President Brian Hayes welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and provided the prayer.
An impromptu singing of God Bless America was provided by Jeff Senney and Lee Hieronymus.
President Hayes announced the Leadership Change luncheon will be held at Benham’s Grove on June 30. Please sign up for your sandwich of choice for that meal (and then try to remember NOT to go to Yankee Trace that week.)
President Hayes had the following announcements:
- Our Club Theme this month covers the area of Youth Services
- Our thought of the moment comes from boxer, Muhammed Ali, who said “The sun is always shining someplace."
- Our speaker today is Mark Willis from the Hall Hunger Initiative and he will get a proper introduction in a few moments.
Mike Wier announced the rescheduled baseball game is July 6 and 60 tickets are available. Please let him know if you are able to attend and how many tickets you would like.
Monthly Theme: Youth Services
50th Anniversary Tidbit focuses on Youth Services this month
Ginger Clark shared this week’s tidbit on our Operation Warm program.
Ginger then asked how many coats we’ve funded over past 9 years. Pat Beckel got close with a guess of 4,600 and then Elda Gotos Gay guessed closest to 4,128 actual coats.
We will be sending our Happy Bucks for this quarter through Matthew 25 Ministries to provide support where needed in the Ukraine.
Sergeant of Arms this week was Pat Beckel
Happy Bucks were given for:
- Pat Beckel’s youngest son took first place in the country in level 9 Gymnastics and his older son, who competed against Olympians, finished 47th in the country. Congrats to both boys!
- Lee Hieronymus is having problems with his tractor’s oil filter. It was tightened so much that it won’t come off. He is taking the tractor apart and hopes he can then get the oil filter off.
- Jeff Senney is leaving tomorrow for a long weekend in Key West for scuba diving with friends.
- Mike Wier noted there are 60 Rotarians in our club and he’s happy almost half of them were here today. He hopes the rest come back to meetings soon.
- Bob Fry was happy to see Bill Reber visiting and to support Ukraine.
- Bill Reber was happy to be visiting his former club, noting it is good to be back.
- Ginger Clark for Ukraine and said it’s good to see Pat Beckel.
- Carol Kennard for a great nature escape weekend that included no Internet or cell phone service and for the zoom this week with former exchange students Annea, Saloni, Mato, and Rodrigo. She noted we need to make plans to stay connected with our exchange students after they finish their year here.
- Don Stewart didn’t know Ron Hollenbeck brought Operation Warm to our club and noted that you may see Centerville students wearing flip flops in the winter but it’s not because of need!
- Harvey Smith announced last Friday was Bill Reber’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Bill! Tonight Sofie and Harvey are presenting the 5 Rotary scholarships.
- Scott Kujawa for Ukraine.
- Dale Berry announced there was a ceremony dedicating the Enrichment Center in the name of Joyce Young, A plaque honoring Joyce is hanging near the entrance. He also invited all to stop in at Whole Foods tonight from 5-7 pm for Dining with the Deputy.
- Elda Gotos-Gay announced her oldest granddaughter graduated cum laude from Miami University and will soon start a grad program at Indiana University/Bloomington.
- Dick Hoback was happy to see Bill Reber and announced Jim Harris came down with COVID. Everyone sends well wishes to Jim.
- Ray Merz for the brave and courageous people in Ukraine.
- Michael Norton-Smith noted his brother-in-law, who has been working as an air traffic controller in Chicago, just got a transfer approved to come back to Dayton, which is good since his wife has been living here!
- Adam Manning for Ukraine.
- Kelly McDonald announced he will be submitting his application to join the club.
- Ron Hollenbeck said it was good to see Bill and Mark Balsan here, and also for Ukraine.
- Mark Balsan was happy he made a meeting.
- Sofie Ameloot for getting to award the scholarships tonight, and noted her daughter is on the mend, has brace so she can walk again, and will need surgery when they return from Belgium this summer.
Pat invited all to attend the Centerville Merchant Market at Stubbs Park this Sunday, 11 am - 7pm where there will be lots of local vendors, 10 food trucks, and live music. Come out and support the local businesses!
Our speaker this week was Mark Willis from the Hall Hunger Initiative.
Mark mentioned he previously worked at Easter Seals in Xenia where Rotary was a big supporter so he is happy to be visiting our Rotary Club.
The Hall Hunger Initiative was started in 2015 in response to hunger in Dayton. Tony Hall traveled to Ethiopia where he saw devastating hunger and it then became his mission to help fight hunger.
When meeting with Mother Theresa, she advised, “Do the thing that’s in front of you.” If we follow her advice, we can make a huge difference in the country.
In 2015 Dayton was the 4th hungriest city in the nation. 25,000 people die of hunger every day in our country. Recently, India lost almost half of their wheat crop due to a heat wave.
There are 123,000 food insecure people in the 3 county Dayton area. Many are working poor, who cut back on food when short on cash. Many don’t know where their next meal will come from. Now, Dayton has improved to the 42nd hungriest city in the nation.
It’s not just about taking in calories, but people need to be eating the right foods. 50,000 in the Dayton area live in a food desert. And the first 1,000 days of child’s life are the most important for brain development. Poor nutrition can lead to problems with brain development in children and other issues in adults. It can lead to increases in diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and obesity.
The Hall Hunger Initiative relies on many partnerships. They received a grant from an anonymous donor which then enabled them to grant to others. One program sets fresh fruits/veggies table outside schools so as the kids leave, they can pick up free, healthy food.
They are looking at an indoor growing project - growing lettuce in old factories. They recently became part of the University of Dayton, which gives them access to lots of research. Some partners include:
- Gem City Market was one of their first projects. It’s a member driven organization. Tony helped raise $5 billion to build it and they just had their 1 yr anniversary. They provide more than just groceries - teaching kitchen, health clinic, and community center.
- Miami Valley Meals - chefs laid off during COVID started cooking for the House of Bread and now 4,000 nutritious and delicious meals are prepared per week.
- Homefull created a 42 foot long grocery store on wheels they take through food deserts. They also serve as a food hub - you can grow food and they will get it out to restaurants, grocery stores, neighborhoods etc.
- Food Bank serves 110 food pantries and hire paroled prisoners for $18/hr.
- Good Neighbor House - food pantry on a post, little boxes throughout community with food for folks who don’t feel comfortable going to a food pantry.
- With Gods Grace opened a grocery store. It’s good for kids to see their parents pushing a grocery cart. The store includes cake mix and toys kids can get to give at birthday parties.
- Access to Excess - food rescue; 40% food is wasted on farms, in grocery stores, and at home. They take the food and hand out to others. 65 tons of food were distributed last year.
- Produce Plus helps bridge the gap where healthy food is more expensive. Food stamps are worth twice as much when purchasing vegetables.
Ukraine crisis poses a huge threat to the world food supply.
How can you help?
Donate
Volunteer
Educate
Support SNAP and related programs
“Do the thing in front of you” as Mother Theresa said
Tony Hall now lives in Arlington, and he just turned 80. He was recently given the Dayton Peace Award. He volunteers when he’s here in town. Wants to educate students so he visits classrooms. He is very active internationally, too. His daughter recently did a fundraiser for Ukraine.
President Hayes thanked Mark and announced that next week our speaker will be Lucy Sanchez from Bike Centerville.
Remember there will be a Board Meeting on Monday, May 23rd @ 5:30 pm. Zoom link will be forthcoming.
President Hayes lead the group in reciting the 4 Way Test and wished everyone a good week.
