So if you missed the meeting last week you missed our club in action. It just so happens that the Charitable Funds Committee had a request from the United Way. They were seeking $5000.00 to purchase and fill back packs with age appropriate school supplies. The little kids get colored pencils while the older kids get some digital stuff. The mission is to give kids backpacks so when they begin their school year they have most of the things they will need.
It just so happened that the program for the day was this guy from United Way. I think his name was Jayson- ask Bernice- she will know. There was a small turnout for the meeting and I had had the request for the United Way for a few weeks. We were done early; even with the program we were finished by 1:00 so I talked to Jackson and he allowed us to have a Charitable Fund Committee meeting with all members in attendance. I told Jason if he scooted we would discuss his request.
I figured at this point everybody heard the why’s what, where, etc. of his program. They will supply up to 1500 back packs to kids who probably would never get one. This is up from 500 packs just a few years ago. All of these kids are already starting school with a deficit. There is no means testing, the bags are handed out on the honor system. The Rochembeau Club was a drop off point for our local kids to get their packs. The distribution point has now moved closer to town because of the growth, lack of a bus / transportation for the kids, etc. .
If it has anything to do with kids it is a pretty easy sell. After Jason left we discussed the Charitable Fund Budget; we had $ $3253.50 left. We discussed the fact that the committee only has decision authority on $500.00 and any request larger then that has to go to the full board for a vote. We have twelve folks on the committee, Pierre Giroux and I are co-chairs. We had about 20 members at the lunch meeting.
The request was introduced to the club. I asked for a motion, got it and a second. I have to apologize I can’t remember if it was Bernice or Deb Burrows, CJ or Julie- everybody was pretty excited to get in on the action. Asked for more discussion, polled the group and we had a unanimous decision. Sue G was there and wrote the check for $500.00 and gave it to Bernice to deliver to the United Way.
I must say it was nice to hear the request in person and then act as a group on whether we wanted to support it. We have $2753.50 left in our budget. For new members, if you want to know more about our charitable giving drop any of us a line. The application for requests is on the website. We would love to hear your input. If you want to be on the Charitable Funds Committee mailing list send me an email and I will add you. jmoreshe@psmp.com
Due to the merger of Time Warner and Spectrum, the Rotary TV Auction will no longer occur. This new event will replace that joint fundraiser to continue to support your local communities. So, gather some friends, dress the decade and come enjoy the music of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s (one decade played each hour).
Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 6:30-10:30pm in the new Pepperell Mill Campus Event Room upstairs at 40 Main Street in Biddeford. There is plenty of parking in the York Street Lot and there will be a silent and live auction component. Hors d’ouevres will be donated by Blue Elephant Catering, a cash bar available, and music donated by DJ Webber.
Tickets are $25 each (plus online surcharge) or by contacting a Biddeford Saco or Saco Bay Rotarian.
I wanted to write about the New England President Elect Training Seminar that I attended last week. So everybody, mostly past presidents, told me “good luck”, “don’t drink the cool aid” , etc. It was all said in good fun. Now that I am back- I am really glad I was asked to serve.
So, I had a really good time, participated in a half dozen workshops and hit a few hospitality suites at night. I spent some time with the Lepauloue brothers, Dave and Bob, president elects of the Saco Bay Club and the Sunset Club in OOB at Dunegrass. These guys are great, super funny and fully engaged with the idea of Rotary. I hope we do something with their clubs this year.
Did you know that we, the Biddeford Saco Rotary Club is one of the most “kick ass” clubs in New England. It was almost embarrassing to be so front and center. We were mentioned regularly whether it was Paul D and Roland G’s work on the Lac-Megantic rail disaster, the Red Ribbon Committee’s work, etc. I also got a lot of validation about our club vis a vis our succession planning, foundation giving, the amount we give back to our community, our outreach, our international projects, etc.
While there were some themes that were introduced at NEPETS, I did not necessarily agree with them. For example there was a lot of emphasis in getting millennials involved while myself and a number of fellow Rotarians think we should just get people involved and not infer a separation of folks, i.e., millennials, generation x-ers, snow birds, etc. To quote a famous King as in Rodney- “can’t we all just get along”. What I did find funny is that on two occasions Rotary was described as a bunch of “stodgy old white guys” and “pale, male and stale”. While I may be pale and male- I am not stale! However, I was surprised at the lack of diversity in a room full of 500 people especially whereas there were clubs from Maine to Connecticut.
I was blown away when I heard that there are still a few clubs that are men only. I think our club would suck and probably not be viable if it wasn’t for our Rotary sisters.
There is some great innovation going on with attendance policies, in meeting service projects, new looks for clubs promotional material, new fund raising ideas, more opportunities for socializing and increasing fellowship and comradery.
I am looking forward to presenting some of these ideas to the club so we can decide what direction we want to go. I am also looking forward to a great year serving as your steward of this great club. Go to any Rotary District event and you will see how other clubs view us- it is pretty good. I always try to hook my wagon to winners- Biddeford Saco Rotary Club is all of that and more!!
Energy: Saved enough energy to light 55.9 lightbulbs—24 hours a day—for a year.
Emissions: Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 10,571 miles.
Volume: Diverted enough containers to fill 402.9 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.