Club Business
President Mary Thomas Gilbert brought the meeting to order. Brooke Carpenter led us in prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the US flag. Mary Thomas shared a couple of interesting quotes. My favorite:
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. – Albert Einstein
Don’t forget to mark your calendar. We hope for a great turnout at the next Packathon.
Freebird McKinney, our newest member, was with us today. Welcome to the club!
Susan Watson said that the Women’s Resource Center’s fund raiser last week was a great success. Freebird McKinney was the keynote speaker. Our esteemed and much beloved secretary, Carolyn Rhode, was recognized as the Founder’s Award recipient. Congrats!
President Mary Thomas Gilbert commented that our district’s Foundation banquet was also a big hit, thanks largely to the efforts of DG Randy Perkins and Foundation Chair Larry Lassiter.
Next week David Moore will provide the program.
Click here to see all scheduled program dates and responsibilities.
November Birthdays and Anniversaries
2 | Frank Longest | 5 | Trip and Caroline Durham |
6 | Katie Dukeshire | 8 | Frank and Lee Longest |
10 | Bonnie Whitaker | 11 | Jim and Gayle Cartner |
18 | Mikie and Christine Morrison |
Happy Dollar Announcements
- Dan Seiler paid a dollar to add his congratulations and a hug to Carolyn.
- Dick O’Donnell said that Mary Thomas and Tracey Taylor did a fantastic job on the Foundation banquet centerpieces, which they graciously loaned to Dick for another function. MTG said that we will keep them in storage in case we need them again.
- Randy Perkins also extended kudos to Carolyn. In addition he announced that the district recently selected Deborah Scott as the next District Governor Nominee Designate. She attends the Jonesboro Club, which meets in Sanford.
- Micah Fox recently attended Pigstock, a joint club Rotary fund raiser in Greensboro that featured BBQ and beer. Fifteen different teams prepared the food. It raised $27K for Children of Vietnam. Micah said next year they hope Alamance Rotary clubs will join them.
- Larry Lassiter commented that he was surprised that Randy was not introduced as a visitor, knowing how many times his District Governor duties has kept him out of our meetings.
Program: Larry Lassiter – Rotary Foundation District Chair
DG Randy Perkins introduced his friend and District 7690 Rotary Foundation Chair, Larry Lassiter, who is a past DG himself and a member of the Troy, NC Rotary Club.
Larry said he was excited to share about the Rotary Foundation and thanked each member of our club for his or her support. Since our club began 38 years ago, we have donated $240K to the Rotary Foundation (RF). Larry mentioned that RF’s mission is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. It operates in all six of Rotary’s focus areas.
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Promoting peace
Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
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Fighting disease
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
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Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.
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Saving mothers and children
Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
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Supporting education
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
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Growing local economies
We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
Fifty percent of the money our club gives to the RF annual fund comes back to the club after three years, half for district block grants and the other half for polio eradication, peace centers, local scholars, and global grants. There are six peace centers in the world. One is a collaboration between UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke. Five of these centers offer Master’s Degree programs. Locally, Rotary clubs have used these monies to support the joint club Rotary Reads program.
Conclusion
Sam Powell’s table held the winning ticket today, but, sadly and all too predictably, he failed to pick the winning Ace of Spades. Only 50 cards remain. Our odds will be slightly better next week. Mary Thomas led us in a recitation of Rotary’s four-way test before we adjourned. See you next time.