Rotaract - Gonzaga Univ Students

 

            April 22: Rotary serves. No project until May 11..

            April 29: (No program planned on fifth Monday of the month.)

            May 6: Luncheon meeting at Nectar: Program TBA.

            May 11: Rotary Serves. Members can sign up for Spokane Rotaract Junior Lilac Parade.  The organization starts at 7 a.m. with a breakfast at The Centennial Hotel (former Inn at the Park and RL).  Participants receive a T-shirt.  President Lenore Romney has registration sign-ups. The theme is “Bands on Broadway,” for this 68^th annual Junior Lilac parade.  Club 21 and Aurora Northwest are sponsors and Spokane-North members are welcomed participants.

            May 13: Rotary Connects.  Social gathering begins at 4:30 p.m. at Nectar Wine and Beer in Kendall Yards at 1331 W. Summit Parkway.

            Sept. 20: Club fund-raising wine tasting and dinner at Kalispel Golf and Country Club.

 

            New member: The next new member to join the club is Ron Schurra, sponsored by Art Rudd.  Club President Lenore Romney conducted the installation April 15.

            Ron and wife, Edie, recently moved to Kendall Yards.  Ron, an alumnus of both St. Louis University and the University of Michigan, worked in hospital administration for 42 years, including 10 years at Holy Family Hospital.  Ron and Edie have been married for 48 years and have three daughters and four grandchildren. 

 

              Scholarships due: Coordinator Brian Hipperson said April 30 is the deadline for the Jerry Saling Memorial Scholarships.  The club offers two $1,500 awards, usually selected from North Central, Shadle Park, Rogers high schools and the On Track Academy.

 

 

          

            The crowd didn’t quite match the raucous Kennel, but enthusiasm was very evident as new members of the Gonzaga University Rotaract Club described their plans at the club’s April 15 luncheon.

 

            Talking about their plans were GU freshmen Nate Verboort, Tyler Zangaglia and Justin Leach.  Each are from Sammamish.  Nate and Tyler worked in their Rotary Interact Club and Justin worked in Boy Scouts, including as an Eagle Scout.

 

            The new 20-member Rotaract Club include five members from Sammamish, Nate said.  Some 17 of the new club members worked at the new Faith Promise of Spokane project along with several Rotary members for the homeless March 23 on a chilly Saturday morning.  The former grocery building is at Napa and Mission.

 

            Working with the homeless is one common thread for the new “Rotaractors.”  Though there aren’t many homeless people in Sammamish (population 65,000), there are thousands in the Seattle area, about 20 miles west. 

 

            Tyler said the lakeside suburban city “is a bubble, with not much homeless, but our peers got a view of the issue” working in Seattle.

 

            Some of the work with the homeless in Spokane may involve Rotaract projects, they said.

 

            The GU students were involved in the school’s Club Fairs for service, but they are one-day events, Nate said, and the students wanted “to reach out and get more opportunities on a consistent base for outreach.”

 

            Enter the GU Rotaract, sponsored by the Spokane-North Club and South Rotary.

 

            Justin said his time in scouting involved some projects, but scouting was more skills-centered.  “With scouts we served food at tent cities and it helped change our focus – not to avoid the homeless, but to find ways how to contribute.”

 

            Tyler said the groups have worked on service projects “for five years no, but this was too much for one group.”

 

            The students say Rotaract “we’ll show wear a bigger part of the Spokane community.”

 

            As the presentation and questions closed, new club member Ron Schurra said the students touched “three things: you give (tangible) things, you give us inspiration and you show us that the homeless are really good people, for the most part.”

 

            And for a village dealing with homelessness, it will take a whole village to solve the problems.

 

            At a glance: Rotary’s youth force grows

           

            Rotary International reaches out to young people from ages 12 to 30.

 

            Rotaract – for people 18-30 -- began as an RI program in 1968 in Charlotte, N. Car.

 

            The purpose “is to create opportunities for young men and women to enchance the knowledge and skills, to help personal development and to address the physical and social needs of their communities.”

 

            The RI website lists 10,904 Rotaract clubs, with more than 250,000 members in 184 countries.

 

            RI says Interact – for ages those 12-18 – has 20,372 clubs, with 468,000-plus “Interactors” in 159 countries.

                       

            New club board elected unanimously

           

            The club’s new officers and directors were elected unanimously at the April 15 luncheon meeting.  The list:

                     President: Melinda Keberle

           

            President Romney said the club’s annual dinner and installation of officers will be Monday, June 24, at the Kalispel Golf and Country Club’s 1898 Restaurant.

           

            Holmes projects, cont.

            As plans emerge for the Rotary year, club members are asked to get more active and to assume some of the leadership duties for projects at Holmes Elementary School.

           

            Members Sandy Fink and Nancy Hanson are coordinating the projects, but need more help.

           

             At the April 15 meeting, Sandy listed the goals and timelines:

 

                        Holmes Mentor: Goal: develop a friendship with a Holmes student on a one-to-one basis.

                                  Timeline: School year or partial year, September to June.

                        School Supplies: Goal: Provide staff and students for the school year.

                                  Timeline: Spring – gather needs.  Summer – get list of supplies to Staples. August: Arrange delivery and store supplies.

                       Holmes Heroes shirts: Goal: Provide T-shirts to students selected for monthly heroes.

                                  Timeline: Aug.-Sept. --Obtain budget from club board. Give Holmes th budget for ordering.  Obtain invoice from school and request payment.

                       Principal Emergency Fund: Goal: Provide money for emergency supplies for students.

                                  Timeline: Three times a year – October, January and April.

                       Christmas Gifts: Goal: Provide gifts for needy students.

                                 Timeline: In October contact school for the families.  In November give list to club members. In December arrange collection and delivery of gifts.

                      Golden Heroes Awards: Goal: Provide students and teachers for money to buy books for Golden Hero winners.

                                Timeline: Supply the school with money to buy books one month before the awards assemblies, usually in December, March and June.