https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3748672091
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210 United States of America
Our hybrid meetings are held weekly on the 1st thru 4th Thursdays of each month. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to include all, whether attending virtually or in person.
Wednesday, March 22, twelve members of the Westwood High School Interact Club, along with their chauffeurs, Pam Cohen, Ed Koeneman, and John Pennypacker spent the afternoon packing 20 boxes of food at Feed My Starving Children in Mesa. Doing the calculations of their contribution to the total effort of all volunteers working, it appears, our group packed enough boxes to provide 4,320 meals which would sustain 12 youngsters for a year at a cost of $1,252.80.
Opening of Meeting and Welcome - President Pam Cohen
Dave Brauchler offered the Invocation.
Ray Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance
President Pam thanked Gina Schroeder for filling in for Mike Schroeder who had volunteered to be greeter, but had an out-of-town client come in that needed his assistance. Diane Ware was also thanked for filling in as Greeter welcoming members who arrived early.
Introduction of Guests
Ed Koeneman introduced Adrian Bomorevez and Josephine Sili who have been selected to be Interact Ambassadors to Mexico to deliver wheelchair parts to a Rotary-connected project where individuals with disabilities repair wheelchairs, earning a living while helping others.. Both of the youth are members of the Westwood High School Interact Club, and both are in their junior year of high school. They will be travelling to Cuernavaca, Mexico this summer on their mission. They were at the meeting exchanging cookies for donations.
Those attending via Zoom were welcomed to the meeting: Pai Bethea, Bob Jensen and Debbie Koeneman.
Ace of Clubs Raffle - Chuck Flint
Chuck briefly explained the raffle,saying the holder of the winning ticket would win the small pot of $35 as well as the opportunity to try to draw the Ace of Clubs from the remaining cards in the deck. Should they be so lucky, they would win the large pot which was up to $245. The other way they might win would be if they drew the Joker which would be worth $20. He asked Warren Williamson to draw the winning ticket, which was held by Diane Ware. After shuffling the cards face down, the card she drew was the Six of Hearts.
Announcements
Dave Brauchler - Community Service announced he and Don LaBarge had delivered the items donated to the New Life Center by our club members to the Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club meeting March 15. He said they had a large pile of donated items plus $600-$700 in gift cards.
Shelly Romine - Club Service
April 8 - Spring Olympics at Koeneman residence. Ed said there might be a javelina roping contest. - Shelly urged members to sign up (see separate article in March 22 Messengerto follow link and do so)
June 29 - 50th Anniversary Celebration - The planning committee has met. All members play an important part of the success of this event
Get photos from 1973 or significant Rotary events and moments in your life to Ed Koeneman. You can give him an envelope - he will scan them and return them to you!
We are soliciting nominations for a non-Rotarian volunteer to be honored at the event
We are looking for input into a significant Rotary Club, Event, Project, or ongoing effort that is worthy of People of Action recognition at the event.
Colleen Coons asked members to sign up to attend the April 1 dinner to be held at her home. She volunteered a place to hold the dinner when she learned of a unique need when she travelled to Hermosillo Mexico to visit the Microcredit Project our club is involved with there. The event is intended to inform Arizona Rotarians about a Rotary project needing support in Hermosillo, Donations are not required to attend, but will be appreciated from those who are inspired to do so. Teresa Ruiz-Mendoza, Past President of Club Rotario Hermosillo, Milenio.willl be cooking traditional Mexican food. Diane Ware has volunteered to be her sous chef. Several years ago an indigenous tribe relocated to the Hermosillo area to work the fields. They stayed and had children. The Hermosillo club became aware that the children's births were not recorded. Consequently, they were not enrolled in school - they had no birth certificates. That issue has been remedied. A school is being built to provide education for the children. The short version of the need is that funds are needed to get the structure to the point that the materials provided by the Mexican government can be locked securely while the balance of construction takes place. The need for fund to make that happen is pretty immediate. Tax-deductible donations can be made through GivSum. The Tempe South Rotary Foundation can also accept tax-deductible donations. They will manage the disbursement on proof of completion and receipt(s) The link to RSVP for the April 1 event is in a separate article in the March 22 Messenger.
Pam Cohen reminded members who had taken children's books home to write messages and sign to please return them at the March 23 meeting. She said several Interact members had taken books home to sign over spring break. She also announced that Greg Bouslog who was scheduled to present our program had to fly out of town Wednesday evening after getting notified of a death in his family. Members were seated at tables with their sponsorship drive teammates with the hope they would strategize about raising funds from individuals and entities outside of our club, but money collected at the meeting would again go to the Interact Ambassador programs.
Adrian and Josephine where asked to share a little bit about how they got to where they are today in Interact
Josephine joined Interact during her Freshman year. It was the only service club that remained active during COVID. Huda Muhammed was president. They met online. There were projects they could do at home. Josephine was glad to have something to do. After they were able to meet at school again, they worked hard to rebuild a strong club. She was proud of the recognition Westwood HS Interact received at the recent Interact District Conference. She wanted to be an Ambassador on the Crutches for Africa team partly because she plans to be an anthropology major and thought the experience would provide her with a valuable perspective.
Adrian joined Interact during his junior year. He enjoys the opportunities to participate in service projects. Because the club is "Interactive" he feels he has grown as an individual. The process of being selected as an Ambassador is competitive in the Interact District. He is excited to have been selected as an Ambassador to Mexico as he feels that the opportunity to be immersed in another culture and see special needs adults successfully making a contribution will enable him to be more open minded.
Jeanie Morgan was aware that some people were feeling like there were feeling confused about money with two specific projects being talked about as well as kicking off a drive to raise funds for our club's charitable foundation. It had created a "deja vu" feeling for her, reminding her of how she felt when she first heard the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First" routine. For any member who would like to go back in time for a moment - or is too young to know about this comedic classic - CLICK HERE to watch the routine on YouTube. Jeanie did assure members who put more in the envelopes than they wanted to be used for the Ambassador missions, that she would honor there wishes about how their donation was recorded.
Bob Jensen pledged $100 for "that thing" and Pam Cohen contributed $100.
Happy Bucks - Ron Thompson
Dave Brauchler was happy to be involved with the choir at his church. They are having a concert on Friday, March 31. He promised to bring flyers to our next meeting.
Dick Myren contributed his traditional $2 - happy to report that our Honorary Member, Rod Daniels is doing better.
Warren Williamson contributed to tell about a customer in a Chicago bar who approached another customer saying, "You look like you might be Irish." #2 responded, "I am." #1 asked, Have you ever been in Ireland? #2 responded, "I grew up in central Dublin." #1 responded, "So did I. Did you by any chance go to St. Mary's?" #2 responded, "I did." #1 said, "So did I. What year did you graduate?" #2 said "1964" #1 responded "So did I!" About that time a regular customer came in and asked the bartender, "What's new?" The bartender responded, "Not much -The Murphy twins are drunk again."
Tom Yuzer contributed - he was happy they were going to have a visit from their granddaughter.
Chuck Flint contributed saying he wasn't sure why he was happy - much like a lab who doesn't know why his tail is wagging.
Diane Ware was happy to have recently learned that her grandfather was a long-time Rotarian in Pennsylvania.
Colleen Coons was happy to report that team #5 (Ron Thompson's team) was doing a nice job accumulating donations in their envelope.
Ed Koeneman was happy to have two of his favorite Interactors at the meeting, and very happy about the support the club was showing for their Ambassador opportunities. Ron thought maybe Ed had a trained pet javelina.
Ray Smith was happy to be just 30 days away from April 15.
Lola McClane contributed to share a time-appropriate knock/knock joke.
Ed and Debbie Koeneman have generously agreed to allow a revival of the Mesa West Spring Olympics to take place at their property on Saturday, April 8. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
Bill Nye's grandfather rented a tuxedo to attend a Rotary convention in Philadelphia. The tuxedo came with an untied bow tie and he didn't know how to tie it.
Just taking a chance he knocked on his hotel's next door and there was a guy there.
\- Excuse me, can you help me tie my tie?
\- Sure. Just lie down on the bed.
The grandfather wasn't sure what he was getting into, but he wanted to have the tie on.
So he lay down on the bed as he was told, and the guy tied a perfect bow tie knot.
Quite reasonably the grandfather asked, - Thank you, but why did I have to lie down on the bed?
The guy said, - I'm an undertaker. That's really the only way I know how to do it.
For our 50th Anniversary celebration, Ed is putting together a collection of photos of our members taken during the year when our club was formed. Please look through your old photos and send one or more to Ed
As Rotarians, we are regularly exposed to opportunities to support various causes with our time, talent and treasure. Sometimes it is hard to sift through all the information and decide where we are going to use our available financial resources.
It would be wonderful if every Arizona Rotarian would make the following BIG FOUR their Rotary charities of choice and support every one of them every year, we could make a bigger difference than we are making today.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Annual Fund - The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world." Giving a small amount each month adds up. CLICK HERE to download a form you can use to sign up for Rotary Direct, electing "Annual Fund - Share" for your recurring donation.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Polio Plus - Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio is so well known and respected that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matches donations $2 for $1. To take advantage of this opportunity to multiply the effect of your giving, CLICK HERE and download a second Rotary Direct form, this time electing electing "Polio Eradication" for your recurring donations. Those who donate $100 or more annually to Polio Plus qualify in District 5495 as Polio Plus Society Members. If you would like to make that commitment, CLICK HERE to download the commitment form.
The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA) provides vocational education grants to Arizona Residents who meet specific low-income guidelines. The grants enable the recipients to lift themselves out of poverty, benefitting themselves, their families and the economy of our state. TRVFA is a 501(c)(3) charity. They also are a Qualifying Charitable Organization for Arizona Tax Credit Donations. Their QCO Code is 20698. Many Arizona Rotarians say giving to TRVFA is a "no brainer." If you can help someone lift themselves out of poverty and it won't end up costing you anything why would you not do it? Mesa West Rotary has the highest number of members who have signed up for automated monthly recurring donations by electing that option on the "Donate Now" button on the TRVFA website. Click the image to learn more or CLICK HERE to DONATE NOW.
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:
Community Service
International Service
Vocational Service
Youth Service
The process isn't quite automated at this point in time, but we hope it soon will be. For now, you can email our executive secretary who can help you work out a recurring donation plan should you wish to make that arrangement to support our own club's charitable activity.
Just taking a chance he knocked on his hotel's next door and there was a guy there.
This is a REALLY big year for Mesa West.
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:.png)
