Our president Ron Hollenbeck said the district membership committee will be joining us at the Aug. 25 meeting to meet with our club's membership committee after the meeting. Bob Young leads that group.
Ron reminded members that the next quarterly mixer to meet new and prospective members and network with one another will be at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 25, a Thursday, at Carrabbas. There will be hors d'oeuvres.
Our new exchange student from India, Saloni Bagwani, brought a Rotary flag to exchange with our Rotary club. She presented it to our club with Ron and Arnie Biondo at her side.
The August birthdays were recognized by our Sgt,-at-Arms Erich Eggers. The birthday honorees all sat at one table, as they do each month. They received special cupcakes in their honor.
Our Sgt-at-Arms Erich Eggers collected Happy Bucks for Operation Warm (Coats). The coats cost $20 each and will be given to needy children through Hannah's Treasure Chest.
After suffering through last week's meeting without air conditioning, the club members were grateful to have cool air once more for today's meeting. Jill at the front desk said the air conditioning was fixed on Friday and the cause appeared to be a bad starter solenoid. Don't know if that lets city manager Greg Horn off the hook, or not, seeing that he was still absent at the present meeting and hence unable to pay the large fine the members have assigned to his not being at the last meeting to fix the problem, or see that the problem was fixed.
Erich said we have enough money for 130 coats, but that was before this week's Happy Bucks were counted.
We also do not know how much the district might kick in via a district grant.
As Happy Bucks were collected varying amounts were given, up to and included $20 bucks for a full coat, and in several cases, $40 for two coats. Brian Hayes paid for two coats as did the contributor after him, whose name could not be heard for the people murmuring in appreciation of Brian's donation.
Ed Flohre and Tom Zobrist put their donations together to buy a coat and Dave Trout bought a coat, noting his granddaughter is going to Vanderbilt and that her brother, an investment banker, has invited him to visit him in Chicago. He found the latter surprising, considering their age differences, he said. Others seems to murmur that it might be that Dave's pockets are not empty.
Dan Johnson said he was on call for a baby to come at any time now and apologized in advance in case he had to walk out on the speaker. Lee Hieronymus, a neighbor at the table, mentioned by Dan, said he shouldn't run from him as he has experience in the matter (as a firefighter, emergency worker), and even has a catcher's mitt. A real team player, that Lee.
Jeff Senney, who claims to work at times, said he was happy because of all the networking meetings he was involved in, including going to a Dragon's game, with 50 to 60 people. "It's a fun day," he said.
Remember last week? Dan said he and his wife were two weeks away from a new baby, so maybe there's still a week in the making...
Others not mentioned, as the collecting went very fast, should also be congratulated for their generosity. Especially Miranda Hawk, who donated for a coat on her first visit to the club. We thank you all.
SPEAKER: Hans Marlette, Executive Director of Day of Caring 365
Boyd Preston introduced our speaker, Hans Markette.
Boyd said Hans is the executive director of Day of Caring 365, headquartered in Beavercreek, and founded in 1991 by executive director Jan Venkayya, who immigrated from India, where she had seen poverty and homelessness first hand growing up. Started as a grassroots organization to fight poverty and homelessness, the non-profit is manned by volunteers and addresses hunger and homelessness in the Miami Valley, Cincinnati, and the Richmond, Indiana area. It plans to grow to other states, including Michigan in the next three to five years.
Boyd said Hans has a bachelor of science in music education degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato (1967-71) and a master of business administration degree from Wayland Baptist University. He served as regional band manager for the U.S.A.F. from June, 1973 to July, 2004, managing a 61 member organization providing entertainment in a seven state region (he plays tuba in the same brass band as our member Mike Wier). He coordinated about 600 performances a year while in the U.S.A.F. He was also with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans from 2004 to 2009, and has been with Day of Caring 365 since 2007.
Hans said Day of Caring 365 has aligned itself with Wright State University and now includes personal hygiene in its mission. It added “365” to its name to indicate it serves the needs of the hungry and homeless all 365 days of the year, he said. A personal hygiene pantry was established to provide products that can’t be purchased with food stamps, such as soap, shampoo, dental hygiene products, deodorant, combs and brushes, razors, diapers, paper products, and laundry detergent.
The items are distributed through the St. Vincent de Paul Pantry, Catholic Social Services, and The Foodbank to those in need. With Wright State they are working on developing a strategic plan and staff development, along with expanding outreach sources and resources, he said. The idea is to create a servant’s heart to help others, he said.
They are doing a legal review of the organization’s by-laws, and as a non-profit, hope to create depth in their central committee through networking (telling our story) and reworking, he said. They are also trying to attract younger people to the group, he said. They also want to establish new sites and learn what the needs might be there. Networking is very important, he said.
Hans said they raised funds from 38 sites in six counties and two states (Ohio and Indiana), hosting pancake breakfasts this past year. These are held the last Sunday in February and are the group’s primary fund-raiser, he said.
They raised $31,216 dollars, with thousands of volunteers helping out. He said they have raised $750,00 since 1991, when the group was first founded.
Locally they helped The Foodbank with $10,580 in 2016, and the Dayton Emergency Coalition with $7,055. Every dollar to The Foodbank can purchase four meals, he said.
Hans said he likes what Winston Churchill said: We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
Corporate sponsors, such as Care Source, DP&L, and Merrill Lynch, help out, he said.
Educationally, they are looking at how they can perpetuate their legacy, Hans said. A sense of community begins with the family and the beliefs and values begin in the home, he said.
They hope college students learn more about volunteerism, with pilot programs taught at the university there can be a reduction of public assistance, but only if people recognize the challenges and indifference and personal biases some people have regarding their personal beliefs and social issues. There is an aging volunteer force, and this needs to be replenished with others in the future, as it is stretched as far as it can go now, he said. The lack of traditional families and the lack of information and general reliance on government instead of individualism, and technology all play roles in today’s social relationships, he said.
They support areas being under served and hope to move from the role of spectator to that of participant, he said. They hope to educate when necessary, and to give hope and reduce the reliance on public assistance and to create a sense of community. “We want people to feel good about themselves, and to become self reliant,” he said.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Ron said Boyd received thank you notes from Hannah’s Treasure Chest saying the new toy room looks great and that “You guys rock.”
The group ended the session by repeating Rotary's Four-Way Test together.
