“Teachers open the doors, but you must enter by yourself.” – Chinese Proverb

 

“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” – Buddha – Philosopher

 

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” – Unknown

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Eduardo Perry)

 

Bucket money has been going to The Angle Fund which is administered by Cunningham Township. See the link at https://www.toi.org>angel-donor-fund for more information. Our next Bucket money will be going to The Prosperity Gardens.

 

Please remember to submit your annual Rotary dues to Lou as soon as possible.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Tom Ulen introduced Gabe Lewis as this morning’s speaker. Gabe is a planner with Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (RPC). Gabe has been with the RPC for 13 years and has been involved in regional transportation studies and demographic planning. His program this morning dealt with the US 2020 Census.

 

Gabe noted that as required by the US Constitution every person in the United States must be counted every ten years. This work is conducted by the US Census Bureau which works with local organizations such as the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. The census information, once compiled, serves to establish the federal spending which will be distributed to the states, cities and local governmental organizations and each state’s representation in the House of Representatives. 

 

The amount of money distributed corresponds to the area population. Studies have shown that the amount of this federal spending can average $1,400 per person each year for 10 years or $14,000. The number of US House of Representatives from each state is also based on that state’s population. Illinois, with its declining population, lost 1 representative in 2010 and may lose 2 more in 2020. Businesses, education, health care, transportation and local government organizations are just a few of the organizations who use the census information for planning and development. 

 

The RPC, along with many other groups, have been working locally to get the word out and receive the needed information for a complete count in our area. They are working with housing authorities, libraries, health departments, churches, homeless organizations and attend many community activities distributing information. 

 

This year the Census, which is available in 59 languages, may be done either online, mail, phone or in person. It is estimated that 80% is done by self-response with 20% needed to be completed in person by door to door. Completion dates have been pushed back by the Corvid-19, and the current schedule is now for the door to door census taking to begin on August 11 and be completed on October 31. 

 

Gabe shared many numbers and the percentages of various people, age groups and income levels of people who make up our Country. These numbers are established as the responses are counted. As of today, 60% of people in the US have responded with 66% responding in Illinois and 63% in Champaign County. It is a monumental and necessary task to provide an accurate census. 

 

 

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  June 11th June 18th June 25th July 2nd
         
Reflection Ata Durukan Ondine Gross David Henry Mary Hodson
Notetaker Hodson Conforti Perry Penwell
Decker Weeding Perry Johnson Baran Shelby
Next Weekend        

 

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

*All meetings via Zoom*

 

June 11th – Dean Plumadore, president of the Champaign County Sports Car Club will talk about the group’s activities and how you can participate (Cary)

June 18th – Arielle Gross Samuels (Ondine’s daughter), Head of Global Business Strategy and Engagement at Facebook, will provide an overview of Facebook’s response to the Pandemic and key lessons learned on how to keep people safe, build useful products, and support businesses of all sizes

June 25th – Pass the Gavel ceremony

July 2nd – TBD (Mary)

July 9th – Club Assembly

July 16th – District Governor Mike Step

July 23rd – TBD (Bob)

July 30th – Club Social

August 6th – TBD (Cary)

August 13th – TBD (Charlie)

August 20th – TBD (Ondine)

August 27th – TBD (Tom)

September 3rd – TBD

September 10th – TBD

September 17th – TBD

September 24th – TBD

October 1st – TBD