Announcements
This month’s bucket money goes to the Champaign Park District summer Camp scholarship program.
Program
Our speaker, Sam Banks, Chief Executive Officer of the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club for the past three years, has dedicated his life to serving youth at risk and minorities. The former CEO of Cunningham Children’s Home and the Glenwood School for Boys and Girls in Chicago, was also well known as a Big 10 College basketball official.
To achieve its motto “Great Futures Start Here” the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club sponsors programs for character and leadership, education and career development, the arts, and sports and fitness. Among these is a youth of the year program and a smart girls program. Throughout the year the club provides snacks and in the summertime meals so that all children are ready to participate. The club is all about putting smiles on the faces of young people, uplifting their lives, and connecting them to the community to know that others care and want to help them realize their potential.
Since 1968 the focus has been on promoting academics and day to day healthy lifestyles. During the school year members come from 2:30 to 6:00pm for tutoring and activities. The club is open on the weekend with structured and supervised activities from 7:30am to 9pm. Sports programs are offered on weekends and in the summer as well as field trips, academics like the Summer Brain Game sponsored the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Teen Nights.
Over 500 kids have been members but the club has touched an additional 300 with special activities. 70% of the members are in the 1st through 8th grades; 30% are teens. 55% are boys: 80% are African American. Most are from single parent homes; many have at-risk challenges in their lives.
Eight staff members and numerous volunteers, including university students, provide services for the members. There is a modest $10 membership fee for participants during the year. The summer camp fee is $200. The yearly budget of $1,000,000 is funded by community organizations and agencies such as the United Way and the East Central Illinois Community Foundation, as well as generous businesses and individuals. Three fundraisers help support the club: Dancing with the Stars, the annual Golf Outing (on June 19 this year), and the Steak and Burger Dinner. An ongoing funding challenge is providing a replacement for the present facility which is outdated.
In terms of outcomes and results, the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club turns lives around. Many alumni become mentors, university graduates, and business people in our community. For more information see www.ambgc-cu.org
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| May 28th | June 4th | ||
| Introductions | Phillip Holthaus | Larry Johnson | |
| Invocation | Scott Paceley | Robb Patton | |
| Greeters | Phillip Holthaus | Larry Johnson | |
| Phyllis Mischo | Gary Olsen | ||
| Song Leader | Ben Mast | John McDaniel | |
| Notetaker | Conforti | Perry | |
| Rotary Minute | Larry Johnson | Dave Krchak |
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UPCOMING SCHEDULE
May 28th – Antonia Rivera, Rotary Youth Exchange
June 4th – Maria Bohri, Learning in Community (LINC), Engineering Education projects, UIUC
June 11th – Kathie Spegal, Coordinator, Illinois Radio Reader, and former CU Sunrise Rotarian
June 18th – Andy Leipold will discuss grand juries and Ferguson, MO
June 25 – TBD
July 2 – Chief Anthony Cobb, Champaign Police Department
July 9 – TBD
July 16 – Jen Shelby will discuss the Cannes Film Festival
July 23rd – Phil Hoggatt, Harbor Light Hospice
July 30th – TBD
August 6th – TBD
August 13th – TBD
August 20th – TBD
August 27th – Barry Pittendrigh, Department of Entomology, UIUC
