Welcome and opening of meeting - President Pam Cohen
Thought for the Day - President Pam
Pam opened the meeting with an unusual Thought for the Day. It seems October 13 is national M&M Day. She asked all the veterans to stand to be honored as she talked about a candy that was created for soldiers to enjoy. She wanted to honor them for their service. She hoped most, if not all of them, had the opportunity to enjoy M&M's while they served.
When Forrest Mars, Sr., Son of Mars candy founder Franc C Mars, was in Spain during the 1930's, he came across a candy being eaten by British volunteer soldiers taking part in the Spanish Civil War. It consisted of chocolate pellets with hard tempered chocolate shells - shells that kept the candy from melting. Mars used this candy as a model for M&M's, which he thought would be ideal to sell during the warmer months.
When Mars returned to the United States, he reached out to Bruce Murrie, son of William Murrie, an executive at Hershey. He thought there may be a shortage of chocolate as World War II started and that by partnering with Murrie it could be guaranteed that there would be no shortage of supplies for his candy. Murrie and Mars became partners, and the candy was named M&M's in their honor.
Jay Stuckey led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Diane Ware was thanked for serving as Greeter - welcoming visitors and guests as they arrived at the meeting.
Jeanie Morgan shared a Rotary Minute about Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). When she lived in Lake Havasu a student who was the daughter of one of Jeanie's co-workers attended RYLA as a sophomore. Jeanie knew she had fun at RYLA, but one day, when she was about to graduate, the student was in the bank waiting to see her mother. Jeanie invited her into her office and asked her if she felt like her RYLA experience had influenced her life since. After some thoughtful consideration, the student replied, "It's not like I returned from RYLA and decided I needed to find new friends, but I did start making better daily decisions using the skills I learned at RYLA. Gradually - over time - I gravitated to a different set of close friends. All my current friends have clear goals of where they want to go after high school. I cannot say the same for the crowd I was running with before. Some of them have already had babies. They all have reputations of regularly being drunk or high. I guess I have to say, RYLA did create a positive turning point in my life." This prompted others present at the meeting to share some RYLA moments. Mesa West has been very involved in RYLA Ponderosa.
Introduction of Guests
- Jay Stuckey introduced Gabby Turner who was attending her first meeting since being elected as a member of Mesa West.
- It was noted that Sue Gifford would be introduced later as our speaker from Child Crisis Center.
- President Pam introduced visiting Rotarians from Honolulu Sunset Rotary Club, Jim and Beth Hoban. They explained they had missed attending Mesa West the prior week as they had travelled to Tennessee to attend a wedding which was held in an old farmhouse. While there, they had the dubious pleasure of using porta-potties for their personal comfort needs.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
After Dick explained that the money taken in from raffle ticket sales is split three ways with 1/3 going to the club operating account, 1/3 going to the person holding the stub of the raffle ticket drawn, and 1/3 being added to the large pot. In addition to winning $30, the lucky ticket holder would have the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck. Should they draw a joker, they would get at extra $20. If they draw the Ace of Clubs, they would win the large pot which is now up to $262.00. Dick asked Gabby Turner to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Ed Koeneman. After shuffling the cards, the card Ed drew was the Jack of Hearts.
Happy Bucks - Ron Thompson
- Ron contributed first. He was happy to be back after missing a couple of meetings. He had missed those meetings because his mother-in-law had suffered a stroke. She is now back at home. Ron expressed appreciation for the prayers on her behalf offered by many members.
- Polly Cady was happy to have Sue Gifford at the meeting and very happy to finally get to meet Gabby Turner in person.
- Allan Cady to have remembered to donate his past Rotary Magazines thanks to regular encouragement from Ed Koeneman.
- Dick Myren continued his tradition of donating $2 thankful that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with Mesa West Rotary.
- Jack Rosenberg was happy to be seated next to his son, Frank. Ron wondered if Frank was equally happy to be next to his dad...
- Ed Koeneman indicated he was going to donate the $30 he won in the raffle to Interact. He said he would miss the next two meetings as he would be out of town.
- John Pennypacker shared a fun RYLA memory. One of the delegates was a very small, somewhat mousy, young lady was at first afraid to try the "trust fall." John would have wagered that if she did it once, she would want to do it again. John was right. She almost did a back flip the second time. After that, she was a leader rather than a follower.
- President Pam contributed remembering Ron Thompson making it up the climbing wall at RYLA, saying Ron was heavier then. The kids were able to catch him when he participated in the trust fall.
Announcements
- President Pam announced that former member Chris Krueger was in town on business, and would be at the Doubletree that afternoon at 4:00 for any members who could take the time to get to a central location to visit with Chris.
- Polly Cady announced the next Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) would be held in Laughlin, Nevada Saturday, November 19. The Clubs in Mohave County and along the Colorado River are very excited RLI is coming to them. For any members who want to travel to Laughlin for some Rotary-related educational tourism, all three sessions will be offered concurrently on that date.
- Polly also announced that the venue for the October 15 Member Matchup had to change from the Coons residence to President Pam's home. She said it was still possible to sign up to participate in the event and encouraged all members to consider attending and learning more about the various committees in Mesa West.
- Dave Brauchler reminded members of the October 15 opportunity to help move a pile of decorative rocks from a parking lot at the Mesa Y to where they were needed to upgrade the landscaping at the facility. Dave reported that our member and Y Manager, Greg Bouslog would make arrangements to have appropriate equipment on site to work with.
- President Pam said the outreach coordinator at the House of Refuge community invited Mesa West to participate in their Halloween Trunk or Treat event to be held Friday, October 28. Pam will don a costume, decorate her car and have candy available in the trunk. She hopes at least one additional Mesa West vehicle will be present to participate. The community is located near the Gateway Airport. There are 80 families in the community with about 150 children living there.
Program - Sue Gifford - Child Crisis Arizona
John Pennypacker introduced Sue Gifford. She brings a lot of talent to her position as Director of Individual and Legacy Gifts for Child Crisis Arizona (CCA). With more than 30 years of customer relations and twelve years of fundraising experience, Sue has helped contribute to the philanthropic efforts and expansion of Child Crisis Arizona since 2018.
Sue directs major and legacy gift efforts by working closely with donors and connecting people to their philanthropic goals. Prior to moving to Arizona, Sue worked with donors at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine to raise funds for a state of the art Med School expansion campaign for Clark Retirement Community Foundation that resulted in raising $0M.
Sue holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science/International Studies from Aquinas College, is a graduate of Landmark International's Curriculum of Living Program, a Certified Fund Raising Executive, member of the Greater Arizona Association of Fundraising Professionals, Planned Giving Round Table and alumnus of Scottsdale Leadership Class 33. She is also an active volunteer.
The Mission of Child Crisis Arizona is to provide children and youth in Arizona a safe environment, free from abuse and neglect, by creating strong and successful families. Their vision - "Safe Kids. Strong Families."
For forty-five years, they have been responding to community need to prevent and intervene in cases of child abuse or neglect and to strengthen families. They provide both Prevention and Intervention Programs.
Intervention can include emergency shelter for children and youth with 24/7 care in a home-like setting. The children receive medical screenings, counseling, behavioral health support, educational support and activities for foster children in Maricopa County. They now serve both children and youth. In FY2022, Arizona Department of Child Safety reports there are currently 12,604 children and youth are in out-of-home care.
There are long term foster care services for teenage boys ages 10-17. For youth ages 16-21, who will be aging out of the foster care system, there are transitional housing, educational support, job placement, and life-skills training available.
The license and certify parents for foster care and adoption for children from the state child welfare system.
They serve single and two-parent families of all religious beliefs, ethnicities and sexual orientations, and have the Human Rights Campaign Seal of Recognition.
They have a 3% disruption rate, which is far below the national average of 12%. Disruption occurs when a child is removed unexpectedly from a foster home.
Prevention is achieved through no-cost resources, now online, for families through different parenting classes, workshops, support groups and quarterly family events. CCA partners with over 20 nonprofits to meet families where the need is, remove transportation barriers and time constraints. They focus on improving the security and well-being of families.
They offer free programs for relatives and foster and adoptive family caregivers. Arizona has more than 198,000 "kinship care" who are caring for one or more related children.
Early education services provided by CCA include Early Head Start (ages 1-3), Head Start (ages 3-5) and Child Crisis Arizona Preschool (ages 4-5). They serve families 100-200% below Federal Proverty Rate in Mesa and Phoenix. Early Head Start requires 25% philanthropic support. 611 individuals are served through that program. The Child Crisis Arizona Preschool relies on 100% philanthropic support for the 108 individuals served. There were 30 preschool graduates in 2022.
Evan Komar and his brother were placed in an emergency shelter when they were 8 and 6 years old, after being in several foster homes. The brothers and a sister were adopted by a loving family through Child Crisis Arizona. CLICK HERE to view a YouTube video of Evan telling their story at a pre-COVID Lunch for Love.
Coming soon in Mesa is a New Child & Family Wellness Campus. CLICK HERE to see the slides Sue shared. The final slides effectively highlight the growing needs this center will enable their organization to serve.
