John Marg-Patton opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Sue Ager offered the invocation.
Our guests today were Roseville Rotarian, Marv Sorvala, and Dana’s sister-in-law, Sister Ruth Ellen Rebelein. Sister Ruth Ellen was kind enough to leave Kearny, Nebraska to allow room for one more eclipse chaser.
Columbia Heights/Fridley Rotarian Craig Malm was present to create awareness for his club’s Stomp Out Polio fundraiser. To Kick off the fundraiser, Craig will undertake a week-long solo backpacking and photography trip in Washington State’s rugged Northern Cascade Mountains. We have an opportunity to support polio eradication by making a tax deductible donation to their fundraiser. Make checks payable to the Rotary Foundation and mail to:
Craig Malm
355 East Ave. Circle
Mahtomedi, MN 55115
Credit card donations can be made by contacting Craig Malm at 651-253-6933. All donations go directly to the Rotary Foundation and are 100% tax deductible.
Mark your calendars now for the 2018 Gold Plate Dinner, April 13, 2018.
The Rotary party at John and Marla Ordway’s home is a go, despite a less than favorable weather forecast. If the party has to be postponed, you’ll receive an email the day before the event. Remember that the main course and beverages are provided, but appetizers and desserts are welcome.
We are asked to bring our recent Rotarian magazines to Rotary in the coming weeks. These magazines will be distributed to prospective Rotarians at our new breakfast meetings.
President Gerry Tietz reminded us that we can (and perhaps should) check out the Club’s scorecard at “Club Central”, a feature of the Rotary International/My Rotary webpage. To get there, go to https://my.rotary.org, log in or register and then scroll down to “my club snapshot” and click it to see a wide variety of interesting facts about our club and how it compares with similar clubs in our district, zone and even globally.
Geoff Hollimon reported that CPY netted close to $15,000 from its many Stockyard Days fundraising initiatives. The proceeds were greater than expected as the Golf Ball Drop winner donated his $1,900 winnings back to CPY. Geoff thanked us for our participation.
Cindy Carlson announced that our E.C.H.O. matching grant for $8,300 has been approved by the District Matching Grants Committee. It will provide much needed equipment for the ECHO farm.
Geoff Hollimon just returned from a trip out west, this time taking the “road less travelled”, traversing Montana on Highway 2 and taking the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. The scenery was awe inspiring.
John Ordway was exhausted after spending 25 of the last 36 hours on the road (with Marla) chasing the solar eclipse.
Sue Ager invited us all to the Innsbruck Care Center’s open house on Wednesday, August 23rd, from 4-7PM. Among the many activities will be the 6PM ribbon cutting for the new “Play Patio” for which we donated a chess and checkers table. Join in the fun and see what a great place Innsbruck is.
George Winiecki recently celebrated 26 years of marriage with Christine.
John Marg-Patton donated the $3 he won on a wager with his sister Louise. Louise was in town (from Arizona) for the Twins/Diamondbacks series this past weekend. The Twins swept the series and John, having great faith in the hometown nine, had wagered a hefty $1 per game. My questions are:
(1) Does John have any other out-of-town relatives?
(2) Can he dig a little deeper into the retirement fund for a larger wager?
(3) Can the Twins actually sweep another series?
Paul Fournier introduced our speaker, Karen Meyer of the Community Support Center (CSC). Karen has been a full time employee with the CSC for two years and is the non-profit’s only full time employee. Located in New Brighton, the CSC offers emergency short-term financial assistance to prevent families from losing their homes or being evicted for being unable to pay their rent. They also provide referrals to other social support organizations. In addition to short-term assistance, CSC develops long-term relationships by taking the time to listen to their clients, providing much needed help with goal setting, financial planning and follow-up to prevent future financial crises.
CSC works directly with Ramsey County Social Services, The Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul Society, and Local Churches to identify and evaluate clients. CSC works with 16-20 families at any given time. Six volunteer “active listeners” work directly with the clients and often become active advocates for their clients, cutting through bureaucratic red tape, celebrating accomplishments and encouraging them through struggles. CSC’s typical emergency assistance to prevent eviction is $400-700, a drop in the bucket compared to the $3,000 a month that social services pays to house a homeless family for a single month. The need for eviction prevention is clear and CSC provides a very economical approach to the problem. Since CSC relies solely on private fundraising, donations from individuals, businesses and civic organizations (like NBMV Rotary) are counted on to fund its operations. As a founding organization of CSC, we have a seat on the Board of Directors and Paul Fournier represents NBMV Rotary on the Board. Click on the link above for more information on how to donate or become a volunteer. Karen and Paul are pictured below.
