Opening and Welcome - President Jay Paulus
President Jay thanked the club for letting him play hooky for the past few weeks. He said he brought back some items from Iceland and Scotland that would be auctioned to benefit the club in the near future. During their cruise Jay asked the Pursers office if they would schedule a Rotary meeting during the cruise. When it was announced, Jay was pleasantly surprised that several Rotarians from all around the world showed up for the meeting. He said it was interesting that even though so many differing countries and cultures were represented, they all talked about common challenges and hopes.
Jay reminded members that the current international theme is The Magic of Rotary. He said our current District Governor has a personal theme - Rotary Means Business. When members need a product or service, they are encouraged to find a Rotarian who can fill that need and are encouraged to make word-of-mouth about good experiences they have when using products and services offered by Rotarians.
Jay recited the Rotary Vision Statement:
TOGETHER, we see a world
where PEOPLE unite and take action
to CREATE lasting CHANGE
across the globe, in our communities
and in ourselves.
He then reminded members of Mesa West Rotary Club's core values - Transforming Communities, Creating Opportunities/ Impacting Youth.
Harry Grossman led the Pledge of Allegiance and Ted Williams offered the invocation. Jay shared a thought for the day - a quote from Lawrence Lovasik - which he learned about on the cruise:
"Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word to them. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought of them. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!"
Introduction of Guests
- Fabrice was introduced as a guest of Jay Paulus. Fabrice was a Rotary Youth Exchange student in 2017. He has recently earned his Master's Degree and came back to Arizona to visit for a couple of weeks. He was very happy to be at the meeting and invited members to visit him on Africa's Ivory Coast. He thanked everyone for their hospitality and said he was honored to be at the meeting.
- John Bunyard was introduced by Past President Colleen as the husband of member Connie Bunyard, and a facilitator of Mesa Leadership. John said that being known as Connie's husband is something he is accustomed to after 45 years of marriage.
- Lisa Grant, McKay Smith and Beatriz Lopez were introduced from Mesa Public Schools. They would be participating in the program later in the meeting.
- Justin Hart from Just In Time Moving was introduced. It was his second time to visit Mesa West Rotary. He said he enjoys how welcoming everyone is and appreciates that we have programs which impact people's lives directly. The impression was given that he might fill out a membership application in the near future.
- It was noted that Allan and Polly Cady, Deb and Ed Koeneman and Jeanie Morgan were all attending via Zoom. Ed shared that his knee surgery August 9 was successful. He was only in the hospital one day, and was at home resting. He said the pain was subsiding and his range of motion was improving daily. He said the Interact officers at Westwood High School had their first meeting August 7. They started back to School August 1. There would be a club fair the week of August 12 and the Interact Club had Rotary Magazines to give out to attract new Interact members. They are looking forward to the Interact Fall Leadership Conference in a few weeks and RYLA coming up in January.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck said we now have a new deck with 53 cards which includes one joker since Ed Koeneman had drawn the Ace of Clubs, winning $791 dollars at the August 1 meeting. Tickets are sold for $5 each with the sales proceeds being divided a third to the small weekly pot, a third to an accumulating large pot, and the final third to the club operating account. He asked Brian Harvey to draw the winning ticket which was held by guest, Fabrice. The $25 small pot was delivered to Fabrice. After he shuffled the cards face down, the card he drew was a red six.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms - Andy Bradford
- Kayla Mudge contributed. She was happy to have been to Africa with the Interact Crutches 4 Africa Ambassadors and happy to be at the meeting.
- Brian Harvey was happy to be at the meeting and pledged $100 toward his Paul Harris Fellow.
- Colleen Coons was happy to have so many guests who were key to the success of the McKinney Vento program initiated last year.
- Ted Williams was very happy to have his sons and his company, which is now theirs, featured in a magazine article. He said one of the photos showed an old white-headed fat guy and that was of him. The nicest thing they said about him was their description of his high integrity. He was honored to be remembered in that way restating that it was a value he not only expected of himself but of everyone who worked for him. He made a significant pledge to The Rotary Foundation, as well. He was also celebrating the birthday of the wife of one of his sons. They had adopted two little boys from Ethiopia and were back there for a visit.
- Jack Rosenberg pledged $100 to the Rotary International Disaster Relief fund to celebrate his 70th birthday August 12.
- Ray Smith contributed because he would be celebrating his 78th birthday August 9.
- Harry Grossman said that as a retired academician, he does a great deal of reading - about retirement, self improvement, etc. He had some recommended reading which he suggested to help with stress relief .Nixen - The Art of doing Absolutely Nothing by Olga Mecking.
- John Pennypacker contributed saying he would miss the August 15 meeting as he would be in Duck North Carolina fishing with his grandsons.
- Warren Williamson contributed. He said his wife Son Hee says she can tell him absolutely anything because she knows it won't go any further since he never listens to her. He said she struggles a big with pronunciation. She might say, "I see you have a cataract," and get a response, "No, I drive a Cadillac."
- Pam Cohen was happy to see so many guests at the meeting and happy that John and Justin were potential new members.
- Allan Cady pledged $5. He was happy that his grandson, Cameron, has received his next duty assignment. When he finishes in Pensacola he will be on the north island near San Diego for two years. Allan said Cameron is doing very well with the food the military provides. He has saved $30,000.
- Polly Cady also pledged $5. She said she and Allan had planned to attend the large San Diego Rotary Club, but decided to attend the Mesa West meeting via Zoom after realizing the program would be about our McKinney Vento program.
- Jay Paulus said Liz was not at the meeting because she was a board member of the EVIT Foundation and was at their meeting. Jay ledged $200 for the twin granddaughters they welcomed into their family the prior week.
Announcements
- Mesa West Rotary will be assisting the Red Cross in hosting a blood drive at the East Valley YMCA on August 27.
- The club's next board meeting will be held Tuesday, August 20 on Zoom. Only board members can vote, but all members are welcome to attend.
- August 29 will be a tour of the Arizona Natural History Museum. Members will see a back view of the museum with a briefing by their team about their strategic plan, bond issues, etc. A box lunch will be provided, so a head count is needed.
- September 11 is a National Day of Service remembering 9/11. The Rose Garden at MCC is one of the largest in the southwest. Mesa West volunteers will be working with volunteers from Tempe South Rotary. Jay is hoping representatives from Mesa Police and Fire will also help. Weeding, dead-heading, and general sprucing up is needed. Work will start on Saturday, September 7, continue on Wedenesday, the 11th and any remaining work will be done on Saturday the 14th.
- Rotarians are people "in the know." Jay encouraged anyone who is aware of an opportunity to serve to let him or any other club leader know.
Program - Colleen Coons - Mesa West Rotary Builds Bridges - McKinney Vento Program
CLICK HERE or on the image to see the slides Colleen shared during her presentation.
Our Mesa West Program, Rotary Builds Bridges is continuing this year. Highlights, from last year, we had 8 out of 9 graduating. Lisa Grant shared it is hopeful that our last student will graduate this year.
What is McKinney Vento? A federal program that was developed by Senator McKinney and Senator Vento in 1987 and signed by President Reagan to address homeless students and provide transportation and admission to their home school with the purpose to ensure graduation.
How is our Club engaged? Mesa West Rotary works with “homeless and unaccompanied” high school students. We will select up to 10 students this year who will receive a monthly stipend up to $100 per month for grades and effort and a Club mentor that works individually with a student to help them graduate. These students are all unique with individual challenges. Their Mentor will assist in guiding these students bridge them to Collegebound AZ, Helen’s Hope Chest, Compudopt, the Mesa Promise, TRVFA and all the other networks our Club has established. But most effective (as we have seen this past year) is the “caring” that the Mentor displays so each student will know they are not alone.
Justin was one of the first people Colleen met in her Mesa Leadership class last year. He had just graduated Mesa Leadership and was introduced to Mesa West Rotary Club. His interest in our Club started with Rotary Builds Bridges, McKinney Vento. Justin's family became homeless while he was growing up. He shared his path that he had dreamed would happen, such as playing football for college. Those dreams were shattered overnight when his mother lost housing. Quickly, priorities changed for Justin (HS student) and his future dream turned into trying to help his sisters and himself find shelter and food. Yuleidi Contreras, one of our students was quoted, “the monthly stipend allowed me to prioritize my school instead of work, without it, I had to focus on making what little money I could so I could eat.” Today, Justin Hart is a successful owner of JIT Moving in Mesa and certainly gives back to the community. However, he is now filling out an application to join our Club and has pledged $4000 to sponsor 4 students!!!