Joannie will speak about her charity group: Random Acts of Flowers. Joannie asks that members bring old flower pots and vases to the meeting on Thursday to donate to her charity.
Before the actual business portion of the meeting began President Thomas auctioned off 4 $108 field box seats for tomorrow’s Cubs’ game. On this short notice the tickets went to Robert Mardirossian for $200. This money went to the WYO, which is holding their annual benefit this evening.
Thirty-two members were in attendance this week. Our week’s greeter, Marie Kuipers, introduced two visiting Rotarians: John Dyrud from the Wilmette Noon Club and former member Bill Leske, from the Skokie Valley Rotary Club. Bill plans to rejoin our club as his new position of manager of the Winnetka branch of First Bank and Trust has brought him back to our area.
Barb Tubekis, dressed in orange announced that it was to highlight National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Our speaker Rep. Bob Dold was duked out in an orange tie and orange-tinted American flag lapel pin. Patti Van Cleave reminded the club members that the Winnetka Historical Society’s would be held on June 25th. Tickets are $175 per person for the Cuban themed event.
David Birkenstein introduced our speaker U.S. Congressional Representative from the 10th District, Bob Dold. Bob grew up in Kenilworth and graduated from New Trier High School. He was first elected to Congress in 2010 when the 10th District included all of Winnetka and Northfield. He lost his seat in 2012 following redistricting to Democrat Brad Schneider by 3000 votes. Then in 2014 he retook the seat against Schneider in 2014. They will be competing for it for the third time this November.
Bob is one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress. He has frequently championed bipartisan efforts to move the country forward. Unlike most of his fellow Republicans he felt the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court was the wrong verdict. He was one of three Republicans who voted against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act as he felt there as some good things about the law such as not allowing pre-existing to prevent insuring people as well as keeping children on their parents family plan until they are 26. However, he feels the Affordable Care Act needs some major improvements. Bob, differs from most of his Republican colleagues, in that he supports abortion rights, gay rights, stem cell research and funding for Planned Parenthood. He also supports gradually raising the minimum wage; the only question is how high and at what rate. Bob stated that the Senate should hold hearings on President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court as Judge Scalia was a strict constitutionalist and the constitution calls for the President to make a replacement recommendation and it is up to the Senate to advise and consent (or not consent).
Bob is now on the Ways and Means Committee and has expressed concern about the meager fiscal growth rate of the U.S., currently at 1.5% for the past decade, when 3.5% was typical of previous decades. He was proud to report his role in the passage, with overwhelming bipartisan support, of a transportation bill that funnels money from the federal government to the states, especially of the fact that Illinois received the 4th largest amount of money.
Rep. Dold expressed concern for overregulation, which he says is causing the loss of one bank per week. While he agrees we need some regulation we absolutely need smart regulation. Bob also expressed concern for the major drug problem on the North Shore, especially prevalent in Lake County. He has introduced a bill to create a grant to expand the availability of naloxone, a heroin overdose antidote. The meeting feature lively give and take between Representative Dold and the Rotary Club.
The 2015-156 Rotary Year is nearly over, and our club has accomplished much. Our members are engaged; our Operation Warm, Kids Against Hunger and Community Grants programs were again great successes. We supported many fine local and international non-profits and just held another successful and very fun fundraising dinner to support our Community Grants fund for next year. We have much to be proud about our club, and about being a part of the greater fellowship of Rotary.
The final goal we have reached is our contributions to the Annual Program Fund of The Rotary Foundation. Through May 29, 13 of 59 members (plus 2 honorary members) of our club have contributed $5,430 to The Rotary Foundation's Annual Programs Fund. We have a ways to go if we are to reach our club goal set by President John of $7,250. We thank these 13 Rotarians for already making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:
Jeanne Beckman, David Birkenstein+, David Grant*, Mark Kotz, Rich Lalley+, Bernie Michna, Rodger Morris*, Lee Padgitt, Brooke Peppey, John Thomas, Barb Tubekis, Patti Van Cleave and Carl Yudell.
* signifies a Major Donor+ signifies Paul Harris Society ($1,000 per year)
There are many reasons to give to the The Rotary Foundation:
Contributions support humanitarian and educational projects initiated and run by Rotary Clubs and Districts in six areas of focus- Disease prevention and treatment, maternal & child health, education & literacy, water and sanitation, economic & community development and peace & conflict resolution. Learn more by reviewing the Foundation’s annual report.
Contributions come back to support projects of our club's projects, like our coats for kids, Kids Against Hunger and International grants projects like the water well project we helped fund for an orphanage in Kenya and the digital x-ray/community health clinic project organized by District 6440. This year, we received nearly $4,000 for our Kids Against Hunger project! But we must give to receive.
Giving to The Rotary Foundation is an easy way for you to participate in Rotary’s service work beyond our club, providing you a personal connection to this great organization and the good it does throughout the world.
Check out this video on the good your contributions to the Rotary Foundation do throughout the world:
It’s easy to give. You can donate with a check or credit card at lunch; you can send a check to “WNRCF” (mark TRF in the memo line) to our club at 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka; you can donate via PayPal by clicking here, or you can donate directly to The Rotary Foundation at www.rotary.org or by calling 866-976-8279. One very convenient way to give is by making a recurring monthly gift on your credit card, which you can set up on Rotary’s website.
If you have any questions about The Rotary Foundation or how to give, contact Rich Lalley.
Please find a substitute if you are unable to fulfill your assignment; Just call or e-mail a fellow member and ask him/her to sub. Tom Evans - tom.evans527@gmail.com- who chairs the service committee, will confirm assignments. Sgt. at arms helps set up and store our stuff, please come 15 minutes early and be prepared to stay a few minutes after the meeting; Greeter greets and announces names of visiting Rotarians and guests; Thought of the Day can be spontaneous or read from a script; Dig 'n Grin can make us laugh or think seriously.
