Opening and Welcome - President Colleen Coons
President Colleen thanked:
- Mike Lutcher for offering the invocation
- Warren Williamson for leading the Pledge of Allegiance
- Steve Ross for serving as greeter
- Jeanie Morgan for handling check-in
- John Pennypacker for setting up the room
- Ron Thompson for serving as Sgt at Arms
- Dick Myren for handling the raffle
- Ed Koeneman for serving as master of technology
Introduction of Guests
- Ted Williams introduced his son Elijah Williams.
- Member Tim Troy who rarely gets to attend was seated next to and getting acquainted with new member Andy Bradford.
- Blaise Vitale, a visiting Rotarian from Minnesota introduced himself.
- President Colleen welcomed another new member, Justin Failner.
- One of our newest members, who has not yet been inducted, Shawn Buntin, was introduced and invited to share a little about himself. He was formerly in the Cottonwood Rotary Club and the Tyler Texas Rotary Club. He is a Funeral Director with Legacy Funeral Homes for their Chandler and Mesa locations. He has been married 36 years and has four sons.
- President Colleen took a moment to acknowledge our own Jim Schmidt who is in line to be District Governor in 2025-26. She thanked him for all the time and energy he is investing in preparing for that role.
- Seasonal visiting Rotarians Harry Short and Tom Yuzer were introduced.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Dick Myren
After announcing the small daily pot was $30 and the large accumulating pot was up to $281, Dick asked Elijah williams to draw the winning ticket. Ersin Reimann was the lucky winner of $30 plus the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the cards remaining in the deck. After shuffling the cards, the card Erwin drew was the Two of Diamonds.
Happy Bucks - Sgt at Arms Ron Thompson
- Dick Myren was the first to contribute, putting in his traditional $2 - happy that he and honorary member Rod Daniels are associated with the Ace of Clubs. He made an additional contribution to celebrate Iowa Hawkeyes' Caitlin Clark who is now officially the NCAA's Division I top scorer and one of the top women basketball players of all time. He also asked to be billed $100 for the sponsor program to celebrate his 88th birthday coming up March 12.
- Ed Koeneman contributed. He was happy about several youth services-related things.
- The 60th anniversary celebration of Westwood High School Interact Club which is sponsored by Mesa West Rotary Club.
- The Interact District Conference
- Cassandra from Westwood High School Interact is the District Governor of Interact this year. Ed said she did an excellent job leading the conference held March 2
- Cassandra was named a Paul Harris Fellow at the IDC.
- Ed was back from Georgia. He had a minor fender bender which extended his stay. James is already going to be deployed March 13 to central Europe.
- He hopes most members will plan to attend the Spring Olympics event at his and Deb's home Saturday, March 16.
- Warren Williamson - Since we won't meet again before St. Patrick's Day, he wanted to share an Irish story. The government sent an agent to deliver a package to an agent named O'Malley in a small Irish Village. He was instructed to say to O'Malley, "The shadows of the moon are getting darker." If O'Malley responds, "But the sun will guarantee the light," give him the package. As he approached the village, he saw a farmer and asked him for directions to find O'Malley. The farmer said that would be hard because about half of the town were named O'Malley - in fact, he was one of the many O'Malleys. The agent said, The shadows of the moon are getting darker." The farmer replied "Oh, you're looking for O'Malley the spy. He lives down by the church."
- Tom Yuzer ran into a high school student from St. Paul at Long Bow Golf Course. He remarked it was 3º at home and 75º in Arizona. Tom offered him some sun block saying he had seen sheets that weren't as white as the young student was.
- Pam Cohen was happy to be back, but didn't regret missing a couple of meetings. One week she was baby-sitting Wilder, her almost-four-year-old grandson. The next week she was in California watching the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds practice their aerial performances. She also reported that Chuck Flint is home and doing well and would be glad to have visitors.
- Don LaBarge was happy to report that his granddaughter who recently visited our club a couple of times would be moving to Arizona and living with them. So far, the only job she has lined up is to "wait on her grandpa.
- Tom Yuzer was happy that he and his wife Liz had enjoyed a pleasant "reunion of PDG's" at a dinner hosted by John Pennypacker.
- Harry Short contributed. He was happy and wanted to thank all the younger members who are still working and funding social security, saying it sure comes in handy.
- Ron Thompson contributed. His son had gone to Europe and left his two dogs with Ron and Toni. He seemed relieved the dogs would be going home. He had looked forward to visits from grandkids at this time in life but as of yet, he has none.
- Shawn Buntin said they had recently enjoyed a visit from four grandchildren from San Antonio. He said the three-year-old came into his room during the night and said "Grandpa, I'm scared. Can I sleep with you?"
- Warren Haeussler was happy to again be visiting with Mike Whang, a potential new member.
- Ted Williams said he has fifty-seven grandchildren, and that two of his grandsons have asked him if he was going to have a baby.
- Tim Troy contributed $100 from his wife to be credited to Colleen Coons' sponsorship team. Tim's wife provides equestrian therapy for special needs kids. Some of her helpers were unable to be at her place recently and Colleen helped tremendously in their absence.
- Colleen Coons said she was honored to help. She also added that she had sent a survey to the nine McKinney Vento students we are helping this year and would be sharing their feedback. One of the students was especially happy for the bike she received. Another was accepted into the Aspire program offered by the Mesa Fire and Police Departments. One who went to RYLA is now in Westwood HS Interact. She reported that the Meta grant recently received would likely enable us to place ocular technology in the Mesa library, EVIT and Westwood High School.
Announcements
- Steve Ross provided a brief update on the sponsor program. He said we have gathered over $18,000 so far. John Pennypacker's team is currently in the lead with Bob Jensen's team running a close second. There were brochures on the table as well as lists of team assignments.
- Logan Harper encouraged club members to attend the Club Leadership Academy to be held March 23. Track 1 of Rotary Leadership Institute will be offered at the Academy as well as many club officer-related courses for club leaders and may courses that will enhance understanding of Rotary beyond the club level. Logan will be co-facilitating a session on action plan/visioning.
- President Colleen reminded those present that there would be no meeting at the Doubletree March 14. Many members will be attending the Cubs Game in a joint club activity on that date.
- March 22 five volunteers are needed to cook breakfast for participants in the Aspire Academy.
- Members who are Mesa residents are invited to a meet the mayorial candidate event at the home of Liz Paulus.
- March 29, volunteers will again be needed to provide dinner service at Paz de Cristo
- April 20 for our Rotary Week of Service activity, volunteers will be cleaning and repainting the pool deck at the East Valley YMCA.
Program - Liz Paulus - College Bound
Erick Silverberg introduced Liz Paulus. She co-founded College Bound with her husband Gerry. She is a 31-year US Army veteran, a retired Lieutenant Colonel who started in the Women's Army Corps, and airborne qualified. She left active duty to move to Phoenix where she has lived for forty years. She graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry to become an Environmental Specialist at the City of Phoenix. She returned to college at Upper Iowa University for her master's degree in Education. She designed and trademarked RISE Scholars, a college access program being imlemented at the East Valley Institute of Technology since 2018.
College Bound is a 501(c)(3) that goes on the journey to college with underrepresented students for their advancement to a better future through education. They provide guidance, scholarships and other education supports to unleash the brilliance within. Over 2000 students have used their program to go to college. They have garnered over $34 million in financial support to defray the cost of college.
When they first started College Bound in 2010, they began working with students in 7th and 8th grade. They now provide one-on-one support for 400 underrepresented 12th graders annually. Over 2,000 students who have been served by College Bound have gone on to college.
Liz said she was not personally a poster-child for college. It took her thirteen years to earn her four-year degree. She described herself as a runaway who hitch-hiked across America. At one point, she picked apples to provide for herself. She said she wasn't very good at it. Her enlistment into the military moved her to a place where she could afford an education. She learned an appreciation for the simple things in life.
College Bound is committed to being a force for change. They work with 65 each year who are among our neediest. Providing mentorship and connecting resources enables needy youth to aspire to a realistic goal of obtaining a college degree. Combined with a partnership with Midwest Food Bank, where students volunteer and acquire a heart for service. Other collaborators are East Valley Institute of Technology, Mesa Community College and Education Forward Arizona.
CLICK HERE to see the slides Liz used during her presentation. They contain several brief success stories.
Finding hindrances and doing something about them is necessary to ensure success of those who are underserved. For instance, putting in a food pantry at EVIT improved attendance. Being intentional with students is important. Many students they work with will be the first in their family to graduate. She shared a shocking statistic - 35% of MCC students are homeless. College Bound is a QCO - donations to their organization qualify for Arizona Tax Credit. The mentors with College Bound are all volunteers.