Our mission is planting fruit trees to feed people, create jobs and benefit the environment. We supply individuals and groups with quantities of the best varieties of fruit trees, while being sensitive to the environment. We provide trees for planting in small farms, field margins, agroforests and urban backyards. We will also work with commercial orchards on large scale planting. Most of our work thus far has been planting breadfruit trees in Haiti and Jamaica. We also provide equipment and training to individuals and groups for production of post-harvest food products. TTFF is proud of the successful young entrepreneurs we have helped to launch. We purchase and distribute fruit and locally produced post-harvest products such as a tasty breadfruit porridge to schools, orphanages and hospitals. And we provide education to children about the advantages of planting trees.
There were 27 members present along with three guests: District Governor Don Brewer and his wife, Rose Ann, and Assistant District Governor, Mary Bak.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Tom Nash announced that several Rotary Clubs are going to meet at Pinstripes in Northbrook on November 3 for fellowship, dinner and bocci ball. The Rotary Summit is set for October 21 at Harper College from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Contributions can still be made to the special Rotary hurricane assistance fund by contacting Rich Lalley. On October 12 at Little Ricky’s in Winnetka, our Club will have a special event to benefit Operation Warm. From 5:30 to 8:00 PM we will be “guest bartending” and hosting ‘happy hour”, complete with raffle and live music. Raffle tickets are $5 a piece or 5 tickets for $20. Prizes will include several items including gift certificates from Little Ricky’s and the Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant. The drawing will occur around 7:30, but winners need not be present to receive their prizes. Rick announced that the coats for Chicago kids will be handed out at the Chicago Lawn Library Branch on November 4 from 1:00-4:00 PM and at the Coleman Library in Woodlawn on November 6 from 3:00-7:00 PM—he invited Club members to join him in this very important opportunity to meet and see the recipients of these coats. The Stagehands Union of Chicago helped fund this program and its members will be assisting Rich in the distribution.
HAPPY BUCKS: HB were contributed by Ned Meisner, Wes Baumann, John Stone and Mark Kotz. Several mentioned the nice reception given last week in honor of Robert Mardirossian’s retirement and the appreciation shown to Robert for all he and his organization have contributed over the years to the community and to Rotary. Rich Lalley gave HB in celebration of his son passing his doctorate dissertation and now being addressed as Dr. Lalley.
Fred Schwimmer gave a very short “dig and grin” on the high comparative costs of the Mercedes Benz !
A frequent meeting guest of Liz Taylor, Felicia O’Malley, was inducted into of our Club by Don Brewer. Then Ned Meisner was presented with the Paul Harris Fellow award for his past contributions to Rotary, including his frequent deliveries of our Thanksgiving food baskets and books to school children in Highwood.
SPEAKER: DISTRICT GOVERNOR DON BREWER, Don has been active in the Algonquin Club since about 1992, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and is a graduate of University of Iowa Engineering School and John Marshall Law School. He mentioned that being the District Governor in the Club’s “home” district has been a special honor. He quickly pointed out that his wife and “soulmate” of two years, Rose Ann, has been a big help in fulfilling his Rotary duties. He encouraged our members to attend the Rotary Summit October 21 at Harper College and the November 4th Youth Assembly Day, also at Harper College. Our Rotary District has purchased an iron lung to display as a symbol of the Club’s 35- year fight to eradicate polio. He mentioned that 35 years ago our country was reporting annually over 300,000 cases of polio. Today the disease is virtually eliminated, but he warned that it is only a “plane ride away” as long as there are any polio cases existing anywhere in the world. Don mentioned that another Rotary initiative is the tree planting program which encourages every member to be responsible for planting a tree within the next year. He said that Rotary is planting about 50,000 trees in Algonquin Township to replace the 70,000 trees recently lost to the ash borer disease. Another Rotary project is for each Rotary Club in the District to build 3 mini-libraries in their communities where the general public can obtain and donate books for their reading pleasure. Examples of possible locations for such libraries would be around bus shelters and railroad stations.
At the Rotary Conference to be held May 17-20 in 2018, Rotarians will be building more mini-libraries for various communities, as well as 3-6 bicycles which will be given to low income people who are only “a bike ride away from their job”. The gathering starts with a “beach party” on Lake Michigan the evening of May 17th. It will be held at the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Don mentioned that the Vegas tragedy shows that our society needs to come together and show more love for each other. Every day we all need to make a brighter day for others. We need to keep in mind that we are people of action; and that our body, mind and relationships with others is the “three- legged stool” that makes Rotarians impactful in their communities. It’s important that we take a step forward every day, otherwise we will be losing ground in reaching our goals. We all need “another” person to bounce off our ideas and to keep us accountable. Similarly, his District Governor’s staff is that “other person” for our member Clubs and that we should feel free to contact his office for advice and help in achieving our goals.
Nearly one in five American children live in poverty. More than 400,000 in the Chicago metro area.
For these families, deciding between food, rent, heat and medicine takes priority. Many children have to go without a coat during the cold Chicago winter.
You can help to bring hope,happiness and warmth to children living in need in Chicagoland with the gift of a brand-new winter coat. Your gift will help to improve a child's self-esteem, school attendance and overall wellness.
Our Goal is to Give 500 Children Brand-New Winter Coats Give today at www.operationwarm.org/wnrotary Or send a check payable to WNRCF to Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka IL 60093
We partner with schools and non-profits serving disadvantaged children, including Inner City Impact in Cicero, Holy Family Ministries school in Chicago, Hope Community Church in Chicago, Open Arms Mission in Antioch, Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook (holiday gift program), Jewish Council for Youth Services in Highwood and Family Promise Chicago North Shore.
This year, we are also partnering with the Chicago Public Library on an innovative program that gives a new coat at the libratry, bringing children into a library of the first time.
Your donation will go to Operation Warm, our partner since 2009. They provide us with brand-new, high-quality, warm winter coats for our children. Operation Warm is a GuideStar Platinum-rated nonprofit and has helped over 2 million children since 1998.
The video below was sent to us last winter as a gesture of THANKS from Holy Family Ministries.
How many children can you help keep warm this winter?
Our Rotary Club's Charitable Foundation is now accepting tax deductible donations for our Hurricane Relief Fund. Donations may be made by credit card here:
Our Foundation's Board will take direction from Rotary Leaders regarding where to direct our funds. Here is a letter received from our represntative on Rotary International's Board of Directors Robb Knuepfer:
Dear District and Zone Leaders:
As you have been reading in the news, severe rainfall has caused historic flooding along the Texas coast, including in Houston, the fourth largest city by population in the United States. Deluged towns in the region are in desperate need of aid as thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes. About 6.8 million people have been affected by the hurricane, which made landfall on 25 August.
Late last week, Presidential Aide Don Mebus and Past RI Director Greg Podd hosted a strategy conference call with governors from Districts 5930, 5840, 5890, 5910 and 6200 in Texas and Louisiana to develop a cohesive response.
A Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Donor Advised Fund (DAF) has been established by Greg Podd and President-Elect Barry Rassin through The Rotary Foundation to collect relief contributions. Don and Greg are working with leaders from the affected districts to create a process for disbursing DAF funds to their respective district foundations or local 501c3 organizations to support local relief efforts.
Updated information about contributing to the Gulf Coast DAF is available on the Rotary website. This page will continue to be updated as needed. Contribution information is also attached to this email.
ShelterBox, Rotary’s partner for disaster relief, is providing tents for use as ‘privacy tents’ to be pitched within the convention centers housing families that have been evacuated.
Please circulate the news about Rotary’s relief efforts to Rotarians in your district. Please direct inquiring Rotarians to the web story on Rotary.org for the most up-to-date information or to contact RI by writing to relief@rotary.org.
