez.  Formerly Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center, Encompass  Community Services is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation which has been serving Santa Cruz County since 1973. Our mission is “building on the strength of people working together to create healthy change in their lives and community. We deliver quality human services guided by the values of diversity, partnership, and the power of workplace democracy.” This year we served over 8,000 Santa Cruz residents with culturally-sensitive, bilingual services. We do this through our four service components: Child and Family Development Programs, Youth Services, Community Recovery Services, and Community Support Services. Encompass programs are funded through a wide variety of funding sources, including government entities at the school district, city, county, state, and federal levels. Funds for services also come from foundations, corporations, service clubs, third party insurers, and individual clients. The annual budget for Encompass Community Services is approximately $25 million. Freedom Rotarians are welcome and encouraged to become working partners with any of the service provide programs offered by Encompass.