“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.” – Nelson Mandela

 

“You are far too smart to be the only thing standing in your way.” – Jennifer J. Freeman – Actress

 

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by Allan Penwell)

 

Jerry Payonk, a former member, has applied for membership again. If you attended the club social on July 30th at Riggs, then you may have met Jerry. Speaking of the social, it was quite a success, and a good time was had by all.

 

There will be a new member social at Riggs on August 20th similar to the one in July. The focus is new members and is being organized by Diana who is membership chair and board member.

 

The next social will be on Thursday, October 30th which will have a Halloween theme. Maybe everyone can wear a mask.  (Editor’s note – that joke was an Allan Penwell-original)

 

At the August board meeting, it was agreed to waive the $30 application fee to be collected by the club.

 

Service projects are limited these days, and the Eastern Illinois Food Bank has cancelled their repacks. Work continues at the Decker Garden, and we have been making deliveries to help Food as Medicine.

 

Generous members have contributed $1,115 to Bucket Bucks, formerly known as Bucket Money. These funds are about 6 months of our regular monthly donations to the community. Thank you, members! 

 

There is no designated Bucket Bucks recipient for August, and none thus far for September. If you have a worthy cause then please share with Mary Kay.

 

Charlie is working on an international service project proposal for the club. More to come later.

 

Two or three years ago, C-U Sunrise Rotary completed a strategic plan. It needs to be updated, and Eddie has to agreed to take on this task.  Thank you Eddie!

 

Our meetings are broadcast on Facebook Live as well as Zoom. Darrell reports there were 14 watching on FB last week, but we don’t necessarily know who they are.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Sue Grey is President and CEO for United Way. She has had various leaderships in community organizations and has been with United Way since 2006. She has been married to Tom for 32 years and has three children, two grandchildren and a lovable mutt named Ziggy. Sue discussed what United Way has been doing during this trying time of the pandemic.

 

The United Way launched their COVID-19 Response effort on March 17th with a total of $1.1 million from a combination of gifts and grants. The fund has helped 271 families in housing assistance, 1,653 children for school supplies, and food assistance totaling $335,000. 

 

Technology access has been important for online learning. One innovation was the MTD has buses that have internet communications. The buses were parked in neighborhoods where internet was limited and created a hotspot. Funding was provided to offer tablets to those children in need.

 

Cleaning supplies were provided along with masks to seniors and people with health conditions. There has been considerable support for families with over 30,000 diapers distributed to families with childcare needs.

 

Sue also noted that Rotary has provided $36,000 for school supplies.

 

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  Aug 13th Aug 20th Aug 27th Sept 3rd
         
Reflection Robb Patton Jerry Payonk Allan Penwell Ed Perry
Notetaker Hodson Conforti Perry Penwell
Decker Weeding Penwell Hodson Johnson  
Next Weekend        

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

*All meetings via Zoom*

 

August 13th – Trisha Crowley, President, League of Women Voters of Champaign County (Charlie)

August 20th – Evelyn Shapiro, Promotions Manager, Champaign Public Library (Ondine)

August 27th – Mary Ellen Wuellner, Executive Director, Champaign County Forest Preserve District (Andrew)

September 3rd – TBD (Bob)

September 10th – TBD  (Cary)

September 17th – TBD (Tom)

September 24th – Sarah Livesay, Executive Director, Grand Prairie Friends (Andrew

October 1st – TBD 

October 8th – TBD (Mary)

October 15th – TBD (Ondine)

October 22nd – TBD (Tom)

October 29th – TBD 

November 5th – TBD (Bob)

November 12th – TBD (Cary)

November 19th – TBD (Charlie)

November 26th – No meeting – Thanksgiving

December 3rd – TBD