Thought of the Day: Eric Birkenstein is in favor of suspending patent protections for pharmaceutical companies.
Member Milestones: Happy Birthday to Patti Van Cleave on May 10!
Announcements:
Chuck Norton is sending a copy of the new Club bylaws to members for their review.He will ask the Club to approve them at the May 20 meeting.
David Birkenstein congratulated Fred Schwimmer for becoming a Major donor to the Rotary International Foundation.
Rich Lalley acknowledged David Birkenstein for his contributions to the Foundation.
Happy Bucks:
Patti Van Cleave is happy to resume in person worship this weekend at the Congregational Church in Winnetka.
Rich Lalley is happy it has been 2 weeks since his second vaccination dose.He asked for a show of hands for how many members have at least one dose, and everybody raised their hands!
Dig and Grin: Thank you Fred Schwimmer for jumping in at the last minute with some impromptu witticisms!
Speaker: Robert Mardirossian led an update of the plans for our Benefit on June 4. Three other members on this fabulous committee also shared the details of the exciting plans:
Marie Kuipers: The Queen explained how the Trivia game entertainment will work.
Sylwie Pacyk:Ticket prices will be $50 each for the first 3 members on a ‘team,’ and free for extra members of your team if you want to add more than 3 (a team is any group that logs into the virtual benefit on the same screen).
Barb Tubekis: There is a raffle with 4 Grand Prize baskets of items. Please buy your tickets before the event because tickets will not be available the night of June 4!
Rotarians from Cook and Lake counties partnered with Operation Warm this month to provide 1,530 pairs of new shoes to area children.
The shoes were delivered to local nonprofit organizations and schools for distribution to families. The 11 participating Rotary clubs gathered Saturday morning at a Northbrook warehouse to pick and pack shoes for Operation Warm’s new Warm Soles program.
“It’s all about the kids, it’s all about taking care of the kids in the area,” said Bill Kolb of Zion, who delivered shoes to northeastern Lake County recipients.
Rotarian Gary Moriello of Northbrook helped deliver shoes to Waukegan.
“We have so much ourselves,” Moriello added, “and then to have a chance to give to somebody else who doesn’t have (new shoes) is a great idea.”
The program was funded from contributions from each participating club and a matching grant by Rotary District 6440 and The Rotary Foundation.
One of the nice features of meeting virtually is that our meetings can be recorded. This of course depends on your meeting host (me) remembering to start the recording (sometimes I'm a bit late in starting it).
Our club will be providing brand new shoes to children living in need as part of the Rotary District 6440 Warm Soles project. Each pair of shoes requires $6.50 when match by a Rotary District Grant. Our goal is to raise $1,000 to provide new shoes to 150 children. Shoes will go to NICASA North Chicago, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and Cool Learning Experience in Waukegan.
Nearly one in five children live in need. For their families, paying for food, housing, heat and healthcare takes priority. Many children may have to go without the cold weather essentials they need to stay healthy and active. Replacing quickly out-grown shoes can be extremely difficult for low-income and below poverty families.