 Program - Randy Spencer - Solid Rock Teen Center - The Rock, Mesa Pam Cohen introduced our speaker. Randy is the Partnership and Development Director for Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Foundation which has hosted the Solid Rock Teen Center in Phoenix for many years and has recently opened The Rock teen center located at 122 North Country Club in Mesa. A few members of Mesa West were on hand for the open house held at the center on September 3. Randy has been associated with The Solid Rock Foundation for over twenty-four years, The Rock center in Phoenix for nine years and now, the new center in Mesa.  The focus at the centers is to serve youth aged 12-20. Kids are struggling now. They need safe space. Alice Cooper wants to do something deeper in his home community. Kids twelve and over have lots of idle time. At the centers, music, art and dance lessons are free. At the centers, one will find a very diverse group who want to express themselves. The goal is to inspire them and guide them to better decisions. The center in Phoenix has 28,000 square feet. It contains recording studios. They have open mic once a month. Music, dance and games are all available. The new Mesa Center has a basketball court in its back yard. There are some opportunities for the young musicians to perform. November 5, some were scheduled to perform at Lu Malmati's Pizzeria in Mesa. Last week, they had a photo class. Workshops are scheduled where kids can learn from different people - many of them celebrities. Kids work directly with renowned artists to learn skills.  There is a lot of community involvement. Youth from the centers have performed at Phoenix Suns Games and other community events. Often these are paid performances - the funds go to the foundation and are passed on to the participating youth. In many cases, it is their first pay check. The are proactive about encouraging youth to further their education. Randy spoke about an incentive at a correction facility, where teens submitted recipes. Two won and were given scholarships. They were released six months ago and are starting college. Randy spoke about a project called Art Heals. youth prepared 2500 pieces of art which were donated to senior citizens, first responders, and caregivers and were displayed.  Some creative partnerships have been formed to raise funds to support the centers. One of them is the Alice Cooper Orange Scream Milk Bottle. $25,000 has been raised with that partnership. Try some - you might like it, and you'll help the centers! Jordin Sparks is one celebrity whose path to fame began at a Solid Rock teen center. November 10 at the Mesa Arts Center - a finals competition will be held - and attendance will be free. December 4 at Celebrity Theater will be another performance. There are many stories. There is diversity in the music learned at the centers. Lives are changed and for many they feel like they are seeing a chance for themselves for the first time. For others it truly has provided a like saving space. During Q&A, Pam commented that she had the opportunity to caddy for Alice Cooper at a fundraising golf tournament, and found him to be someone who genuinely cares. Randy told about taking care of very real needs for some of the youth. One boy showed up wearing glasses that were literally taped together. When asked, he confessed it had been over four years since his last exam and he knew his vision had changed. Shortly thereafter, he had a new prescription and new glasses. They keep gift cards in a drawer for grocery stores and discreetly give them out when they learn that kids are going home to a house with no groceries on hand. The Coopers do fund a lot, but a lot of their sources of funding are golf tournaments, concerts, dinners, auctions, Those kinds of events were cancelled during height of COVID pandemic. They have lots of partnerships with businesses who contribute. It truly takes a village... Alice Cooper has a big heart. It gives him and many other artists a good feeling when they can use their celebrity to do good. Randy told about one painting that was donated which they chose not to auction. It had a $1.5 million price tag. Bob Jensen told about Dr. Jeff McKenna who has participated with our hearing project in Mexico knew Alice very well. Before the program ended, Bob Jensen said he owned a base guitar and amplifier he would be donating to the center. He said 80% of the youth served live within a five mile radius, but he also said that there is a lot of collaborating between both centers with some traveling back and forth. Foster groups visit the centers from all over the state. CLICK HERE to view a YouTube video about The Rock in Mesa.
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Last year the club was introduced to a program called Vello which is virtual tutoring in reading to a 1st-3rd grader. The program is organized through the Valley of the Sun United Way. 
Rotary Minute - Chris Krueger
Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
