“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” ― Douglas Adams

Announcements

We did not have a meeting last week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

November 30th – Brant Houston, Professor and Knight Chair in Investigative & Enterprise Reporting, UIUC, will speak about data journalism and investigative reporting (Phyllis)

December 7th – Jerry Hunt, Champaign Juvenile Detention Officer (Diana)

December 14th – TBD

December 21st – Steve Bentz, Virginia Theatre (Mary)

December 28th – TBD

January 4th – TBD

January 11th – Micah Kenfield, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Phyllis)

January 18th – TBD

January 25th – TBD

February 1st – TBD

February 8th – Captain Anthony Corapi, Commanding Officer of US Navy ROTC at UIUC (Bob)

February 15th – TBD

February 22nd – Dennis Hesch, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Carle Foundation, will discuss  Carle’s expansion/development at the Curtis/I-57 interchange (Phyllis)

“It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.” ― Mother Teresa 

“I know that in life there will be sickness, devastation, disappointments, heartache – it’s a given. What’s not a given is the way you choose to get through it all. If you look hard enough, you can always find the bright side.” ― Rashida Jones 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by THE Allan Penwell)

Ata thanked everyone who attended the Veterans Day One on One event. He particularly thanked Paul for donating printed materials and Darrell for the photography. Good to see our Rotarians volunteering!

Lauren Henry was introduced as our Outbound Rotary Exchange Student. She attended with her parents David and Tiffany Marten. Tiffany was an exchange student herself and was sponsored by Danville Sunrise Rotary. Lauren is looking forward to learning other cultures and the family atmosphere of the program. She will choose 12 out of 43 sponsoring countries as to where she will go overseas.

Our group will volunteer for the Salvation Army again this year to ring the bell on December 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m at the North Prospect Walmart. Sign-ups will be coming.

Bucket money for November will go to Veterans Day One on One. Bucket Money for December will go to Prairielands Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

PROGRAM

Adelaide Aimé has been working in the social service field since 1984 starting out as a rape crisis center volunteer at an agency in another state. In January of this year Aime was hired to guide the re-building of RACES (Rape, Advocacy, Counseling and Education Services), an agency that was reduced to a skeleton by the Illinois state budget impasse. Since January, full services have been restored and the staff has increased from 1 to 6.

In addition to staff, the organization has 40-60 volunteers spread out over Champaign, Ford, Piatt, and Douglas counties. Advocates of RACES have over 40 hours of training and handle 200 calls per year. They go to emergency rooms, obtain orders of protection from predators, go to court, and assist with housing.  RACES has a 24/7 hotline and is ready to help at any time of day.

Referrals are by word of mouth, but Adelaide notes it is important to get the word out so they can help with their message of hope. The good news is that incidents have been cut in half since she started in social work. It is partially because crime is down in general, but society has changed, and predators are now held accountable.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

November 23rd – Thanksgiving, No Meeting

November 30th – Brant Houston, Professor and Knight Chair in Investigative & Enterprise Reporting, UIUC, will speak to our club  about data journalism and investigative reporting (Phyllis)

December 7th – Jerry Hunt, Champaign Juvenile Detention Officer (Diana)

December 14th – TBD

December 21st – TBD

December 28th – TBD

January 4th – TBD

January 11th – Micah Kenfield, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Phyllis)

January 18th – TBD

January 25th – TBD

February 1st – TBD

February 8th – Captain Anthony Corapi, Commanding Officer of US Navy ROTC at UIUC (Bob)

February 15th – TBD

February 22nd – Dennis Hesch, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Carle Foundation, will discuss  Carle’s expansion/development at the Curtis/I-57 interchange (Phyllis)

“A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.” ― Christopher Reeve 

“The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no person. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”― Alice Morse Earle 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell)

Bob asked members to bring guests to our club meetings. We have interesting speakers that many people would enjoy. He also passed around the most recent Central Illinois Business Magazine that features this year’s group of Forty Under Forty. He asked members to invite someone out of this group to our club. We need new members as our goal for this year is 8.

Our club will be sponsoring a student through the Rotary Outbound Youth Exchange Program. More details to come.

Bell ringing for the Salvation Army will take place again this year on December 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the North Prospect Walmart.  Sign-up sheets will be coming.

The fruit sale is in full swing. Orders need to be in by November 16th to Robb.

Veterans in the audience were asked to stand up. After the meeting, Robb and Allan spoke with Oktay who is also a veteran when he lived in Cyprus. In the 1960s Greeks controlled Cyprus although Turks were 30% of the population which included Oktay. Trouble broke out, and Oktay was a commando lieutenant for the Turks. Oktay’s experiences would be a great program in the future.

We need a few more volunteers for the CHS Interact 5K run on November 18th at Crystal Lake Park. See Michelle. We are a primary sponsor and will donate $500.

Cary is now our official President-Elect. Thanks for serving and hats off to you, Cary.

Bucket money for November will go to Veterans Day One on One. Bucket Money for December will go to Prairielands Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

PROGRAM

Mary introduced our speaker, Kari May.  Kari May has been involved with children throughout her career. She has degrees in psychology and criminal justice. For 10 years she was with Head Start and worked with children and their families to make sure both were on the right path. Kari is now the Executive Director of Children’ Advocacy Center (CAC) in Champaign.

A segment of our population that she talked about is at high risk. These citizens have issues of brain development; triple the rate of heart disease; and a life expectancy that is 20 years lower than the general population. These are children who have been sexually abused. Statistics show the abuse occurs in one in four girls and one in six boys.

These children are typically abused by family members and close friends, and they are traumatized for the rest of their lives. They become vulnerable and may even come in contact with a second predator at their young ages. They have health problems, sleeping problems, and have a life in confusion.

Initial contacts are made through the Department of Children and Family Services. DCFS than contracts with CAC for interviews and handling the case. Kari reports that her agency interviews over 200 children a year. On staff is an expert interviewer who is a former police officer and is a specialized counselor. The CAC is funded by grants and donations. They are a participant charity in the Illinois Marathon as well as other local opportunities.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

November 16th – Adelaide Aime, Executive Director, RACES

“When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things – not the great occasions – that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.” ― Bob Hope 

 “Men