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Opening and Welcome - Pam Cohen filling in for President Jay Paulus She began by reminding everyone that this year's Rotary theme is "The Magic of Rotary." Pam mentioned that John Pennypacker had a health complication last week. She said the bad news is that they found a tumor in his head. The good news that the tumor is not cancerous. She was happy he was present at the meeting. She then Reviewed the Rotary Vision Statement, taking it apart a bit: Together, we see a world where people (doesn't say Rotarians - could be anyone) unite and take action to create lasting change (this is important, because united we can do so much more good) across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves. Introduction of Guests - Jessica Thumas was acknowledged as a guest who would be introduced later as the speaker. Pam added that the Program would be first on the agenda today due to a scheduling conflict for our speaker.
- Mark Newell was introduced as a guest and prospective member. Mark was happy to learn there were only a few more hours to wait until his application for membership would be officially approved.
- Ed Koeneman introduced Jazmine Camino as the incoming Westwood High School Interact Vice President as well as Interact District Assistant Governor.
- Colleen Coons introduced Braly who recently graduated from Westwood High School and is now a student at Benedictine University.
- Pai Bethea and Jeanie Morgan were attending via Zoom.
Program - Jessica Thumas - Compudopt Colleen Coons introduced the program saying that she and Ed Koeneman had the opportunity to visit the local Compudopt facility where they collect, refurbish and redistribut computers. Colleen introduced Jessica Thurman as someone who spent many years as a corporate travel agent before getting involved in nonprofit work. She is engaged, and has a furry daughter named Coco. Jessica said she is excited and looks forward to future collaborative efforts with Mesa West Rotary. They were glad to be a part of distribution of computers that were given. She very much enjoys non-profit work with the public and with vendors like St. Vincent de Paul and others. Jessica said Compudopt began in Houson over ten years ago. It began when an attorney in Texas learned that the computers in their firm which were being replaced during an upgrade were just going to be discarded. He thought, "What a waste!" His frustration about that waste resulted in the birth of a system where old laptops are refurbished, make like-new and offered with a warranty to those in need. CLICK HERE or on the photo above to visit their website. Millions of households do not have a laptop, internet service or both. Having available technology is essential in today's world. Family's without it have a very real barrier to effective parent/teacher communication. Compudopt wants to help families by distributing the refurbished laptops. Distirbutions are the heart and sole of what they do. In this day and age of technology, unfortunately, tech scams are also a big problem. Sometimes, Compudopt, has unfortunately been incorrectly associated with some of those scams. They ask for word-of-mouth referrals. They offer education programs from kindergarten to 12th grade. Childrfen love video games on their phones and on computers. They try to incorporate games in the training. When kids realize they can almost create their own video games, they might say, "I want to be a coder now." There are some free opportunities where trainees can learn to take apart - and put back together - a laptop, giving them a glimpse of various careers. This volunteer experience enables smarter career decisions. Compudopt is not nationwide yet, but that is their goal. They are always looking for partners for distribution sites. Their locations most from 50 to 500 giveaway events. The local unit has a connection with Mesa Public Schools and the library. They always have needs for volunteers from refurbishing to distributions. They need lots of hel. Jessica enjoys networking with community partners. Information is also available on their website. She thanked the club for the opportunity to share their message. Usually they only provide one computer per household, but do have the capacity to accommodate multiple students in the same household. The computers they distribute at this time are equipped with Windows 11. They are all less than three years old. Pam gave Jessica a gift of appreciation - a pen crafted in Keeper's Workshop. Acknowledgments Pam apologized to Allan Cady and Jim Erickson for forgetting to call on them to offer the invocation and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. She thanked - Dick Myren for handling sign-in.
- Andy Bradford for doing double-duty as Sgt at Arms as well as learning to handle the technology for the meeting
- Chuck Flint for handling the Raffle
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint Chuck announced that the holder of the ticket drawn would automatically win $25. They would also have the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck. Should they be so lucky they would win the accumulating big pot, which was up to $761. He looked for an honest face, and asked Polly Cady to draw the winning ticket. The stub of the ticket she drew was held by Deb Koeneman. Chuck said there were 29 cards remaining in the deck, including the Ace of Clubs and Joker. After shuffling the cards face down, the card Deb drew was NOT the Ace of Clubs. Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms - Andy Bradford  - Ed Koeneman was happy to have attended the Interact District Council retreat over the weekend. He said the only bad part of the weekend was the seven hours it took them to get back down I-17. His knee surgery is now scheduled for August 2. An administrative miscommunication caused the surgery to be postponed.
- Jazmine Camino was happy to be at the meeting and to have been at the Interact DC Retreat.
- Harry Grossman fined himself for failing to remove his name badge after the July 18 meeting. He contributed because he was happy the air conditioning in his Sedona condo has been fixed.
- Deb Koeneman was happy to have enjoyed a wonderful visit from their son. She and their daughter took James to the airport while Ed was in Prescott.
- Allan Cady was happy about the good news diagnosis about John Pennypacker.
- Polly Cady was happy Braly and Jazmine were both at the meeting. She and Allan had gone to Cottonwood to spend time with their New Zealand contact. They also had a long drive home because of the I-17 challenges. She was looking forward to RLI Session I to be held at the home of David Simmer in Flagstaff. On September 21, all three sessions of RLI will be offered at Thunderbird School of Global Management.
- Colleen Coons contributed to celebrate John's diagnosis. She was proud of Braly and thanked Jazmine for coming. Colleen was very happy that her son called and invited Colleen to attend Hamilton with him. She said her heart was really warmed by that invitation!
- John Pennypacker was happy to see everyone. He spent a frustrating night at Banner hospital Friday July 19 and checked himself out the morning of the 20th. He went to Barrow Monday. He met with people who could look at his brain (and, yes - he does have one). He was happy to report he has clearance for all his upcoming planned travel. He had not had any episodes since last Friday.
- Polo Santiago contributed saying he was happy about John's good news. He also thanked everyone who helped with the conversational English practice sessions. For their last night, they played board games.
- Jack Rosenberg announced that Frank Rosenberg had opened his medical practice July 24. The name of the practice is Tempe Primary Care.
- Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 - happy that he and Honorary Member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs. He was also happy the Ace is still in the deck.
- Ray Smith said his brother-in-law has authored a book - The Best Clean Jokes - and he gifted a coy of the book to Warren Williamson.
- Warren Williamson fined himself for missing the July 18 meeting. He told a story about old Mr. Parks who was a janitor at a dorm at a local college. The bathroom had one long wall with a row of sinks with a mirror brhind it. The girls would blot their lipstick on the mirror creating extra work for him. One day, when a bunch of the girls were near the bathroom, he invited them to come into the bathroom to see how much work it was to clean the lipstick off the mirror. He dipped a brush into one of the nearby toilets and started scrubbing. The problem with the lipstick on the mirror disappeared.
Announcements  Lu General is currently serving as Treasurer for our Rotary District. She recently invoiced all the clubs for their district dues. When she was on her 12th invoice, she was already receiving payment from the Rotary Club of Gilbert. She is also the District's representative to the Rotary International Council on Legislation. To illustrate some of the things she is exposed to, she told about a person who had been elected in the Phillipines. There were issues about that person/election referred to the Rotary Board of Directors. The board determined that the person should be "out" due to violations. That decision was appealed making it necessary for members of the COL to vote. She was provided with four documents from the board, the club, information about the original issue, information about the specific violations. The COL members have to review that information on face value because those that are directly involved are bot allowed to promote themselves or their perspective. Someone asked how she got such a great tan. She said it was a combination of her Italian heritage and olive oil.  John Pennypacker reported on the Zone DG meeting that was held July 24. He said our two zones lead the pack in donations to The Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus. Director Himelspach reported that the 2028 convention will not be held in Manilla as originally planned. John was pleased to announce that John Hewko has signed a new four-year contract to serve as the Rotary International Secretary-General. He plans to retire at the end of this new contract.  Chuck Flint shared a note of appreciation from Monique who had received a scholarship from Mesa West to study Veterinary Science at ASU. She said the scholarship was a great help with her studies. It enabled her to keep chasing her dreams despite her family's lack of income. Before adjourning, Lola MacLane led the Pledge of Allegiance and Allan Cady offered a benediction. |
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Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
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