President Chris Krueger opened the meeting by asking Wendell Jones to offer the invocation and Bob Zarling to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Recognizing that everyone had recently celebrated St. Patrick's Day, Ray Smith led everyone present in singing My Wild Irish Rose. Chris thanked Steve Ross for serving as our official greeter welcoming Rotarians and guests to the meeting.
Guests
Erwin and Joan Reiman from Rapid City, South Dakota were guests, but stated that since they are now in Arizona longer than any other one place, they have started the paperwork to make Mesa West their home club. Ric was visiting again from Alaska, Dan was visiting from Washington State, and Adam was visiting form California Wine Country.
Drawings
On the third and final draw, President Chris's badge number was drawn making her the weekly $5 winner. Chuck Flint announced that the small raffle pot was $30 and the large accumulating pot is now up to $695. Steve Ross was holding the winning ticket which had been purchased by the three amigos, Frank Rosenberg, John Benedict and Steve Ross, who pool their money to buy tickets and share any winnings. After accepting the $30 winnings, Steve shuffled the remaining cards in the deck and attempted to draw the ace of clubs, but drew the eight of spades instead.
Happy Bucks
Greg Okonowski arrived barely in time to cover his Sgt. at Arms duties. He immediately fined himself $100 to go to his Paul Harris recognition for being late. Wendell Jones paid sad dollars because Carolyn, his better 90%, had recently fallen and broke her hip. Following surgery she is in a care center where they say her rehabilitation is going better than expected. Lola McClane had expressed surprise at Greg's self-imposed late fine, and Don LaBarge explained that it wasn't a problem for him because there are no poor insurance men. Don paid happy dollars for a recent visit with an aunt who lives in Florida and still calls him Donny. Don felt like he had visited the Golden Girls set because he said the aunt had invited all her female friends in the area to drop by to meet her handsome young nephew. Happy dollars were paid for the Rotarians who helped with the service project at the House of Refuge - among them, Tom, Chris and Mike. Bob Zarling didn't paint. He was busy prepping 60 pounds of cabbage for a Saint Patrick's Day dinner at his community. Ed Koeneman was so glad to be visiting Mesa West during his spring break that he pledged $100 to the Mesa West Foundation to be used for scholarships. Jim McGown was happy to contribute for the fun he enjoyed as a driver of unique high-end cars at the Mecham Auto Auction. Dan Coons was happy to report that it pays to host a Rotary Youth Exchange student. His wife had been involved in a minor accident at the high school. Caio, who witnessed the accident was able to identify the person who had caused the accident, saving the Coons family the $1,000 deductible to get their car fixed. Jack Rosenberg contributed for being proud of his granddaughter, Sammi, who was scheduled to perform at the Phoenix Children's Choir Gala Saturday night. President Chris contributed the $5 she had won to the Sponsorship Program to go to her team's credit. She arrived at the service project in time to clean the paint brushes. She was very proud of her youngest granddaughter who was selected to be a representative at a prestigious international health event.
Announcements
Rotary District 5495 will host the Club Leadership Academy (CLA) Saturday, April 27. Members who attend will be reimbursed by the club. CLICK HERE to register.
Spring Olympics will be held the evening of April 27 at John and Jane Benedict's home
The team competition season in gathering sponsors and pledges for the Sponsorship Program has been extended through April 30.
The Steak and Beans Sponsorship Campaign celebration event will be held Saturday, May 11 at the home of Chris and Mike Krueger.
Members who want to know where they stand with Paul Harris recognition can check through "My Rotary" on-line at the RI website or with Chuck Flint.
President Chris reminded members that they can still claim 2018 Arizona Tax Credit for donations made to The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona if their donation is made on or before April 15, 2019. To donate on-line, go to donate.trvfa.org.
Program
Don LaBarge introduced Dan Lovelace, a former law enforcement officer, who he had invited to speak to our club. Following an event in 2002 that changed Dan's life forever, he worked for Don until 2008. Dan spoke at Mesa West in 2004, and after the two of them had lunch recently, Don thought members would enjoy hearing about how Dan has worked to overcome the overwhelming adversity he experienced and how he is now working to help others.
In beginning his presentation to the club, Dan first expressed his appreciation for the chance Don had given him by inviting him to work for him as his safety officer, and for the friendship extended to him by the entire LaBarge family. He said if you ever wonder how to help someone experiencing adversity, he said that being present as a friend is probably the most important thing you can do.
When the life-changing event happened, a decision he made intuitively in a split second started a chain of events he could not control. Support systems he thought he could count on evaporated. He was a newlywed. He lost sleep. He lost 40 pounds. He was lucky his wife gave unfailing support. Her love and the safe-place work environment provided by Don and his family were literally life-saving. He had PTSD, was very depressed and borderline suicidal. He experienced flashbacks.
One day his wife visited him at work and gave him a gift of a baby bottle. Confused at first, inside the bottle was a pregnancy test verifying the fact that a baby was on its way into their life. Dan said that promise of new life brought hope back into his life, giving something to live for. On the anniversary of the horrible event, in late 2003, the miracle of his daughter's birth occurred.
After the nightmare of legal proceedings and publicity finally ended in 2004, Dan was finally able to process information relating to and and grieve for the other victim in the incident. He was able to understand that she had been an addict for a long time, experiencing her own pain and adversity. He wishes someone could have and would have been there for her like his wife and the LaBarge family had been for him. Nobody did help her.
Eventually, he moved on from his employment with Don. After some relatively short term positions, he went back to school. He graduated from Grand Canyon University where he studied forensic psychology. Combined with his prior education in sports medicine, he chose to work with athletes at risk for criminal behavior. Many of our best athletes come from inner city crime areas. Many sports involve aggression and violence and he wanted to try to avoid at-risk athletes having aggression and violence spill over into their private lives.
When studying for his masters, he wrote several papers about athletes, addicts and disorders that result in a pain and fear cycle. He has also explored a business application for his knowledge to help business professionals manage professional burnout, using forensic psychology to improve their quality of life. He is the co-author of a program, Preparing to Prevent - Situational Awareness. In that program factors that lead to mass shootings are explored. Guns make big news, but suicide kills more every year. Social media awareness is also part of this study. He hopes to help bridge the relationship gap between cops and kids. He would like to see law enforcement help at risk athletes.
Dan stated we cannot undue things we've seen, but we can change what we do. We can make new memories. He is not hiding from his past. He wants to understand the problems that exist, exploring the correlation between "suicide by cop" and "cop suicide." He is trying to find a PhD program where he can combine his interest in both law and psychology. On a personal level, he does work to support officers - especially when they seek him out.
One of the lessons learned was that the best way to relieve the personal pain is through finding the capacity to forgive. He said it took about ten years for him to forgive those who he felt abandoned him. He also stressed the importance of fiercely applying the burden of integrity. You don't always get what you want, but with integrity, you do get to keep who you are.
Donors appreciate that all their donation will be used for good rather than support event costs.
Opportunity for both private and business donors to support our causes.
Past and potential members can support what we do even though they don't currently have time to participate as members.
MOST OF THESE DONORS WILL SUPPORT THE SAME CHARITIES EACH YEAR IF/WHEN ASKED.
One successful sponsorship program is the foundation for annual campaign successes.
Successful sponsorship programs are annual programs that take advantage of the needs of all types of donors. Our sponsorship program will be at its best when all of our members get involved by sharing their "Rotary Moments" with the people they come in contact with.
What is a "Rotary Moment?" It is any moment that grabs our heart and makes us want to enthusiastically tell our family friends and business associates why we are active Rotarians. Typically it involves a service project we've participated in. Sometimes it is something like polio eradication - especially for Rotarians who are old enough to remember when polio was epidemic in the United States. We are most effective when talking to potential sponsors if our Rotary experience is shared in a way that is personal, heartfelt and sincere.
In our sponsorship brochure there are several specific ways to direct donations, but we will have the greatest capacity to respond to needs presented to the Mesa West Foundation for funding if the majority of donations are received marked "Undesignated (to be used most needed)."
Allan Cady, said that members have asked him how he was so successful last year, and already this year in securing donations or pledges. When he reaches out to those he knows have the means to be generous, he spends some time on their existing relationship, catching up on what is happening in their family, their business, and their known hobbies. Then he moves on to talk about some of the things he is passionate about, ending with the things he enjoys most about his involvement in Rotary. It frequently results in the person he is talking to indicating that they are impressed with all that Rotary does and admire his involvement. It is then easy to offer to share a brochure that tells about some things we, as Mesa West Rotarians, specifically do. Some offer to make a donation on the spot. Sometimes it is a pleasant surprise after-the-fact to see how much they mail in after looking the brochure over. Some of his donors are family - others are long-time business associates or friends. The people who are closest to us are the ones most likely to support what we care about. CLICK HERE or on the image to download this year's Sponsorship Brochure.
Some ideas of potential donors each of us can reach out to are: school associates ♦ other professionals ♦ adult friends of our young children ♦ old business associates ♦ people frequently seen ♦ owners of our health club ♦ old neighbors ♦ children's school and PTA ♦ spouse's friends ♦ waiters/waitresses ♦ church associates ♦ cleaning establishments ♦ civic activities ♦ hair/barber salon ♦ insurance agent ♦ previous job ♦ real estate agents ♦ bankers or credit union ♦ doctor ♦ dentist ♦ restaurants ♦ country club ♦ neighbors ♦ relatives ♦ sports/hobbies ♦ accountant.
TEAMS
Chuck Flint
Melodie Jackson, Aubrey Luma, Steve West, Sharon Spane, Ted Williams, Darl Andersen, Karen Chavez, and Immanuel Beeson
Frank Rosenberg
Rick Deponte, Dick Myren, Polly Schumacher, Daryl Bethea, Keith Deering, Robert LaBarge, and Kristen Klein
Steve Ross
Bob Jensen, Jim McGown, John Benedict, Donna Goetzenberger, Don LaBarge, Jim Crutcher, Bert Millett, and Mai Ly Duong
Tim Troy
Kevin Gustafson, Jack Rosenberg, Don Boucher, John Bethea, Brian Harvey, Mike Whalen, and
Mike Polley
Dan Coons - Team Ribeye
Wendell & Carolyn Jones, Aaron Huber, Jim Schmidt, Ray Smith, Polly Cady, John Pennypacker, and Colleen Coons
Terry Diedrick
Kurt Klingenberg, Chris Krueger, Jeanie Morgan, Geoff White, Lucinda General, Wayne General, and Erica Williams
Bob Zarling
Pam Cohen, Ed Koeneman, Greg Okonowski, Alex Cohen, Shane Buntrock, Warren Williamson, and
CLICK HERE or on the image to view a video that will create understanding about why our President, Chris Krueger is passionate about wanting to support Aqua Africa with a first-time Arizona awareness and fund-raising event during her presidential year.
$24 is all it takes to provide one person with safe water
23 million people now have safe water because of Rotary
21 million people have access to sanitation and hygiene thanks to Rotary projects
2030 is the year Rotary hopes to finish providing everyone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene
CLICK HERE to view a short video with more information about the importance to all of us in making clean water and sanitation available to everyone on our planet.
President Chris Krueger opened the meeting by asking Wendell Jones to offer the invocation and Bob Zarling to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Recognizing that everyone had recently celebrated St. Patrick's Day, Ray Smith led everyone present in singing My Wild Irish Rose. Chris thanked Steve Ross for serving as our official greeter welcoming Rotarians and guests to the meeting.
CLICK HERE.jpg)
$24 is all it takes to provide one person with safe water
