As of today 19 members have sold $2,280 of maple syrup. This is 45% of our $5,000.00 goal. That leaves 35 members to buy or sell a few bottles of syrup. We can do this!
If you don't know anybody just buy some bottles for yourself and/or give them as gifts this Christmas. Buy a case and donate it to a local food pantry, Seeds of Hope, Bon Appetit Meal Program at the UU Church on Crescent Street in Biddeford(the kitchen we painted) the Veterans Home on West Street in Biddeford or your favorite charity. Let's get this wrapped up before Maine Maple Syrup Weekend. March 27-28 2021.
Thank you for your continued support of our club and its mission.
Maple Syrup Fundraiser - $1808 raised 36% of goal ($5000) Share through social media; fundraiser through end of March. If customers need the products shipped to them they should let Rotarian know and then Rotarian will ship products out and will ask for customers to make a donation to Rotary to cover the costs. Don encouraged all to get selling! Several Rotarians have not sold any. If you need any help selling contact Don Pilon and he will help. Brenda Pollock will send out Press Release to help with this effort. Don will pay $100 credit to top 2 Rotarians that sell the most syrup.
Center of Technology/Rotary House -Open house 518 Main St - March 6th 9-11AM - Can park at the Center of Technology (COT) parking lot. Come check out the great work done!
Clynk bags – help fund school in Kenya – if you need any bags please contact Don
Blood Drive – March 5, 2021 New Life Church – has plenty of volunteers, NEED donors! Sign up today or advertise on your social media ttps://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=Biddeford%20Rotary
Mary’s Walk – team of 4 – virtual walk. If you are interested in participating connect with Marty- Goal is to raise $500 for Maine Cancer community. $350 raised
COVIDCommittee - Community Family Garden – looking for participants – organizations or folks that are food insecure. Contact Conrad or Ken Farley
Grant application to address organization needs
Dan Reed – new member, sponsored by Jim Labelle. Don inducted & welcomed Dan into Biddeford-Saco Rotary.
SAA Happy Dollars & Fines:
Sad dollars – Joe $5
Happy dollars – Conrad - $1; Don Pilon $5; Brenda Pollock $5; Marty $1; Roland Gagne $1;
Jen Fullmer$5;
Fines – Conrad $1; Bill Patterson $1; Bill Kany $1; Jim Labelle $1; Mike Burman $1; Roland Gagne $1;
Dan Reed $1; Paulette Bonneau $1;
Guests – Steve Dalvet – friend from Melissa Cilley teaching at Kings Academy in Jordan
Speaker Summary: Nasir Robadi/Ibrahim Kattan – Jordan Twin Club
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary to all Rotarians 116 years!
Jordan is a haven of peace in the troubled Near and Middle East. Jordan maintains good relations with all of its neighbors. It is about ¾ the size of PA.
Ahlan wa Sahlan - in English “welcome” “make yourself at home”
Population 10.2 million 98% are Arabs 2% ethnic minorities 2.9 mill not citizens
2nd poorest country in world in terms of water – shortage is worsening year by year, under the effect of population growth and global warming (other contributions chronic drought; high consumption of water by agriculture To find out more about the National Water strategy: http://www.mwi.gov.jo/sites/en-
Every few years they get snow in Jordan.
Olive Tree – most important tree in Jordan 10.5 million olive trees planted in Jordan. 24,000 tons of olive oil in 2020. Plays an important role in their food
Jordan national dish Mansaf – rice/lamb/special sauce – dry yogurt/water
Civil war in Syria has caused a mass influx of Syrian refugees - 1.2 million Syrian people have moved to Jordan mostly woman, children and elderly. Al Zaatari Refugees camp is considered one of the largest refugee camps in the world.
Jordan diplomacy- 3 pillars:
Alliance with US which provides significant militart and economic aid
Cooperation with Israel signing of a peace treaty in 1994
Relationship with gulf countries
Very advanced health care services in the country. They have built field hospitals to help deal with the COVID pandemic- only for COVID patients. These field hospitals are very modern and were built in only 2 months.
Unemployment rate 23.5% with COVID
Excellent friendship between US and Jordan and our clubs!
Rotary of Amman Cosmopolitan – 6/23/1995 – only English speaking club in Jordan
Would you or someone you know like a small garden to grow vegetables? The Rotary Club of Biddeford-Saco has partnered with APEX Youth Connection and Biddeford Community Gardens to offer 10 residents of the Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach areas an opportunity to win a free raised garden bed. We will provide all of the materials including a raised garden bed (choose between a 3'x4' or 3'x8' bed), soil, nutrients, seeds and/or starter plants and the training to grow the best garden with healthy and fresh vegetables. All you need to provide is a space for the garden (approximately 10'x10' with plenty of sun), a commitment to help install the raised bed (volunteers will help you install) and approximately 15-20 minutes per day to water, weed and harvest your garden.
Do you rent your home? No worries, get written permission from the property owner and we will be happy to consider your request. Applications will close on February 28th - click on the link on the Club's Home page or on the link below for an application and submit to the email addresses or mailing addresses on the form.
BIDDEFORD — Donald Pilon, president of the Biddeford and Saco Rotary Club, officially signed a twinning agreement with the Cosmopolitan Rotary Club in Amman Jordan.
The two Rotary groups met via Zoom to officially join as sister clubs.
This is the second twinning outreach of this sort for the Biddeford and Saco Rotary Club. The other sister club is the Rotary Club of Bideford, England.
“It’s an honor for us to connect with such a talented group in Amman,” Pilon said. “We have a great deal we can learn from one another.”
Rotary clubs around the world have a unique opportunity to learn about other cultures and foster goodwill through the global family. Establishing a twinning partnership can involve forming relationships, arranging international exchange visits and programs, and cooperatively undertake international and community service projects.
Roland Gagne represented the BSRC on a previous Rotary International Outreach mission and travelled to Amman, Jordan. “I am thrilled to witness the formation of a Sister Club relationship with the Amman Cosmopolitan Club in the middle eastern country of Jordan. This will allow us to form a long-term relationship in the promotion of international understanding, goodwill, fellowship and likely result in continued service projects between our two countries.”
Donald Pilon introduced the president of the Amman Rotary Club, Ibrahim Kattan, and the District 2452 Governor Shawkat Tadros. Maine Rotary’s 7780 District Governor Peggy Belanger was also on the Zoom call to welcome the group and commend both clubs for joining together.
“District 7780 is comprised of 41 clubs and 1,500 members throughout southern Maine and New Hampshire,” Belanger said. “Our Rotary District remained very active throughout the pandemic and I couldn’t be more proud of the way Rotarians stepped up to serve their communities through this crisis.”
Lawrence Furbish, District 7780 Foundation chair, was also present on the call celebrating this new relationship. “I am looking forward to seeing what future projects your clubs will work on and thank everyone for supporting The Rotary Foundation.”
As the 100-year-old club continues to expand their reach globally, additionally, they continue to be major contributors in their communities. Club President Donald Pilon, along with the chair of the COVID sub-committee, Conrad Welzel, recently delivered 1,000 masks to Hailee Flaherty, communications director for SMHC. These masks were donated from the Rossi Foundation of East Hampton, Connecticut, as part of round II of the Million Mask Challenge. More than 100,000 face masks were delivered to local Rotary clubs and for the first-time, children’s face coverings were also provided.
“It’s a commendable contribution and important for our communities,” said Pilon. “Local Rotary clubs contribute so much in goods, and services. This pandemic hasn’t slowed our club down at all. It added to our motivation inspiring us to expand on the services we already provide to our communities.”
“Volunteer service hours have risen by 452 hours in January alone,” said Julie Villemaire, secretary of the club. “The total service hours recorded since July 1, 2020 through January 31st, 2021 is at 2,415 hours. That truly is commendable and demonstrates Rotarians are available to help whenever and wherever possible.”
For more information on the Biddeford and Saco Rotary Club, visit their website: http://www.biddeford-sacorotary.org/ or visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BiddefordSacoRotaryClub
Thank you for supporting the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club's Annual Maine Maple Syrup Fundraiser. The proceeds from this fundraiser will allow us to continue supporting the many needs and causes within the Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach communities.
The fundraiser runs through the month of March each year ending on Maine Maple Syrup weekend (March 27-28). The items you purchase will be filled with Maine Maple Syrup freshly harvested this season by Dole Pond Maple Products (organic certified), located deep in the woods of Jackman, ME; where they maintain 37,000 taps on 600 acres of land producing around 13,000 gallons of syrup each year.
Your items will be available for pick up on Saturday, June 5th. We will notify you of the location once the items are available.
TO SUPPORT US and MAKE A PURCHASE click the link below:
This year's event will be held VIRTUALLY on Sunday, March 21. In the interest of everyone's safety, and with no way to be certain what March of 2021 will bring, the Mary's Walk Committee made the decision to transition to a virtual run and walk again for year 23. We hope you will join us as recognize that cancer has not stopped in the midst of the pandemic and the people of Maine need our help more than ever. Register to walk or run on or before January 31 and you'll receive a free long sleeve t-shirt.
Here is the link to our Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club Mary's Walk team:
Thank you so much for registering for Mary's Walk/Kerrymen 5K and starting a team! We hope you will invite more teammates to join you in supporting the cause! Be sure to update your fundraising page and share why you are walking or running.
Additionally, we'd love to hear from you! We hope to share stories virtually to highlight our teams and what inspires you to participate. We can't be together in person this year but we will be together in spirit and we'd love to share your story! Submissions can be sent to maryswalk@mainecancer.org.
We are excited to have RI President-Elect Shekhar Mehta as the Keynote speaker this year for the 2021 NEPETS. Everyone in our district is invited to attend this opening zoom meeting, at no cost.
Registration is required to get the Zoom link.
Zoom meeting information will be sent to those who have registered by noon on the morning of March 11, 2021.
To register click the link below and then be sure to change ticket number in the first box from 0 to 1.
We have more Meals on Wheels openings available! Please see the information below and feel free to contact us if you are interested:
Drivers needed at Biddeford
Biddeford Meals on Wheels is in need of delivery drivers on Tuesday mornings from 10:00AM-12:00PM. These delivery routes would be primarily in the Biddeford/Saco area. The site is located at 189 Alfred Street in Biddeford.
Packagers needed at Portland/Westbrook (Temporary)
Portland/Westbrook Meals on Wheels is looking for two volunteers to assist with packaging food on Thursday mornings from 9:00AM-12:00PM. Please note that this is a temporary volunteer role from 12/17/20 – 1/28/21. This role does require volunteers to work in close proximity with each other in the kitchen – so for safety purposes we encourage members of the same household to contact us with their interest. The site is located at 426 Bridge Street in Westbrook.
Also please ask if they could choose to help out to include myself or Julie on the communication so that they can be recognized for their service hours. Thanks Conrad
In March of 2020, the Rotary Club of Biddeford Saco launched a COVID-19 Crisis Subcommittee to address the immediate needs the pandemic caused in the communities of Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach. In phase one of their response program, the committee addressed the immediate need for food and PPE supplies for the elderly, at-risk youth and for our veterans.
In the second phase of their crisis project, the committee will continue their focus on ensuring food and PPE supplies are available to our seniors, at-risk youth, and veterans. In addition, the project will support organizations and small day cares that will be overwhelmed by an increased demand for basic needs: PPE supplies, food and other requirements or changes to their facilities as a result of executive orders. They will also add an education initiative for children and at-risk families, that will address food insecurities by teaching small scale agriculture in the production of crops and livestock.
To volunteer, donate to the Rotary Club or for more information on the Biddeford Saco Rotary Club, please email us.
To apply for crisis assistance and consideration for help with food, PPE supplies or for more information regarding the agriculture education initiative, download the COVID CRISIS Subcommittee Request Form.
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 & Don
UPDATE: Clynk requests that you hold you bags for 3 days before dropping them off and tie a string or ribbon to show compliance.
Our Club is in first place of 10 Rotary Clubs who participate in this program! But Saco Bay is gaining on us.
Total Raised
$2,788.10
Containers CLYNKed
49,905
Saved enough energy to light 69.1 lightbulbs—24 hours a day—for a year.
Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 13,070 miles.
Diverted enough containers to fill 508 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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