https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3748672091
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210 United States of America
Our hybrid meetings are held weekly on the 1st thru 4th Thursdays of each month. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to include all, whether attending virtually or in person.
Since the District Conference originally planned for our district was cancelled because of the COVID pandemic, our District Leaders searched for something to replace it that would be fun - but - more important, make a difference.
Rotary District 5495 is launching a huge media campaign - ROTARY WEEK OF SERVICE - to bring attention to the good Rotary does in the communities in our state. District leaders in the state have contracted with a web service called GivSum to have a virtual platform where all clubs in Arizona have a chance to highlight their club and one or more Rotary Week of Service projects.
We would like to have most of our members sign up so they can show as members on our Mesa West page within the GivSum site. To Sign up and add your information, CLICK HERE to go to the Mesa West site. In the top right corner, you will see a small gray cameo type image (next to the doors). When you click on that image, it will give you an opportunity to "sign in" or "sign up." Near the bottom of that page, you will see the profiles of Mesa West members who have already added their profiles.
The Mesa West of Service project has been scheduled for April 17th 9 am - Noon at Church of the Master Presbyterian Church - Memorial Hall 6659 E University Dr. Mesa AZ.
Activity: Assemble shower kits and helping hands kits for later distribution
We are partnering for this project with the Gilbert Club so click on the following link which will take you to the Gilbert Club's volunteer page:
After you reach the page, just click on "Volunteer for Kit Assembly," which is in a navy blue text box just under the project banner.
To download a flyer about the project, CLICK HERE. Participating in our Rotary Week of Service counts toward our club's goal for District Conference attendance.
President Dan Coons opened the meeting by introducing himself and reciting the 2020-21 Rotary International theme - Rotary Opens Opportunities. He then 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
Invocation - Dick Myren
Leacing the Pledge of Allegiance - Steve Ross
Introduction of Guests
Melodie Jackson introduced her husband, Randy Jackson
Frank Rosenberg introduced Dave Brauchler, a visiting Rotarian who now lives in the area and is looking for a new Rotary Club to join.
Chris Krueger introduced Logan Harper a purchaser for Freeport McMoRan who was visiting for the second week in a row.
Ray Smith introduced Jeanne Crouse, a former member of the Mesa Baseline Rotary Club and looking to get back into Rotary.
Attending via Zoom were two familiar faces Ed Koeneman and Andrea Murphy. Ed announced that he is getting involved in a start-up business and will soon be leaving GCU behind, which means we should see a lot more of him in the near future. Lola McClane said "Hey! Hi! Ho! and introduced speaker Mary Lou Brncik with David's Hope. Juli Kelly echoed Lola's greeting.
Rotary Minute - Jeanie Morgan - The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do
In 1932, Herbert John Taylor was hired to try to rescue a cookware company out of bankruptcy following the depression. He felt like they could survive if they differentiated their company from their competition if they could truthfully market themselves as a company with integrity. He crafted a simple measuring stick of ethics for employees of the struggling company to memorize. Before asking them to do so, he practiced using it himself for a brief period and found that he needed to rewrite some letters before sending them, and rewrite some advertising material. He didn't want to ask his employees to live up to a standard he didn't strive to live up to himself. His plan was successful. Some members may remember Club Aluminum cookware being used in their family kitchens. Eleven years later, in 1943, The Four Way Test was adopted as one of Rotary's guiding principles.
FIRST Is it the truth?
SECOND Is it fair to all concerned?
THIRD Will it build good will and better friendship?
FOURTH Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Taylor became Rotary International's 44th president, and championed the code in all aspects of life. He felt strongly that if we applied the Test to our relations with youth, we would all become more determined to give as much as possible of our time. The Rotary Club of Fort Collins, Colorado did that. The club has introduced the principles to tens of thousands of public school students since the mid 1990's bringing Rotary into the classrooms to facilitate honest discussion about how the test can help solve personal predicaments. Speech teachers enthusiastically welcomed the program helping write scenarios - ethical challenges - for the youth, and tapping input from the students, as well.
Jeanie added an editorial comment. She believes many young people with political aspirations take speech and debate classes. She thought it might be beneficial to follow the lead of the Fort Collins' club by introducing those students to The Four Way Test while they are still impressionable.
Ace of Clubs Raffle is back - Chuck Flint
As members and guests arrive, they can purchase tickets for $5 each. If their ticket is drawn, they automatically win 1/3 of what was taken in in ticket sales. 1/3 of the ticket sales goes into the club treasury, and the last 1/3 increases the amount of accumulated potential winnings. The lucky ticket holder also wins a chance to draw from a deck of cards. If they draw a joker, they win an additional $20. If they draw the Ace of Clubs, they win the accumulated winnings of $1,302. Any other card drawn is destroyed. Chuck always looks for someone honest to draw the winning ticket and chose Robin Harris to do the honors. The ticket drawn belonged either to Melodie Jackson or her husband, Randy. Randy let Melodie take responsibility for drawing the card. She drew the 8 of Diamonds. On the 15th, the potential winnings will be bigger and the odds of drawing the Ace of Clubs a little bit better. In any case, the club always wins.
Auction of Tazmanian Travel Treasure - Ted Williams
Ted has held onto this treasure for a long time while we were meeting via Zoom because of COVID. They had travelled to Australia to enjoy a visit with the family of Craig and Sue Owen, Mesa West Rotary Club's first Rotary Youth Exchange Student form Port Arthur. While there, they visited Tazmania. It has been a long tradition in Mesa West that members bring back gifts from their travels to auction at a meeting for fun and to benefit the club treasury. There was no way to know what they were bidding on. The bag that contained the treasurer was quite small. After some competitive bids were exchanged, Chris Krueger prevailed with a $55 bid.
The treasure that she won with her high bid had a story behind it. It was a pendant necklace crafted by a local artist using ashes from their own burnt home as part of the media for the beautiful keepsake.
Announcements
Jack Rosenberg announced that his kiln has been operating 24 hours a day for a week and a day since the team of Rotarians and friends installed it for him.
Dan Coons noted that Andrea Murphy and Bob Zarling had joined those attending via Zoom.
District Governor Elizabeth Mahoney will be making her official visit to Mesa West Rotary via Zoom on Thursday April 22. Members are urged to attend in person or via Zoom to support the great job she has done leading District 5495 during a very difficult year.
Chris Krueger made a very happy announcement. The global grant initiated by Mesa West Rotary to participate with Buey Tut and Aqua Africa in a much-needed water project in South Sudan has been approved by The Rotary Foundation. Buey will be travelling to Arizona and will be presenting a program about the project at our May 13 meeting.
Shelly Romine reminded members of the Rotary Week of Service project packing shower kits to be used by the Homeless at Paz de Cristo. see details about the project in a separate article in this newsletter.
John Pennypacker was wearing a Rotary Week of Service t-shirt and had two additional shirts with him which he gave to Shelly Romine and Jeanie Morgan thanking them for all they do for the club. He also announced that he had been successful in getting Mesa Rotary Club President Ben Yanofsky, DGN Larry Horton, Priscilla (from the Mayor's office), Mayor John Giles, and MWR President Dan Coons together for a photo op when the Mayor signed the Proclamation declaring April 17-24 Rotary Week of Service in Mesa. CLICK HERE or on the image of the Mayor to see a video that was recorded following the photo-op. None of the Rotarians present for the photo were aware of the story about Rotary and Mesa that the Mayor tells in the video. CLICK HERE to see an image of the proclamation.
Happy Dollars - Greg Okonowski
Warren Williamson contributed and pointed out the US Constitutions on the table, which were a gift from Son Hee.
Robin Harris contributed as hepointed out that as a new member it is challenging to get to know everyone. He said the photo directory would be more helpful if twenty-five members who do not have photos in the directory would log into the club website and upload their photo into their profile. CLICK HERE to check the photo directory to see if yours is one of the missing photos.
John Pennypacker pledged $100 to the sponsorship program to celebrate his own birthday and deny the fact that he is old enough to have a 50-year-old son (who also recently had a birthday).
Wendell Jones pledged $100 to announce that he will marry his new sweetheart, Sandra Anderson, on June 11.
Guest, Jeanne Crouse fondly remembered Rotarian Herb Ash. He was like everyone's uncle. At 83 he lost his wife. He moved out of state but stayed in Rotary. At age 90 Herb served as President of his new club. She recently learned that Herb has passed away at 98.
Dick Myren contributed $20 announcing he was glad to be at the old men's table.
Penny May contributed because she was happy to say her storage unit was empty. She thinks she may have almost broke the Sunshine Acres van.
Frank Rosenberg contributed because he was happy to be meeting in person and also happy he would be getting to fly a new airplane over the weekend.
Jim Schmidt asked to be billed $10.00 - he was happy to see Jeanne Crouse again.
Melodie Jackson contributed - she was happy to be back together with fellow club members.
Pam Cohen contributed - she enjoyed celebrating her Grandson Wilder's first birthday. The theme of Wilder's party was "Where the Wild Things Are."
Program - Mary Lou Brncik - with David's Hope - Reducing the number of people with mental illness who are incarcerated
Lola McLane introduced our speaker briefly, in the interest of time and let Mary Lou tell her own story. Mary Lou had been educated and worked as a nurse, but had not recognized signs that might have facilitated an earlier diagnosis for her son, David. David was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 23 when he became entangled with law enforcement and incarceration with very little help available. What her family experienced grew into a mission to make things better for her son and for countless others in similar circumstances.
The mission of David's Hope is to reduce the numbers of those with mental disorders and addictions who are incarcerated through Prevention, Intervention and Treatment.
There was very little help available. Circumstances varied greatly from state to state.
They have a coalition which holds open meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 10:00 AM via Zoom. Many law enforcement agencies endorse and support the mission. Information is available on the David's Hope Website.
Mary Lou said that the Mesa Police Department is awesome. One of their officers, Amanda Stamps trains other regions.
She said it is important to remember the mentally ill don't get a lot of attention unless they have an encounter with the criminal justice system. No-one is doing work-related access, but she said state Medicare is changing.
Those who are sick and are incarcerated come back in worse shape. than when they enter. Common sense solutions are needed, you can't punish mental illness out of someone.
There is some positive movement in a good direction. She spoke of the Stepping Up Initiative, and suggested anyone interested visit stepuptogether.org. It is a national initiative to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails.
She said all Arizona counties are signed on to this program. As this sort of knowledge, cooperation, and initiative progress, there will be improved outcomes. She said Arizona is becoming a leader in many related areas.
Chris Krueger asked what percentage of those who are incarcerated are mentally ill. Mary Lou responded that if you include those with addictions - and addiction is a mental illness - 80-90%.
Mental illness is a public health problem. Many homeless are in that situation because of their mental illness.
Lola asked at what age did they first suspect something was wrong with their son. Mary Lou said that because she was not versed in psychology, it was a few years after they realized he was different before they realized it was a problem. She said a common age for diagnosis is early 20's.
CLICK HERE to download the David's Hope brochure which was emailed to members prior to the meeting.
Last year Mesa West Rotary qualified to be the first club named on the travelling trophy to be awarded each year to the club in District 5495 providing the highest level of support for the End Polio Now program of The Rotary Foundation (TRF). As of April 1, we were in third place in District 5495.
What many may not know - because we get so much information that we fail to absorb much of it - is that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match donations to End Polio Now with $2 for every $1 donated.
You can CLICK HERE to donate online through your "My Rotary" account. If you are intimidated by that, you can EMAIL JEANIE to ask her to invoice you now for a donation. Once the payment for your invoice is deposited, she will transfer the donation to RI in your name.
Foundation Chairman Chuck Flint has offered to use some of his accumulated recognition points to increase Mesa West support of The Rotary Foundation. For the foreseeable future, he will match donations, in $100 increments two for one. If you donate $100, he will transfer $200 in recognition points to your account. Whether you are striving to receive your first Paul Harris Fellow or striving to reach the next level, this is a great way to move that achievement closer.
You can donate through your "My Rotary" account on the RI website.
Rotary Direct is the best way to establish a habit of regularly supporting the Rotary Foundation with minimal effort. CLICK HERE to learn more about Rotary Direct. CLICK HERE to download a form to sign up for Rotary Direct.
If you have questions about Chuck's offer - CLICK HERE to send him an email.
You might want to CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story. The Arizona Department of Revenue has announced that 2020 tax credit donations can be made through May 17.
Requests for vocational education grants from TRVFA are higher than ever experienced in the past. Fundraising is also growing, but not quite at the same rapid pace. Your help is needed.
Support of TRVFA is not limited to Rotarians. Tell you friends, family, and associates about this tax credit donation opportunity.
Donations to TRVFA will literally change someone's life forever. CLICK HERE to go directly to the on-line donation page for The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona.
If you've already made your 2020 tax credit donation, it's not too early to start accruing for 2021.
Invocation - Dick Myren
Auction of Tazmanian Travel Treasure - Ted Williams
John Pennypacker pledged $100 to the sponsorship program to celebrate his own birthday and deny the fact that he is old enough to have a 50-year-old son (who also recently had a birthday).
Program - Mary Lou Brncik - with David's Hope - Reducing the number of people with mental illness who are incarcerated
Last year Mesa West Rotary qualified to be the first club named on the travelling trophy to be awarded each year to the club in District 5495 providing the highest level of support for the End Polio Now program of The Rotary Foundation (TRF). As of April 1, we were in third place in District 5495.
Foundation Chairman Chuck Flint has offered to use some of his accumulated recognition points to increase Mesa West support of The Rotary Foundation. For the foreseeable future, he will match donations, in $100 increments two for one. If you donate $100, he will transfer $200 in recognition points to your account. Whether you are striving to receive your first Paul Harris Fellow or striving to reach the next level, this is a great way to move that achievement closer.
