Last Saturday afternoon, I went to Turning Point Center to participate in a joint service project between our club and Heights Rotary Club. I went because I am the President and I thought it was my duty. Sometimes duty is all we have to pull us out of our self-involvement. What we do every 3rd Saturday at 4:45 is to help Heights Club serve dinner to 40-50 elderly homeless people. Through our club 501c3 charitable foundation (Memorial-Spring Branch Rotary Charities, Inc.) we also donate $150/month to help buy the food that we serve.
Stephen Monson, Sergeant-at-Arms of the Heights Club, is the driving force behind this project. He commands a crew of Heights volunteers who shop and cook the food. When I arrived, there were 2 giant pots of milky, buttery water coming to a boil in the kitchen, just about ready to mix with the instant mashed potatoes. A big pot of green beans was keeping warm and we were waiting for the friend chicken to arrive. Bill Haglund and Sheila Franklin, from our club, were setting up ranks of solo cups filled with ice and sodas. 4 watermelons were chilling in a tub of ice and I volunteered to be the slicer. Other people had set places around the 2 parallel rows of tables, and put out rolls. When the chicken arrived…we were ready!
As I moved among the diners, bringing extra chicken and second helpings, I didn’t have time to think about why they were there. I didn’t feel pity for them. They didn’t show up as needy people that I was there to “help”. They were there to enjoy a good meal and I was there to serve it! I loved it!
Bill and Sheila told me that the next 2 third Saturdays are big-time Aggie football weekends, so they won’t be there. I won’t be there in September, because I am representing our club at the Indian-American Chamber of Commerce Gala. So I need some other folks to step up. Stephen Monson will be at our Health Fair Service Project on Saturday. If you have a chance, get him to tell you about Turning Point Center and how he got involved.
Our next club board meeting is August 21st, immediately after the regular meeting. We meet on the 3rd Friday of every month, and our board meetings are always open to club members. Anytime you have something that you would like to present to the board, please let me know in a timely fashion so that I can get it on the agenda for the upcoming board meeting. We try to keep the meetings to an hour.
If you are planning to participate in the Health Fair Service Project, please let Ed Wilson know. You can email him at edkarenwilson2003@yahoo.com or you can text or call him at 713-302-9771. If you want to sit in the booth (which will be inside a large air-conditioned room) and hand out goodies to the kids, let him know that. If you want to take a more active part in the service project, let him know that as well. We need to let the event organizers know how many volunteers they can count on from us…and we need to do it right away.
Two new cases of Polio reported this week – 1 in Pakistan and 1 in Afghanistan. These numbers show only the number of people who get polio so bad that they are paralyzed. Only about 2% of the polio cases are paralytic, yet 100% of the cases are communicable! So this means that because we had 2 cases of polio reported, another 98 are running around thinking they have a bad cold and spreading the virus to people who have not been inoculated. Think about that. That’s why we are having a resurgence of whooping cough and measles right here in this country. Measles and whooping cough have never been eradicated.
YRS
Gwen
The object of Rotary is to encourage & foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:[3]
The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service
High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
The District Foundation Dinner has been scheduled for Friday, Sep 25 2015 at Maggiano’s Little Italy, 2019 Post Oak Blvd., Houston, TX 77056 Cocktails (Cash Bar) and Fellowship 6:00pm, Dinner 7:00pm. Cost: $75 per person. Featured Guest - PDG Aziz Memon - Pakistan’s National PolioPlus Chair Please RSVP with your payment (made payable to Rotary District 5890) to 4903 Pine St, Bellaire, TX 77401 or on-line at Rotary5890.org ASAP
The Foundation Dinner is limited to Arch Klumph Society Members, Major Donors, Bequest Society Members, Paul Harris Society Members, and their spouse/guest Not a member of one of these exclusive groups? Contact Terry Ziegler to learn about joining one - email bigzlumber@aol.com or 713-825-1176
Please respond promptly – Event is limited to 100 guests. Dress: business attire. Questions? Please contact Terry Ziegler at 713-825-1176 or BigZlumber@aol.com
To get on the club website, go to: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/3941 Click on the Member Area button, and enter your user id which consists of your first name, a period, your last name, a period and 3941. (gwen.corolla.3941)
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