“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Aesop – Greek Fabulist-Storyteller

 

“If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” – Turkish Proverb

 

“I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.” – Gerry Spence – Self-Help Author-Motivational Speaker-Entrepreneur

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the unconventional and unorthodox Paul Conforti)

 

Les Schulte from CU Illini After Five announced his club’s Wine for Words Wine Sale February 1-7 at Todd’s Wines at Art Mart. 30% of all sales go directly to the CU Illini After Five Rotary Club to help fund classroom grants and other literacy projects in Champaign-Urbana and surrounding schools.

Place your order now until February 7th. Email toddswine@gmail.com with your name and phone number.  In your message just say “I want the Rotary reds” or “I want the Rotary whites” or get both. Your wine will be ready for pick up starting Friday, February 12th at Todd’s Wines at Art Mart, 1705 South Prospect Ave, Champaign.

Rotary White Sampler Pack $65: (1) 2018 Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne Blanc, (1) 2018 Hall Sauvignon Blanc, (1) 2019 Attems Friuli Pinot Grigio

Rotary Red Sampler Pack $50: (1) 2018 Renacer Punto Final Malbec, (1) 2015 Chateau d’Angles La Clape , (1) 2016 Chateau Saint Antoine Bordeaux Supérieur Reserve

Also, with your purchase your name will go into a drawing for an opportunity to win a magnum of 2016 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon wine, value $79.99.

 

PROGRAM

Our speaker this week was Rachel Rasmussen who is the UC Books to Prisoners Volunteer Coordinator

UC Books to Prisoners is an Urbana, Illinois based project providing books to incarcerated individuals in Illinois at no cost by mail as well as through two county jail libraries. It is a community-powered volunteer organization with several ways to get involved. No experience is required and whether an hour a month or would like to volunteer more often, you are invited.

 Volunteers interact with the incarcerated by reading their letters, selecting books from our collection of donated materials, and sending books in response to requests. Volunteers also work behind the scenes coordinating book donations and fundraising, as well as education, outreach and technical tasks.

UC Books to Prisoners focuses on book requests from 25+ prisons, all within the state of Illinois, and maintaining lending libraries in both Champaign county jails. Their operational yearly budget is approximately $24,000.

The books that are most in demand are: fiction by and about African-Americans, manga, mystery thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy. Non-fiction demand is paperback dictionaries, Kaplan GED guides, how to draw/paint, addiction/recovery, myth and mythology, and automotive repair.

There are several book drop-off locations, including:

1) Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center, 202 S Broadway, Urbana: book donation bin inside door at the Broadway entrance

2) Common Ground Food Co-op: book donation located in the main entryway

Financial donations are also accepted on their website (books2prisoners.org) as well as by check or money order (payable to: IMC Books to Prisoners).  Their mailing address is UC Books to Prisoners Donations, Box 515, Urbana IL 61803.

UC Books to Prisoners also accepts donations of current computer hardware for use by our volunteers in their sorting and packing facility as well as by volunteers doing outreach in our community. The need is for desktop computers, preferably PC’s (running on Windows), and not Macs, not older than 5 years. They can also take iPads that are not older than 5 years.

 

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  Feb 4th Feb 11th Feb 18th Feb 25th
         
Reflection Eddie Bridges Scott Paceley Robb Patton Jerry Payonk
Notetaker Perry Hodson Conforti Perry

 

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

*All meetings via Zoom unless otherwise noted*

 

February 4th – Tom Hodson, Shelter Box (Charlie)

February 11th – Kellie Anderson, Director, Family Service Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (Mary)

February 18th – Lindsey Kerr, Executive Director of LifeLine Pilots (Ondine)

February 25th – D’Chyna Deen, Champaign Housing Authority, will tell us about their Youth Build program (Mary)

March 4th – TBD (Bob)

March 11th – Robin Stapf, Training and Recruitment Coordinator, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) (Cary)

March 18th – TBD (Charlie)

March 25th – Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Professor of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Director of the Illinois Program in Constitutional Theory, History, and Law will discuss the First Amendment (Tom)

April 1st – TBD

April 8th – TBD

April 15th – TBD

April 22nd – TBD

April 29th – TBD