What a great meeting we had Sunday night with Rotaract and the Saco Bay Club! How inspirational! All fines and happy dollars, which were plentiful, went to support the Rotaract Club. Huge thanks to Dr. Mike Burman for setting it up!
Speaking of stepping up, we need someone to be a volunteer to help with an exchange student coming to Saco, as part of Rotary's ESSEX program. (This person would help the host families communicate & work together and provide support, not hosting.) Click here for more information and please let Marty know if you can do it -- it is a morning of training and one or two short meetings or phone calls, probably in Portland in May.
-Thank you to Joyce Valenti, our guest from the Windham NY club, for a wonderful invocation on the spirit of Rotary and helping others.
-Speaking of helping others, our World Community Service projects are going well. Thanks in particular to Roland and Paulette for staying involved with this. We are funding an improved kitchen in Kenya and a survey for a better water system in Uganda. The international spirit of Rotary is very important. A small but meaningful way to help is to use our Clynk bags which you can pick up at Heather's store (Whimsical ME on Main Street in Saco). Every $500 we raise sends another student to school.
-The board approved a $1500 donation to APEX Youth Connection (Melissa's very wonderful organization).
Happy Dollars
-Conrad's cholesterol is at 174. Remarkable, Conrad!
-Mike B was promoted, congratulations!
-$20 from Dr. Joe to celebrate 20 years of marriage, thanks Vicky for joining us too!
-$5 from Jim L, had a great coffee with Justine
-Cynthia Giroux thanks Karen for helping with the Esther House
-Melissa was very pleased to see the spirit of Rotary happen with a free load of firewood for Winterfest, delivered by Kristen Lane's husband. Thank you!
We had a great talk from Dr. Joe. It was a very compelling and moving story. Has Dr. Joe visited Norway 36 times, or did he fail organic chemistry 36 times? Find out at our next meeting.
Thank you so much for your being so concerned about our needs. We are strong in what we are doing because of your support.
About the proposed renovation works at the OLPS CRC kitchen, I am glad to share with you some pictures showing the status of the kitchen and which areas need to be renovated and why. See the photos HERE
The kitchen area is about 12m2 (4m in length and 3m in width). This is where we prepare food for 93 children daily, it is also our store and washing area. The primary source of fuel is firewood. The kitchen does not have a separate dining area and the children use the classrooms as dining rooms during mealtimes.
Continued and prolonged use of firewood as the primary source of fuel produces smoke, which caused blockage along the chimney resulting in a backflow of smoke into the kitchen and into the main house. The kitchen’s inside wall is now black with a thick layer of soot. The roof is equally in a terrible state. Just like the wall, the inside part of the roof is also covered with a thick layer of soot and has caused serious damage to the iron sheets and timber. The roof is leaking whenever it rains and there is fear that it can crumble because the timber is rotten and weak.
The floor has cracks where dirt accumulates and this compromises the general hygiene of the kitchen and the quality of food that is prepared in the kitchen. Cracks make it challenging to clean the floor as well.
There is a small corridor behind the kitchen, which we use as the store for firewood. This is also a potential risk as dry firewood can catch fire anytime, resulting in big losses for the CRC.
To renovate the kitchen, we need to do the following: -
Transitioning from firewood as the primary source of fuel to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This requires complete installation of the entire LPG infrastructure at a cost of Kshs. 350,000.00. The proposed budget as prepared by experts in this area is attached to this email. See what this looks like HERE. We took these at a Referral Hospital here in Kisumu and St. Monica Hospital also here in Kisumu
Clean the wall and repaint.
Construct storage cupboards
Redo the floor and lay ceramic tiles on the floor
Remove the roof and replace the timber and iron sheets
Repair the washing area by installing new concrete sinks,
Install large windows and a new door.
The kitchen, in its current status, is a serious health and environmental hazard and puts the lives of the children and workers in danger of respiratory complications due to prolonged exposure to smoke from firewood. It is a public health concern that we have been warned by the Public Health Officers to rectify before the center is shut down. At the same time, the ministry of environment and natural resources has also directed institutions that use firewood as the primary source of fuel to seek alternative means, which are friendly to the environment. This is why we are seeking support to transition into LPG as the primary source of fuel because it is clean, efficient, and cost-effective.
By renovating the kitchen and ensuring the safety of food prepared at the kitchen, grandmothers whose children are beneficiaries of the center will not worry about the health of their grandchildren.
I have shared the photos of the kitchen for your information.
Happy New Year! I'm excited for 2022, and it gives me a chance to provide some updates on goings-on at our Biddeford Saco Rotary Club:
We have a new member proposed, Phillip Mateja. He is sponsored by Heather Gendron. Phil is a Realtor and has volunteered with the National Athletic Trainers Association and the Knights of Columbus. He has been to a few meetings and was approved for membership by the board at our December meeting. However, I did not do a good job of "posting" or announcing his prospective membership at our last two meetings (our process for new members is attend a meeting as a guest, be placed on the agenda for board approval, followed by announcing or "posting" the proposed new member at two consecutive club meetings, then induction at a meeting). So, if you have concerns about adding Phil to our club, please contact me ASAP, otherwise he will be inducted at our meeting this Wednesday January 5 at Ricetta's at 12:15.
Speaking of new members, it has really been great to see you stepping up and getting so involved with our programs, and bringing new energy to our group. Volunteering and getting involved is the best way to get to know the Club, and you have been doing that. Welcome!
More volunteer opportunities: Wreaths Across America is seeking our help at St Joseph's Cemetery on Saturday January 15 at 9AM to pick up the wreaths we placed last month. Cold, unglamorous work -- our specialty :)
Before too long it will be time for our Raised Bed Gardens to be built and delivered. Look for a note from Ken Farley about that in the next couple weeks. We hope to provide as many as fifteen or twenty "gardens ready to go" for area families in need this year. The work involves building, delivering, and filling the raised beds with dirt. Again with the unglamorous work.
Someone who does a lot of unglamorous work for the Club but doesn't always get much mention is Brian Dallaire. Thank you Brian for setting up all the Zooms, the meeting invites, and the website.
Please do register for our weekly lunch if you get the chance. It helps us plan. But then we always have extra food, so don't hesitate to just show up if your plans change -- we love to see you.
Omicron is a wild card. We do have masks available at the restaurant, will make them more prominent, and Zoom is always an option which seems to be working fairly well. We'll be discussing this at the Board meeting Wednesday morning, so please bring your ideas and concerns to your favorite board member (listed on the left column of the website).
Our signature holiday program Adopt-A-Family was a great success. We helped a record number of families, a total of 97 children. So rewarding. Thank you for participating, and thanks again to Karen Chasse and Heather Gendron for coordinating. All this was made possible by our Raffle, which was a huge success, and provided us the budget to give the most we've ever given this year.
Speaking of thanks, here's to our nominating committee for developing a strong slate of officers for 2022 (starting in July). As we head into our 102nd year of Service Above Self, we'll be in good hands.
Sometimes I don't do enough to mention our international activities. Lots of communities around the world can use our help, and Roland Gagne does an amazing job keeping us involved.
Internationally, we have two projects underway:
Monday, January 3rd (today!) at 9AM we’ll be holding a Zoom meeting with Rotarians in Uganda; a local Portland, ME environmental engineer; and two community members from Biddeford to discuss/review water project proposals received for a hydrogeological study for a community near the borders of Rwanda and DRC. Our club will be helping fund and support this project. Any Rotarians interested in joining the Zoom meeting, email Roland for the link: rotaryroland@gmail.com. And here’s a Google Earth link to the community in Rwanda where the proposed water project is being developed: Rwanda Water Project
The Children’s Rescue Center in Kisumu, Kenya is in need of support for orphaned children being cared for at the center. We continue to engage with the center to understand the most pressing needs that we can support. Anyone interested in joining the discussion, email Roland at rotaryroland@gmail.com.
Looking ahead, we have exciting programs in the works. For example, in March we'll be doing our Maple Syrup fundraiser. It was a big success last year thanks to Roland Gagne, and we have it in the works again this year, so don't buy any syrup between now and then... also, in late April, we are looking at a new event, together with the Rotary District 7780 Recovery Initiative, called a "Recovery Workforce Job Fair"... In May, We'll be back at St. Joseph's Cemetery, where together with students from Biddeford Schools, we place flags on veterans graves for Memorial Day... and in June we'll have our essay contest, which provides a chance for student authors to show their stuff. Lastly, coming up soon, we'll be looking for volunteers to help sort, organize and hang pictures and historical articles at the newly renovated lodge at West Brook Skating Rink. More with the unglamorous work.
The Biddeford Saco Rotary Club now accepts Venmo! You can pay your dues, the golf fundraiser, fines & happy dollars, foundation giving or anything else you’d like to pay directly to our bank account.
If you don’t have Venmo, please download the app and set up an account. It’s very easy. And it’s especially helpful that you can pay with your phone while we don’t meet in person.
Please send payments to @Treasurer-BSRC and put a note with your name (if it’s not identifiable) and what you’re sending money for. I can also try to answer questions if you respond to this email.
CLYNK bags are available at Whimsical Me on Main Street Saco. Stop into Heather’s store to pick-up several bags. Drop your bags off at the CLYNK DEPOSITORY In the Hannaford Shopping Center. Scan the bag tag on the outside of the door and place the bag inside Help us support Roland Gagne’s school in Kenya. A few cans and bottles goes a long way to improve the lives of these children. Let’s fulfill our commitment. .
Thank you
Roland
Our Club is in first place of 10 Rotary Clubs who participate in this program! But Saco Bay is gaining on us.
Rotary Club of Biddeford Saco
Total Raised
$3,139.65
Containers CLYNKed
55,816
Saved enough energy to light 77.8 lightbulbs—24 hours a day—for a year.
Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 14,726 miles.
Diverted enough containers to fill 567.4 lobster traps.
Fill up those green bags. If you need more bags and/or labels, just let Julie Villemaire know and she can hook you up…no charge!
Simple fill with returnables and drop off at any Hannaford.
Alternately, if you already have a CLYNK account of your own, you can designate you funds as a donation. Hit the Donate button and search for Rotary and you'll find our account.
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