Greetings fellow Rotarians! We kicked off our last meeting of 2018 by recognizing Ron Line for attaining the status of Paul Harris Fellow. Ron earned this distinction by donating over $1,000.00 to the Rotary Foundation. Thank you, Ron for your generous contributions!  Today’s speaker was Mark Redmond, Executive Director of Spectrum Youth and Family Services.  Spectrum is a non-profit organization that assists at-risk teenagers, young adults and their families by providing supportive housing, skills training and counseling services. At one point, 98% of Spectrum’s funding came from government resources, but Mark announced that 60% of its operations are now financed through fundraising and the generosity of donors. Recently, the family of Warren Buffett gifted over $400,000.00 to Spectrum for the purposes of refurbishing its overnight shelter and living center and transforming a church basement into a shelter that could accommodate up to 10 additional young adults on a nightly basis. In addition to his work with Spectrum, Mark is an acclaimed storyteller whose stories are frequently featured on The NPR’s The Moth: True Stories Told Live.  He demonstrated these skills by sharing an amazing story about a young man from Essex who overcame homelessness. Through the assistance of several different organizations and individuals, this individual not only went on to graduate from college, but he became the first person in his family to avoid spending time in prison. To learn more about Spectrum, please visit http://www.spectrumvt.org/. You can also learn more about Mark and his Moth appearances by visiting   https://themoth.org/storytellers/mark-redmond

            The arrival of winter means that preparations for the annual Rotary Hockey Classic have begun! As this is our Club’s second largest fundraiser, it is our hope that we can get the support and help from as many Rotarians as possible. Stay tuned for more information about this event and the exact date on which it will be held.  In the meantime, if you are interested in helping out with the preparations, or if you would like to learn more about the Hockey Classic, please contact Jeff Cabanaw at tarrisonus@comcast.net

 

            We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf on the following dates: Monday, January 8^th (5:15pm); Thursday, January 24^th (3:30pm); Monday, February 11^th (5:15pm); Thursday, February 28^th (3:30pm); Monday, March 11^th (3:30pm); and Thursday, March 28^th (3:30pm). Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com if you are able to fill any of these shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  The Club (and the newsletter) will be on hiatus for the holidays. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 9^th, 2019.

 

 

For the complete list of upcoming speakers and information about the Club, please go to our website at www.essexrotary.org   Be sure to also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EssexVermontRotary , on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/essexvermontrotary/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/essex_rotary

 

 

       Yours in Rotary,

 

Jason Ruwet