My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” ― Maya Angelou 
 
Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.” ― Richard Bach 
 
Grief can take care if itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” ― Mark Twain 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)
 
Cary announced that for health reasons, Neil is leaving the club.  Please contact Neil and wish him well.
 
Nestor Ramirez announced Prescription Drug Pay Back Day.   You can drop off old prescription drugs in a box at the OSF lobby.
 
Fruit orders are due by November 16.
 
Diana introduced Kim Bryan.   Kim is a potential member who will be our speaker next week.
 
 
 
PROGRAM
 
Mary introduced Chris Gleason, Executive Director of Rosecrance Central Illinois.  Rosecrance was originally founded as an orphanage in Rockford, Illinois.   Today, their mission has grown to include addiction treatment programs.   Rosecrance recently acquired Community Elements and the Prairie Center.   
 
Unless someone has cancer or a serious bone break, Ibruprofen or Tylenol are sufficient for pain control.   
 
People addicted to alcohol are two times more likely to get addicted to heroin.   People who use marijuana are three times more likely to become addicted to heroin.   People who use cocaine are 15 times more likely to do so.   People who become addicted to opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin.  A bag of heroin costs just $10-20 and it takes just two weeks to get addicted. 
 
Champaign County had 56 opiate related mortalities last year.   That number is actually low compared to other counties in Illinois.   Those dying are typically age 22-27 or 55 and older.   Older people often get confused about their meds and don’t remember how many they have taken.  On average, 172 Americans die from opiate overdoses every day.
 
When someone goes to the Emergency Room with an overdose, they are given Narcan and sent home.   Chris’ dream would be to see those individuals referred immediately to an addiction counselor.    There will be no wait list for services at Rosecrance of Central Illinois.   Rosecrance provides services at their facilities located on Fox Drive, Walnut St. and Killarney.   Their Hill St. residential facility is moving to Moreland Dr. near Hobby Lobby.  
 
What can we do to help?   We need to support families touched by addiction just as we support families touched by cancer.   The most beneficial thing families can do is to sit down and have a family meal every night.   And we all should go through our medicine cabinets and take unused prescription drugs to drop off sites like OSF and the police department.  

 

  Nov 1st Nov 8th Nov 15th Nov 22nd
Introductions Bob La Charite Candy Loyd Ben Mast No 
Reflection Mary Hodson Darrell Hoemann Larry Johnson meeting
Greeters Bob La Charite Candy Loyd Ben Mast on
Angie Schoonover Jen Shelby Charlie Smith Turkey
Song Leader Ed Perry Rod Roberts Angie Schoonover Day
Notetaker Conforti Perry Penwell  


 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)
November 1st – Kim Bryan, Executive Director, Rattle the Stars (Diana)
November 8th – Dr. Angela Williams, Associate Director, Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, UIUC (Bob)
November 15th – Bryan Medlin, Illinois Wrestling’s Regional Training Center (Charlie)
November 22nd – No Meeting – Thanksgiving
November 29th – Sue Grey, President / CEO United Way of Champaign County (David)
December 6th – Glenn Harbin, District 6490 Membership Chair, is going to tell us about a micro loan organization, Kiva (Mary)
December 13th – TBD (Phyllis)
December 20th – TBD (Tom)
December 27th – TBD (Bob)
January 3rd – TBD (Charlie)
January 10th – TBD (David)
January 17th – TBD (Mary)
January 24th – TBD (Phyllis)
January 31st – TBD (Tom)