President Ken Drummet opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Robert Mardirossian led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ken shared two thoughts for the day: “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Bill Leske shared fun facts about this day in history for Dig-N-Grin.
After lunch, Happy Bucks were shared by Wes Baumann, Moha Bouacha, and Barb Tubekis. Robert Mardirossian conducted an impromptu live auction for Cubs tickets for an August 19 game at 7:05pm, Cubs vs Brewers. Two of our speakers, Tommy and Dave, won the auction!
Amy Skalinder shared that the next Rock the Garden date at the Community House is August 7 (5pm-8pm). It’s a free event and a great opportunity for Rotarian fun and fellowship. Amy’s band will be playing and there will be food for purchase from Pizza by Sal (along with beer, wine, soda, and snacks).
Bill Leske introduced our speaker, Alisa Martorano, Director of Development for TotalLink to Community, an organization whose mission is to empower adults with disabilities to thrive by working, socializing, learning, and contributing to our communities - making their families, workplaces, and communities better for it.
Alisa shared information about the organization’s history and programs. She noted that after high school, young people with disabilities experience a marked reduction in services and supports available to them. TotalLink aims to fill that gap and more. She shared a video about one of their clients and the broader goals of the organization. They have over 30 social and learning programs, plus job training, placement, and coaching.
Alisa invited Tommy, an 18-year-old program participant at TotalLink, up to the mic along with his dad, Dave. They shared their personal experiences with the organization. Please visit the TotalLink website for more information about this wonderful organization!
The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.
Join Rotary Clubs from our District each month for a lunchtime learning session focused on mental health awareness, resources, and advocacy. Free and open to all. Next Session: Monday, August 4th Featured Speaker: Jeff Rabin Register Here for August 4th We will learn about the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Cook County North Suburban's programs to educate, support and advocate to end the stigma of mental illness. This monthly series highlights expert voices and practical insights to help individuals, families, and communities thrive. Learn more: www.namiccns.org
The Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Club is collaborating with the Wilmette and Evanston Lighthouse clubs to prepare bagged lunches forConnections for the Homelessonce a month, on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:00PM. Location is St. Joseph's church at Lake and Ridge in Wilmette.
312 626 6799; Meeting ID: 198 435 237; Password: 798428 (note, if asked for User ID, press #).
Reminder- you can give happy bucks, dig n grin, birthday donations and other donations to our foundation at https://wnrotary.org/page/donate/ or by texting DIGNGRIN to 44-321.
The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield is teaming up with The Rotary Foundation and the Rotary Club of Rabat in the capital city of Morocco to establish a women's clothing cooperative in the village of Tomoulilt. This will be a project funded in part with a Rotary Foundation Global Grant (GG#2571461).
The program's objectives are to:
Create a revenue-generating cooperative run by stakeholders of village women/girls;
Empower women to run and manage a long-term sustainable and profitable business operation.
The project funds new equipment and training for the cooperative's participants. Training will encompass technical use of the equipment, entrepreneurial skills, business planning and management, sales and marketing planning, and financial management. The program's vision is to create a self-sustaining long term business enterprise for the participating women in Timoulilt.
Overall program budget is $100,000. The club is seeking cash and District Designated Funds (DDF) support from Rotary Clubs and Districts.
At the March 6 meeting, Rich Lalley presented an overview of the work of our two foundations- the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Foundation (WNRCF) and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) of Rotary International. You can review that presentation here.
The club's board has set a goal of achieving 100% participation in supporting TRF this Rotary Year. To reach this goal, every active member needs to donate a minimum of $25 to The Rotary Foundation. You can do this online by clicking here.
We also aspire to be a 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club. For member who are not yet a Paul Harris Fellow, once your donation level reaches $250 and you have made a contribution this year, our club will celebrate you with a Paul Harris Fellow Award.
We appreciate all of our members who have contributed generously to The Rotary Foundation and to our club's WNRCF foundation. Thank you!
Paul Harris Fellows
Bob Baker, Wes Baumann, David Birkenstein*, Moha Boucha, Debra Campbell, Ken Drummet, Tom Evans, David Grant*, Tony Kambich*, Marie Kuipers, Rich Lalley, Bill Leske, Robert Mardirossian, Ned Meisner, Chuck Norton, Lee Padgitt, ArLynn Presser, Fred Schwimmer*, Heidi Sibert, Peter Skalski, Liz Taylor, Barb Tubekis, Patti Van Cleave.
Bold indicates donation made this Rotary Year. * indicates Major Donor.
