Our lunch meeting was called order and following the Pledge and the Four-way Test, Londee Zink provided the Thought for the Day. Geneva Taylor and Scott Marr were our Greeters. We had three visiting Rotarians and at least three guests visiting with us.
Geneva announced the dates for the political forums have been set for October 2nd and 9th and she will be organizing the candidates and issues for those forums. A Barn Dance sponsorship sheet was passed around for members wishing to be a sponsor for the Barn Dance again this year. Please contact Ashley or Susie if you wish to be a sponsor and did not have the opportunity to sign up.
Tuesday, being the last day of the month, was the final day to take advantage of the Club match for donations made to the local Foundation. I am excited to announce that with a few additional donations made at the last minute, we reached the $5,000 cap on matching funds. Way to go ROTARIANS!
I also asked for volunteers to help with set up next Tuesday (August 7th) at the Peace Pavilion. District Governor Chuck will be in town for his official visit and Scott, Tara and Josh all stepped up to help with chairs and set-up. Thank you.
Our program was then introduced, Sue Fegelein, Executive Director of LiftUp of Routt County and Kristyn Leary, Volunteer Coordinator of LiftUp of Routt County. LiftUp, among other things, provides food, shelter and housing assistance to members in need within our community. In 2017 they had 16,521 visits from people in Routt County. They have developed a number of programs to assist adults and young people alike. The Rocket Pack Program provides fresh healthy snacks for students and they assemble approximately 500 per week. They provide snacks to youth at the Boys & Girls Club, have student scholarships, have a Power Up work readiness program and of course, maintain a fully stocked Thrift Store and Food Bank. They are aggressive in paying off their current loan on their recent expansion and when paid off, will begin plans for a commercial kitchen. With the addition of this kitchen, hopefully within 5 years, they will be able to provide additional classes and a soup kitchen. Some of their greatest needs currently are housing assistance, help in their greenhouse and utility payment assistance. Thank you to Sue and Kristen for providing updates on an organization that is so important in our community.
It was a family affair today and since Londee provided the Thought for the Day, Josh volunteered (Londee nudged him) to do Good News. Thank you Zinks!
REMEMBER – we are not at The Grand on August 7th. We will be enjoying the beauty of summer at the Peach Pavilion. DG Chuck Rutenberg will be our program and we will be also be celebrating our Peace Pavilion birthday! Again, remember the difficulty in parking, so please come early and wear your walking shoes.
Respectfully yours,
Carol