Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives through its Focus Areas
This month Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives by helping everyone learn skills that will allow them to become economically self sufficient. Explore the possibilities with us at our meeting Wednesday at noon at Wick Park or virtually via Zoom.
This week, the Vocational Service Month Member Exchange will feature conversations with Kevin Chiu and Dominick Brown.
See you Wednesday at the Wick Park Pavilion.
Last Week's Meeting
It’s hard to believe the Rotary year is half over! At our club assembly last week, we learned that quite a bit has been accomplished so far under President Sharon’s first six months. President Sharon called the current board up to the podium to thank them for their dedication to the goals of Rotary and for lifting her up. As she put it, “They helped turn dreams into reality”.
Avenue chairs shared what was accomplished so far this year:
George Nelson, Club Avenue of Service Chair, reported that each event held this Rotary year had at least 70 Rotarians and guests in attendance. More importantly, however, these events promote friendships and build a strong foundation of collaboration and teamwork. Upcoming events are the Anniversary Party on March 8 at the YSU Stadium Club and the President’s Party on June 28 at the Youngstown Country Club.
Gerri Jenkins, International Avenue of Service Chair, is still in a learning phase, but is excited to take on this important role.
Don Foley, Vocational and New Generation Avenue of Service Chair, reported that we plan to award six scholarships this year out of our fund at YSU Foundation. His committee is organizing Interact now, and their goal is to have Chaney and East on board in the near future. The Four-Way Test contest is scheduled for April 1, and RYLA is back! We have one student interested in participating but need one more junior to take part. The conference will be Feb. 22-24.
Josh Prest, Community Avenue of Service Chair, is working with Samantha and Barb Brothers to get Put Kids First back up and running. While we didn’t have any new Little Free Libraries installed during the last six months, the Operation Pollination plastics collection project has been a great success. We are nearing the goal of collecting 500 pounds of plastic film, which will allow us to receive a bench from Trex, the composite decking company. Sixteen Rotarians participated in the Salvation Army Red Kettle drive during Thanksgiving weekend.
Election of 2023-2024 Directors and Officers
The Nominating Committee presented the slate of Rotary Board Directors and Officers, which was unanimously approved. There were no nominations from the floor. Your new board will be:
President, Deanna Rossi Immediate Past President, Sharon Letson President-Elect, George Nelson Vice-President, Gerri Jenkins Secretary, Don Foley Treasurer, Ellie Platt Foundation Chair, Becky Davis Gayle Catinella, Board Member Debora Flora, Board Member Troy Rhoades, Board Member Becky Keck, Board Member
YMCA Overnighter is Back!
The annual Youth Exchange overnight event at the Central YMCA in downtown Youngstown needs volunteers! The event will be held on Saturday, February 4 (yes, it is the same day as Beerfest), and the students will enjoy a pizza party and monster truck show. If you are interested in volunteering, contact John Fahnert, event chair.
Youngstown Day Fundraiser
Youngstown Rotary Foundation is partnering with the "Youngstown Day" in Sarasota Committee to raise funds for Hurricane Ian Relief for Southwest Florida. Youngstown Day, now in its 37th year, is a reunion event for Youngstown/Mahoning Valley natives who reside in Florida or winter in Florida each year. The event brings together over 400 people interested in their Youngstown connections.
The event is a collaborative effort between Youngstown State University, the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and Youngstown Cityscape.
Since so many of our friends and family who spend time in Southwest Florida, particularly Ft. Myers, the Youngstown Day Committee has added a fundraising service project to this year's event. All funds raised through the Youngstown Rotary Foundation will be donated to the Fort Myers Rotary Trust Fund for direct hurricane aid through the Rotary Club of Ft. Myers, the oldest Rotary Club in Southwest Florida.
You are invited to consider a contribution to Hurricane Ian relief through the Youngstown Rotary Foundation, using this link:
The Youngstown Day Committee and The Youngstown Rotary Foundation Board of Directors
It has to happen in this generation …
By Elayne Bozick
Over the past two years the mission of Operation Pollination has become so much a part of my daily thought process that I sometimes feel I must put a check on my personal narrative. I don’t want to nurture an obsession but at the same time I cannot escape the original message:
There is an urgency to the work of habitat restoration because we are losing natural spaces faster than we can replace them. To that we must add “And we must do so for our own good.”
I hope many people had the opportunity to watch 60 Minutes on New Year's Day. I went into “Overtime” to catch more of the story summarized here:
Correspondent Scott Pelley reported on what scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction. There have been five great die-offs when at least 75 percent of known species disappeared. The last was 66 million years ago, when an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Now it is us who are hastening another mass annihilation of plants and animals. This time the causes include pollution, habitat destruction, over-exploitation of resources, and climate change.
Mexican ecologist Gerardo Ceballos is among the world's leading scientists on extinction. He laid out for us how dire the situation has become over the last century:
In the past 50 years we have lost almost all the big ocean fish - only 2% are still living.
Since 1918 we have lost nearly all the big animals - mammals, birds – 70% are gone.
We have lost 90% of the tropical forest of Southeast Asia since 2000.
The difference - the previous mass extinction took tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of years to happen. In this case, we are the meteorite. The extinctions are happening so fast, in just two, three decades — even the species that are not affected directly by the extinction crisis won't have enough time to evolve and survive.
Rebecca Shaw is chief scientist and senior vice president at the World Wildlife Fund. She says the number one thing that undermines species populations globally is habitat destruction. And that usually comes from the expansion of agricultural land - mowing down the tropical rainforest to plant soy, corn, or to graze cows.
We no longer have the services that those rainforests provided:
stabilizing the planet's climate
stabilizing weather patterns
producing food and fresh water (70% of all the freshwater on the planet is altered for the purposes of food production and irrigation)
Shaw says the most important things we can do are:
Get much better at what we produce, where we produce it, how we produce it.
Make sure that we are eating foods that are planet friendly and species friendly.
Stop wasting food: 40% of all food that is produced is wasted. This means we need a 40% bigger draw on nature to produce more food.
The scientists 60 Minutes interviewed said that, without changing our behavior, this extinction crisis will become irreversible. Humans won't make it through this mass extinction.
Rebecca Shaw: To thrive we require so much of nature, natural resources, stability from nature, and the climate - if we don't have food to eat, fresh water, clean air, we cannot survive. [But] we have the chance and the opportunity to work together to stop climate change, to stop the decline of biodiversity. And we do so for our own good. We have to figure it out - but faster than we probably will.
Scott Pelley: It has to happen in this generation?
Rebecca Shaw: It does. It does.
And so. No apologies for not letting up. Please remember - what drives me, and all our Operation Pollination partners, is the love we have for our human family and our common home. Please – let’s work together.
Beerfest Countdown
RCY’s 5th annual Groundhog Craft Beerfest will be Saturday, Feb, 4, at Stambaugh Auditorium. That is just 26 days from now!
Beerfest is the club’s major annual fundraiser, enabling us to pour funding back into the community by supporting meaningful projects. Also, it’s a fun event!
Here’s what you can do now in support of Beerfest:
Each Rotarian is asked to sell a minimum of 5 tickets. Envelopes of tickets were passed out at recent meetings. More tickets are available; just ask.
Like and share Beerfest posts on social media. Past President John Fahnert has a general message on his Facebook wall that can be easily shared. Samantha Turner is posting on RCY’s Facebook page about brewers who will participate.
Recruit a sponsor. We love our sponsors and give them great plugs for their support.
Contact co-chairs Samantha Turner and Kevin Chiu if you have questions.
Crossing the Trex finish line
Plastic film recycling is still underway, and so please bring your contributions to this week’s meeting.
RCY should easily meet or exceed its 500-lb. goal, thanks to our members, their families and friends. This will earn the club a park bench made of recycled materials by the Trex Company, Inc.. That bench can be placed at the club’s discretion – maybe to augment one of our Little Free Libraries, or in a city park, or wherever a resting spot would be welcomed. Also, plastic film recycling supports the broader goals of Operation Pollination and Rotary International’s recognition of environmental matters as an area of focus.
Congratulations to Elayne Bozick, Elsa Higby, RaCole Taltoan and the committee for leading a successful project.
RYLA Goody Bags 2023
As we reboot the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Conference for 2023, we invite all Rotarians in District 6650 to contribute to the "Goody Bags" the students attending the conference will receive. Our Goody Bags are not unlike the "swag bags" you may have received when attending a conference or event. Our Goody Bags, though, are made up of items from Rotarians and their businesses.
What are we looking for? Promotional items from your business, something from your club itself for each participant - like snacks, or money to buy items for the bags.
Remember:
These bags are for 16-17 year olds. They like pens and mechanical pencils, highlighters, post-it notes, key chains, small toys, playing cards, Frisbees, fast food coupons, gum, candy bars, etc.
Please NO political giveaways. We will not use them.
Please NO CAFFEINE snacks or drinks. We cannot distribute them for safety reasons.
You will need 100 of any one item so every bag gets the same items.
Since we assemble the bags before the students arrive, items must arrive before Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
Please make sure “RYLA” is on all correspondence and mailings!
Thank you!
Barbara Loudon, Gina Dermotta - RYLA Conference Coordinators
THIS WEEK IN ROTARY HISTORY
January 10, 1947: Youngstown Vindicator reporter Esther Hamilton, who covered Rotary Club of Youngstown weekly meetings on her beat, was made an honorary member of Club.
CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
Birthdays:
Kathleen Prasad - Jan 11
Anniversaries:
Suzanne Fleming - 21 Years
Trina Williams - 2 Years
Ellie Platt - 8 Years
The Four-Way Test
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
.png)
