President Adam Manning welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Brian Hayes provided the prayer.
Today’s quote provided by Don Overly: "The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams." Oprah Winfrey
Welcome today’s guests: Pat Beckel’s guests Jesse Campbell (former member of our club) and Kevin Lawler; Dr Herman’s guest, Vince Carone was back for a second visit.
President Manning recognized Elda Gotos Gay for her generous donation to the Centerville Rotary Foundation. Thanks, Elda!
President Manning presented Lisa Goris May with her first Paul Harris Fellow. Thank you for your generosity, Lisa!
Today’s Announcements
- Thanks to Arnie & Nancy Biondo for hosting this month’s social.
- The next Rotary Social will be on March 17 at Raj Grandhi’s house
- Thanks to Sofie & Pat for working hard with the Interact Club. Last week the Interact Club volunteered for Crayons to Classrooms, and in March, they are planning a project at Agape for Youth on. March 7 or 14, and will need some volunteer help from our club. This week they made cards to take to Dayton Children’s.
- ODOT announced the Adopt a Highway volunteers collected 635,986 bags of trash along roadsides in Ohio last year. Our club adopted a section of I-675 and once the weather warms up, we will schedule a service day in the spring.
- February 26, the Friends of the Library is having an event, A Tasting with Friends with food, wine, and visiting with local authors. The proceeds will go toward the new Creativity Commons area of Centerville Library.
- PETS Training project this year is Rotary for Reading 2026. See info below and please donate if you would like to help provide books for children.
- The next Board meeting this Monday, 5:30 pm at RecPlex
- Sofie announced we are off to a great start for Golf sponsorships, but we need everyone to help! She shared a poster made at Creativity Commons, highlighting the major sponsors so far.
Happy Bucks this quarter will be donated to The Food Bank.
Pat Beckel was our Sergeant at Arms with assistance by Brian Hayes.
Happy Bucks were generously given for:
- Pat B for the Golf committee, noting we all belong to many other organizations, so please reach out to your country club and ask for foursomes to be donated for the champions of our Golf Outing. He also noted the IOC speech at the Olympics was the best ever, encouraging unification.
- Carol K gave $25 to celebrate 25 years in Centerville Rotary.
- Lisa GM was happy to be here
- Adam M for today’s guests, seeing Jackie here today, and the USA’s performance in the Olympics.
- Mark K for the weather, especially the disappearing snow, the boring Super Bowl, and today’s guests.
- Jeff S was pleased to see our speaker, and it’s typically 82 degrees and sunny when they’re at the Caman Islands, but this time it was 75 and windy.
- Kevin L (guest) was happy Pat invited him.
- Jesse C was happy to be back.
- Jim H for today’s guests, and although he has 4 generations of OU, he gave a shout out to Miami U for their continued success.
- Brad T tried to convince the club that Carol was 12 when she joined Rotary ;-)
- David W for the snow melting.
- Chuck K was happy to be here.
- Rand O gave $3 for being here 3 weeks in a row.
- Lee H noted the best Super Bowl advertisement was Budweiser; Farm report was about a Master Farmer who works with troubled youth in Darke County. He teaches gardening, harvest, and then cook the food they grew.
- Elda GG for the excellent Farm report
- Harvey S was glad to see Jesse back.
- Sofie A for today’s guests, for Golf sponsors, for your help finding sponsors, and thanks for attending the social.
- Ron H for Jesse & Jackie, and congrats to Lisa.
- Socks B was just happy
- Gina S got to see her son’s Nascar team qualify, as she is learning about Nascar. Her son’s job is putting interior together of #66 car.
- Bill M enjoyed the Launch Pad library program he conducted at Benham’s Grove, and spending last week in California, hiking parks while his wife worked.
- Kristin H was happy to see guests.
- Uriah A for our happy club.
- Dan S for spending time with his grandkids where he also picked up a cold.
Our speaker today was Kelly Gibson, Director of Community Engagement with We Care Arts.
Kelly shared the mission of We Care Arts is: Empowering healing through art & community. And their mission is: We believe in a future where people with diverse abilities can achieve their full potential and feel embraced by an inclusive society.
Her job is focused mostly on fundraising and marketing. They serve individuals with developmental disabilities, substance abuse disorders, and mental health diagnoses. She has witnessed people empowering others in the classroom. They uplift each other.
We Care Arts serves over 3,000 clients per year. They have two locations - Berkeley Center Campus on Wilmington Pike, and a store inside Town & Country. They offer classes Monday-Friday and have been around for 43 years. She’s trying to elevate their mission; to be more visible to the public. They currently have 180 seats filled but can seat 300.
The Transition to Work class serves 25 high schools, where they go into the classrooms teaching job readiness skills. Always end the class with mindfulness/self-regulation skills. There were 9,950 completed art projects in 2025.
ArtWORKS program serves 18+ but are in high schools. Kelly mentioned oftentimes support is lost at age 18 so they try to fill the gap. All programs are free.
Every month, she promotes a different art client. She hopes to get funding to remodel the kitchen so they can offer cooking classes.
They also bring in visiting artists.
They host several fundraising events each year. Coming up soon is the Together We Care Gala, February 27, 6-9 PM at the Presidential Banquet Center.
Other programs include:
Arts & Jazz
Artistry in Motion
Evening at the Races
They work to help arts clients to be seen for more than a disability or diagnosis. Kelly invited all to visit and the best time to visit is Thursday morning.
Kelly said people are referred to them when they have a diagnosis that says their Quality of life would benefit from using art therapy.
She shared a story about a woman, who suffered from domestic abuse, and all of her art was destroyed by her husband. Years later, she stumbled upon We Care Arts, and is now finishing her art degree at 79 years old.
They partner with other organizations, too, such as YWCA, Daybreak, Miracle Clubhouse, Alzheimer’s Association and many more.
Ways to help
- Volunteer to assist with events (prep and day of)
- Follow on FB/IG/LinkedIn
- Sponsor table or attend gala
- Come check them out, will give a tour
They also have virtual classes. Some artists will have pieces in the hallway to the Dayton Convention Center from the parking lot. (Artists get paid for their art)
Kelly reminded us of the upcoming Gala on Friday, Feb 27 at the Presidential Banquet Center, and noted it will sell out. Miss OH 2024 will be a guest speaker. She was in the top three in the 2025 Miss America. There will also be an art gallery before the Gala starts. Sponsorships are available. A table is $1,200 and includes your name on flyer, program, and table recognition.
Our Rotary club has helped out in the past - we put the ceiling up as one service project.
They are Adult Education certified and work with RTA for transportation help. They average 10 per class, and have classes from 9 am-12 noon, and 1-4pm.
