Brad Weiss recognized Horton Kellogg’s return to attending club breakfast meetings after the passing of his wife.

 

Dave Simmons presented a tutorial on how to access Club Runner for Club minutes.

 

Kathy Tate-Bradish announced the upcoming Evanston Primary Election Candidate Forums sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Evanston to be held on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. for the mayoral candidates and from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the 5^th Ward Alderman candidates. The primary will narrow the field of candidates for mayor and 5^th Ward alderman before the April 4 general election. If one candidate wins 51% of the primary vote, that person will win the seat. If not, the top two candidates will face off in the general election. Kathy also noted that OPAL (Organization for Positive Action and Leadership) is also holding a candidate forum and encouraged attendees to go to their website for more details (opalevanston.com).

 

Brad Weiss announced that the Lighthouse club will be collaborating with the Noon club to hold a mayoral forum at the RI auditorium in the evening of Feb. 22. There will be no breakfast meeting on Feb. 21. More details to follow.

 

Elaine Clemens announced the upcoming Vocational Service Committee meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m. at her house – 1106 Seward St., Evanston.

 

Brad Weiss announced that the district is sponsoring a “Mystery Trip” on March 19. Cost is $375.

 

Brad thanked Marv Edelstein for helping out during the past two weeks during his absence. Brad just returned from a service trip to Haiti with his son. He thanked the club for allowing him to have these experiences and also thanked Yves Lassere for making the connection for him that facilitated the trip.

 

Brad reminded the attendees of the "Fellowship Dinner" previously announced by Nick Powers and scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 25 at Bluestone Restaurant at 1932 Central St. in Evanston.  

 

Brad also thanked all the Rotarians who attended the ABCs of Rotary yesterday at RI.

 

He also announced that the Peace Fellowship application period is currently open at Rotary6440.org.

 

Kristin Brown shared her positive experiences at the Womens March in Washington and mentioned the names of the other Rotarians from the club who attended either the Washington march or the one in Chicago. Helen Oloroso added that there were many men and families in attendance as well.

 

 

Chip Uchtman and Dale Bradley (AKA Chip and Dale) presented a status update on the Taste of Evanston 2017 activities. Taking a page from Dave Simmons’ last week presentation, Dale and Chip focused on identifying the what, why, when, how, where, and who while planning for the event. The event will take place on July 9 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Dawes House. The cost is $80 per person and $25 for children. Several businesses in Evanston are sponsoring the event. They came up with a term “BenePartners” for the organizations that will benefit from the proceeds and also will have the responsibility to help the club to spread the word. Given all who will benefit from the event in addition to the fun and fellowship, we should consider the $80 as a donation. They briefly described the three BenePartners: JJ’s List – an organization that trains people with disabilities; WE – Work Ethic – a program of mentoring, training, and financial assistance for ETHS students interested in vocational and technical careers; and Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse – an organization that trains reconstruction skills to people from low income, homeless, and ex-offenders.

 

 

 

Ken introduced the representatives of the organizations that received a grant from the club last year and they proceeded to thank the club:

 

Patrick Devlin of The Moran Center began by relating that his brother, who has severe autism, was invited to join a Rotary club in New York and was so well received to the point where he was voted Rotarian of the Year last year. An event that really pleased him and his entire family and they all appreciate Rotarians for their spirit of inclusion. The grant received last year enabled the Moran Center to engage about 400 youth in Evanston to explain the consequences of having a criminal record. The center was able to help expunge the records of many youth. The grant was part of a larger grant that included contributions by the Cook County Court system and the Evanston Community Foundation. Patrick answered questions about other options available when the individual’s record is not expungable. He also offered further assistance if anyone knows of such a case.

 

Kim Hammock of Books & Breakfast indicated the organization has been in existence in Evanston for more than 30 years. The organization started at the Orrington Elementary School when many teachers noted that several students were coming to school without having breakfast in the morning.  After contacting several entities around the city and school officials, the teachers took action and started the program. The longest run program is at Dewey School. The program nearly went out of existence about six years ago when the pool of volunteers began to dry up. Several concerned citizens and teachers began a re-thinking of the program and it started anew with a vision that ‘Every child will enter the classroom physically, emotionally, and holistically ready.”  The program offers a nutritious breakfast and homework assistance to Evanston students in need of additional support. The program is being expanded to several schools. She thanked the club for the support.

 

Krys Juleen of Bundled Blessings described the organization as a seven-member committee started in 2013 after research showed that several Evanston families were in need for diapers as they were unable to pay for these products from their government assistance fund. She noted that 17 percent of families in Evanston fall below the poverty level and many of them had a need for diapers. The organization obtained the diapers through direct donations of diapers and donations of money. The organization works with nine local social services organizations to distribute the diapers to their respective clients; Bundled Blessings does not distribute diapers to individuals. Bundled Blessings distributed on average between 11,000 to 15,000 diapers a month and last year distributed a total of 110,000 diapers. She thanked the club for the donation which was used to buy several sizes of diapers not commonly donated.

 

Jeanie Ramsey of SASI described the services offered by the organization which was founded in 1975. The services help adults who, due to aging, illness or injury, need assistance to be safe and comfortable at home.  The grant provided by the club helped SASI provide training and seminars on caregivers regarding the care of elderly with Alzheimer. Three customized workshops were offered to caregivers. Most caregivers were able to successfully complete the training and were provided with Alzheimer Care Training Manual. Their mottos are “Activities offer a better quality of life” and “You are safe with me.”

 

Christine McCall of Peer Services noted that the organization provides community-based substance abuse prevention and treatment services to adolescents and to young adults. Realizing the Latino population was underserved, the organization hired a Cuban-American professional to address the needs of that population. The organization also collaborated with ETHS to help parents discuss these issues with their children. They exceeded all targets established for the program – 41 Latino youth were engaged versus a goal of 25 and a retention rate of 82 percent, versus a target of 66 percent was achieved.

 

Lou Dickson of Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse began by showing a video during which a young man compared the care of deconstruction of a building and reclaiming of building materials to the care of giving a second chance to those who have experienced unfortunate events in their lives. Lou also mentioned that they could use anyone with wood working skills in a teaching capacity. The training is provided to those who have had chronic barriers to employment. The only requirements are good work ethics and willingness to learn. Lou invited the attendees to stop by their location at 2101 Dempster St. if they are in need of vintage building materials.

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy Kwiathess, Rockford

Bobbi Burke, Rochelle

Ruth Lee, Rockford

Elise Cadigan, Rockford

Luis Abreu, Rotary exchange student

Cassie Tingley, Rotary exchange student

 

 

Krys Juleen, Bundled Blessings

Sue Hagedorn, Bundled Blessings

Christine McCall, Peer Services

Lou Dickson, Evanston Rebuilding

Kim Hammock, Books & Breakfast

Patrick Devlin, Moran Center

Jeanie Ramsey, SASI

Keith Krueger, Heartland Service

 

 

Kristin Brown, 6 years

 

 

Greeters:   Carol Bild and Harold Bauer

Meeting set-up:  Susan Prout and Sri Sakthivel

Breakdown:  Fran Caan and Steve Carlson