Jason Slama opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and invocation.

 

Our guests today were: Don Craighead, former Roseville Rotarian and now E-Club member; Reed Hewitt, Executive Director at Innsbruck Care Center and Nicole Ulrich from the Innsbruck Foundation and the New Brighton Lions;  and Solomon Gustavo, a writer from Lillie Suburban News, was also visiting.

 

President Gerry Tietz reminded us that next week we will welcome our District Governor, Kyle Haugen.  DG Haugen will meet with the Board at 11AM and also speak to us at our noon meeting.  All Breakfast and Lunch Club members are strongly encouraged to attend this meeting.

 

Cindy Carlson presented the idea that we designate Life Prep Academy as a “Fund a Cause” beneficiary for our upcoming Gold Plate Dinner.

 

President-Elect John Marg Patton announced that new member Dennis Connolly will be taking the reins of our Homeless Youth Initiative to free up Garry Johnson to have a more active role in the Membership Committee.

 

Jim Kadechka is the proud grandpa of Leah Amelia Peterson.  Leah is daughter Nikki’s second child and Jim’s third grandchild.  Congrats, Jim.

 

Jason Miller reminded us that the club is offering double Rotary Foundation points for contributions to Polio Plus during November and December.  See John Ordway for details.

 

Jason Slama introduced or speaker, Karen Kotch, Executive Director of Help at Your Door.  The charitable organization, formerly known as Store to Door, provides an array of services to help keep seniors and people with disabilities in their homes.  Help at Your Door accomplishes this by providing grocery assistance, home support (like cleaning and minor repairs) and transportation services. Volunteers also provide companionship and emotional support with phone calls and visits.  One measure of their success is that they currently have seven clients over 100 years old who are still in their homes.  Services are provided on a sliding fee scale determined by ability to pay, and every client pays something, even if it’s not very much.  The organization serves over 15,000 people each year, so there are many opportunities for volunteers to participate in their mission.  Although most of their services are delivered in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, their service area is the seven county metro area.  They receive funding primarily from donations and Minnesota Medicaid’s Elderly Waiver program.  For more information about the organization, or to volunteer, check out the website here.  Karen and Jason are shown below.