Presiding: Caitlin White
Professor’s Quote: Terry Roark
Humor: Todd Pearson
Meeting Room setup/takedown and general problem solving: Tom Mangan and Ron Van Ekeren
Introduction of Guests: Steve Morgan
Guests: Shaun Bullock introduced Hope Quade; Amy Aldrich introduced Dallin Cooper; Rollin Abernethy introduced the Junior Rotarians.
Junior Rotarians: Jack Nyman and Aedian O’Conner
Foundation Drawing: Ollie Walter won $10 with 22 cards in the deck and $1224 in the pot
O’Dwyers Drawing: Ron Van Ekeren won a $20 gift card from O’Dwyer’s.
Announcements:
• Annette Mello announced the Christmas party is Friday, December 7 with cocktails at 5:30 and dinner to follow. RSVP with Annette.
• Tim Eisenhauer announced Salvation Army bell ringing opportunities.
• Noel Welch announced that our Christmas family is a family of 7 – 2 adults and 6 children and we raised $600 to buy them gifts.
• Caitlin White – received several Christmas cards for the Club and passed them around.
• Caitlin also noted that Megan Goetz has agreed to coordinate Rotary Reads.
Rotarians of the Week: Nicole Hauser nominated Megan Goetz for agreeing to coordinate Rotary Reads.
Songs: Jan Lawrence – O’ Come Al Ye Faithful and Deck the Halls
Rotary 4-way Test:
Of the things we think, say, or do
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it Fair?
- Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?
- Will it be Beneficial to all concerned
Rotary Fun Facts:
- The first Rotary club meeting was in Chicago IL on 23 February 1905.
- The object of Rotary is “to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise.”
- The 1989 Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as the principal motto Rotary, since it best explains the philosophy of unselfish volunteer service.
- One of the most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics in the world is The 4-Way Test. It was created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932.
Program: Ted Cramer, Laramie Soup Kitchen
Introduction of Program: Paul Heimer
The Laramie Soup Kitchen has been serving the hungry in the Laramie Community since 1983. It was started by a group of local church women who prepared meals in their own homes to serve 10 to 12 people in whatever public space was available; they soon moved to the Salvation Army building and in 1988, they moved to the undercroft at St. Matthews Episcopal Cathedral. They are open from 8-2 Monday through Friday and can send home meals for the weekend. They serve over 20,000 meals per year, with an average of 81 for lunch and a high of 115+ for lunch.
The mission of the Laramie Soup Kitchen (LSK) is to improve the quality of life for their guests by providing nutritious meals, opportunities for social interaction, and information about other local resources.
The big goal Mr. Cramer is working on right now is to eliminate all food waste in Laramie.
The big news is that the Laramie Soup Kitchen, located in the undercroft at St. Matthews, is now fully handicap accessible – this was big problem for years. The LSK is hosting Business After Hours on 12/20 for a ribbon cutting and to show off their extensive remodel.
Other news includes a Community Resource Guide for clients to help meet their health, safety and nutrition needs. LSK is also working with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Youth Crisis Center and Downtown Clinic to offer youth programs that include a meal with a snack afterwards.
All food that is served and redistributed by the LSK is donated, and totals over 100,000 pounds/year.
LSK is 80% funded by individual donations, which is really high for a non-profit. They are also a United Way agency and receive other grants.
Every year for the past 3 years LSK has held a highly-successful “Dueling Pianos” fund raiser. Last year they raised $37,000.
Responding for the Club: Dan Furphy
Response: The Rotary Club of Laramie will make a donation to the public library children’s book fund in the speaker’s name.
NOTE: We Do Not Donate a Book!
Spoke Editor: Tony Hoch, 307-760-9386 or tony.hoch@lrcd.net