Proposed for Membership:

 

Jeff Garcia,

Financial Advisor, Spectrum Capital Management. 

Home Address:

102 Rawlinson Rd., 14617

Sponsor: Dave Shaheen

 

Guests: Jeff Garcia, Linda Kohl

 

Kenn Van Dieren reminded us of the 28 days in February Foundation Drive.   Rotary District 7120  is looking for $28 from  each member to make up a shortfall.  Everyone donating will be put in for a drawing of 1000 points for a Paul Harris award. Make check to Rotary Foundation for $28 and get to Kenn. 

 

Linda Kohl:  May 4-6 is District Conference in Saratoga Springs.  Lots of history will be covered with a bus tour.  Hotel is a Hilton in the main drag of town near plenty of restaurants and bars.  Lots of fun and she encourages all to attend.  Still a discount to sign up.  Cinco de Quattro party will be held and they will have a Derby Day party also in honor of the Kentucky Derby.  Click HERE to register.

 

Dick Butler reported on the New Members Open House held last Monday.  Jeff  Garcia attended Lou DiPrima helped out.  Another will be scheduled in 2 about months.  So far it has been very successful thanks to Dick and Linda Butler.

 

BJ Cunningham read a note from the Dictionary Project thanking us for participating in this program each year.  Overall, we have provided over 5,500 dictionaries to Irondequoit 3rd graders.  The national group distributed over 1.6 million dictionaries this year and almost 30 million over the years.

 

There will be a ribbon cutting for the Ballpark scoreboards we donated on April 28th.  This will start with a parade at 8:45 at the Town Hall.

 

Bob Scheidt introduced his better half, Judene.  Judene is involved in No One Left Behind (NOLB), a non-profit in Rochester which is a volunteer group she joined 4 months ago.  Dedicated to the resettlement of military interpreters and support personnel who worked for the US mission in Afganistan.  These families have been targeted by the Taliban for helping the US and so need to flee the country to save their lives.  NOLB provides rental assistance, food, banking,  help with settlement such as how to use buses, register kids in school, etc.  They try to get these immigrants self sufficient in 6 months.  Most come to US with only one suitcase each.

 

Judene works with 2 families to help them get settled.  First family, the father was a translator.  A bomb went off near his home that left him hard of hearing and killed 400 people.  They are taking English classes and his wife is pregnant with morning sickness so it makes it difficult.  First task was to try and get wife's phone to work here.  Tasks like this force Judene to get out of her comfort zone which she appreciates.

 

Another family arrived on Dec 13 with 5 children under the age of 12.  Husband was a supporter of US military against Taliban.   The Taliban terrorized his son and his parents.  Some family members were targeted and killed by Taliban.  Judene is helping by enrolling children in city school district at the International school which has been a great experience ("Angels on Earth").

 

These families have have touched her heart and NOLB needs more volunteers to do the same.  Judene say it has been a pleasure to help NOLB  "keep our promise"  to those who risked their lives and their families lives to help the US mission in Afganistan.  Most of funding for NOLB comes from fundraisers and other charities.  Red tape causes up to 2-3 year wait for some families looking to flee.  NOLB bridges the gap that exists between current State Department and NGO refugee relief programs, and provide assistance with housing, employment and cultural adaptation. They treat their clients as the heroic veterans they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multiple contributions for:  Judene's presentation,  Mendick Chamber award for Persons of the Year,  Jeff Garcia joining and Dick Butler for work on membership.

 

John Mendick - $100 for those attending Chamber Dinner at Yacht club for award and for his doctor checkup all ok;  Jeff Garcia -  thanks for having him as member; Dave Shaheen - Kenn and he went to grant seminar so our club qualifies, Tony Sortino's health,  and Jerry Marzano's  health; Norb Rappl - State of the Union; Dick Butler - Membership meeting; Lou DiPrima - Membership meeting and Linda Kohl being here; Kenn Van Dieren - for all contributing $28 to foundation and for being in New Jersey again for Super Bowl; BJ Cunningham - Honor Flight meeting;  Bob Scheidt - his kids sent him and Judene to a comedy show; Lee Steinfeldt - Betty Carpenter award for NYS water survival trainer in Air Force; Peter Mendick - $50 for Chamber award and for John's heart and his brain being ok;  Bob Spatola - treasurer help from Bob Scheidt and Mark Hiscock for handling pay table.