10/2/14 Ed Flohre and Cynthia Fraley
10/9/14 Jim Briggs and Dick Hoback
10/16/14 Mark Balsan and Pat Beckel
10/23/14 Ann Blackburn and Cynthia Fraley
If you cannot greet on the day assigned, contact Kitty and she will schedule a replacement.
9/25/14
President Vas Appalaneni opened the Centerville Rotary Club meeting at The Clubhouse at Yankee Trace with the Pledge of Allegiance. Member Brad Thorp gave the prayer and member Peachy Metzner led the singing of God Bless America, all with great success.
The guests at the meeting included: Celia Weir, wife of member Fred Weir. The two are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Also present were Terry Schalnat, executive director of We Care Arts, and our speaker Melodie Bennett, director of the House of Bread, along with Allen Nelson of Next Steps, Senior Transitions, the guest of member Dan Johnson.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Vas Appalaneni mentioned that the Pancake Breakfast fund-raiser is in four weeks.
Club member John Callander asked for help in wrapping the knives and forks for 1,000 place settings in napkins, and Joyce Young readily volunteered her services..
Shelley Fisher said the club has surpassed last year's sponsorship money for the fund-raiser already. She was a greeter this day and also collected checks for sponsorships.
Don Gerhardt and Peachy (Mark) Metzner led the club in singing the Pancake Breakfast Song to the tune of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, with everyone standing as they sang.
The song: Take them out for some pancakes,
Give them some sausages too
Serve them some OJ and applesauce
It's a great meal at a very low price
Go and sell all your tickets
If you don't it's a shame
Cause there's food and fun for everyone
While we build Rotary fame!
President Vas announced that Bill Abrams still has raffle tickets for the Super Bowl game.
Vas also passed around a paper for people interested in leading the song or prayer at the meetings to sign up to do so, so Vas has a group of willing participants to choose from.
Peachy said the dictionaries and thesauri are in and that next week volunteers are needed to put labels in the books after the meeting. You will need to meet behind Cline Elementary school off Virginia Avenue. That's at 111 Virginia Ave. Oct. 2. It will be in the Central Office.
President Vas presented Terry Schalnat, executive director of We Care Arts with a check for $1,000 from the club to help Centerville High School students.with special needs. Ms. Schalnat, an artist herself, started the program 31 years ago., She said art helps break down barriers among people with physical, developmental, and/or mental challenges.
The program had 1,200 clients last year. She said she works with 45 different agencies and 11 school systems, including Centerville's. The program will take 18 to 25 students at a time on Thursday mornings. "We work with ISPs the students have," she said.(Individual programs). She said the school program will hopefully be a conduit to get the students to join their Tuesday evening program where they can meet with others and also student volunteers who come to help.
Besides going to the schools, they go to nursing homes and rehabilitation sites and also are starting a facility in Preble County, she said.
The club paused to sing Happy Anniversary to Fred and Celia.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Sgt.-at-Arms Eric Eggers said the club was $162 away from having $3,000 for Operation Warm, so he added money for two coats and quite a few others added $20 for a coat, so the money was soon in hand, especially with the addition of $60 contributed by Fred and Celia Weir for their 60th anniversary gift.
Eric tried to auction off some Miami University tickets for the Oct. 4 game, but nobody was game, so he said he would take anything, and it was unclear if anyone took them or he went home with them.
Shelley Fisher noted that Oct. 1 is the deadline for getting sponsor information in for the Pancake Breakfast to get it in the DDN insert.
SPEAKER: Melodie Bennett, executive director of the House of Bread at 9 Orth Ave., Dayton. Club member Jeff Senney introduced Ms. Bennett, noting that the club has helped at the House of Bread over the years, helping with cooking, cleaning, serving, working on the building, etc.
Ms. Bennett said the House of Bread operates with "Radical Hospitality." By that she said she meant that everyone is welcomed with open arms and does not have to show proof of need.
"We not only spend time with people, but we welcome them," she said.The group is without judgment, she said, and "we err on the side of grace. We show kindness to everyone." When they heard that a young boy's parents didn't have money to buy training wheels for his bicycle, they paid for the training wheels, she said. They also provide socks and underwear, as many of the homeless people may not have a new clean pair to wear. They provide peanut butter and other needed items.
She asked one homeless man if he liked his lunch and he asked why she would ask that, as no one had ever asked him that. And when she said she would help him if he needed help, he said, "You would help me? You don't even know me." She told him they hoped he would come back and get any help he needed.
The program provides a hot meal at lunch time and will make referrals to vital resources such as shelter, clothing, treatment, etc. It is open seven days a week and 365 days a year.
The program works with a truancy program along with Project Cure that serves 50 to 60 people for lunch twice a week. "People are not in crisis just Monday through Friday," she said. Most need help on the weekends and holidays. They not only need a place to eat, but many need some serious help. They are associated with the job training program, after-school hot meals, the Edison Family dinner, and Mt. Zion and New Hope churches,
On Oct. 2 is their Empty Bowls fund-raiser program on Yankee Road. For $25 you get a bowl to take home that is filled with soup for you to eat first. On Oct. 11 is their Beat Hunger Run. More details can be found on their Internet Web site, she said.
She said she has worked at the House of Bread for 5 years. "You touch people and you make a difference in their lives and you want them to improve their lives," she said.
Transcript for the Empty Bowls Event: (This gives a few more details about the non-profit program)
- “The House of Bread nourishes the bodies, minds, hearts and souls of our guests, while serving as a bridge to beneficial community resources.”
- On Dec. 3, 1983, Sister Dorothy Kammerer opened the doors of the House of Bread to hungry people in the Salem and Grand Avenue neighborhood.
- Twenty meals were served that day.
- Over two million, one hundred forty-eight thousand meals have been served to House of Bread guests in the past twenty-seven years.
- The House of Bread serves a free and nutritious lunchtime meal 7 days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- As of September 2013, over 10,000 meals were served by the kitchen of the House of Bread this year.
- The House of Bread has a staff of four part-time and two full-time employees.
- More than 100 dedicated volunteers work tirelessly on a regular basis to continue Sister Dorothy’s vision and the House of Bread’s mission.
- Statistics reflect that a large concentration of households in the closest zip codes to the House of Bread are households of less than $8,330 in annual income, with many of these being single parent families with multiple children.
- One in five people in a community kitchen line is a child.
- The House of Bread provides hot nutritious meals to school-aged children participating in tutoring & homework services provided at 5 neighborhood-based centers, serving over 140 children per weekday!
- Over 40% of the guests served by the House of Bread during the lunchtime meal are over the age of 60.
- Trader Joe’s in Kettering provides the majority of the donated food to the House of Bread. Food is also donated by Gordon Food Service in Miamisburg, just past the Dayton Mall. The House of Bread is also a partner agency of the Food Bank of Dayton.
- A vegetable garden is also located on the House of Bread property, grown and tended by staff and volunteers so guests can enjoy fresh produce with their meals.
- The House of Bread also offers health screenings, health resource information, community meetings, as well as access to other agencies that provide case management, housing and mental health resources.
- Volunteer opportunities include food preparation, serving of prepared meals, clean up, food pick-up/delivery, and many others.
- Volunteers are needed Monday – Sunday from 9 AM – 2 PM or on your lunch hour during the week.
- Opportunities for groups and organizations are encouraged, and can be scheduled by calling us at (937) 226-1520.
- The House of Bread & CESO, Inc. thank you for your donation & participation in their 4th Annual Empty Bowls event.
- Let the bowl you take home tonight be a constant reminder there are hungry people in our community who need your help.
- “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” - Mother Teresa
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