This month Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives by inviting others to attend a meeting and become part of Rotary. Explore membership with us at our meeting Wednesday at noon at Wick Park or virtually via Zoom.
“Once you empower people, you give them hope”. Member Dionne Dowdy, executive director of United Returning Citizens, passionately shared the great work her organization is undertaking to help formerly incarcerated individuals return to society.
There are over 40,000 incarcerated individuals in the state of Ohio, and statistics show that 44% of them return to prison within a year. They find themselves locked out of mainstream society, unable to find jobs or housing. URC was formed to reduce those barriers to reentry, and accomplishes its goals in a variety of ways.
There is a well-established correlation between joblessness and homelessness, and to that end, URC seeks to provide a holistic approach to enable all citizens who are otherwise disadvantaged and disenfranchised to become productive contributing members of society. URC also addresses PTSD, which is a common result of incarceration. URC conducts what Dionne refers to as “environmental healing” by teaching lawn care skills, landscaping, and topiary design through URC Lawn Care. The company provides year-round maintenance for residential and commercial landscapes and grounds at affordable prices. A success with 80 customers, URC Lawn Care encourages its clients to become entrepreneurs themselves by forming their own lawn care business. URC will provide a lawn mower, lawn bags, and tools to get them started.
Perhaps a client of URC summed it up best at the end of the presentation. Incarcerated for 26 years, he was in need of help to learn how to navigate returning to society. He turned to Dionne at URC, because he wanted to “help fix what he broke”. He is now a part of the community, a productive citizen who successfully transitioned back into the workforce.
President Josh congratulated three organizations who were awarded grants through the Youngstown Rotary Foundation. They are:
Help Network, $500
Real Men Wear Pink, $500
YMCA, annual gift, $1,000
In addition to these three grants, Dionne Dowdy, United Returning Citizens, was surprised with a check for $2,265 for the great work her organization undertakes. Funds for this grant came from District 6650, based on RCY's support of the Rotary International Foundation.
THIS Week's Meeting
The Most Reverend David J. Bonnar
Sixth Bishop of Youngstown
Bishop Bonnar, a Pittsburgh native, received a bachelor degree in Social Communications from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome receiving a Bachelor in Sacred Theology (STB) in 1987 from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh on July 23, 1988.
After ordination, Bishop Bonnar served as assistant pastor at parishes in New Castle and the greater Pittsburgh area and was a Catholic high school chaplain. In 1997, he was named Director of Vocations, Director of the Pre-Ordination program, Director of the Permanent Diaconate program and Rector of the Saint Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, where he served until 2002. He became a parish pastor in 2002 and served at four parishes before His Holiness Pope Francis appointed him as the sixth Bishop of Youngstown.
In addition to his ministerial assignments, Bishop Bonnar has also served on the Diocese of Pittsburgh Post-Ordination Board, Clergy Personnel Board, Seminary Admissions Board, Chair for the Permanent Diaconate Admissions Board, Chair of the Priestly Formation Board and Chair of the Priesthood Candidate Admission Board. Since 2014, Bishop Bonnar has been the editor of The Priest magazine and in 2020 was appointed a member of the National Advisory Board for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. For 12 years Bishop Bonnar was also chaplain to the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers professional football team.
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Steak Fry, 7pm, Scott Schulick's House
Rotary in the Community
Whether Rotarians are soaking up sunshine or relaxing in air conditioning, it is not too early to
think about Operation Warm.
In fact, September will be an important month for the initiative, as President Josh Prest has set
a fundraising goal of $30,000 to provide winter coats to city students. In addition, past President
Dave Stillwagon says coats must be ordered by month’s end to receive them in time for
distribution in November.
During a campaign kickoff on Aug. 24 at MVR Restaurant, past President/District Governor
6650 Debbie Esbenshade reported that more than $400,000 has been raised by this district
over the years to buy more than 20,000 coats for kids in need.
RCY’s drive is off to a great start because of two gifts. Roberta Marsteller Hannay, whose family
has deep roots in Rotary, gave a matching gift of $10,000. She has been named a Paul Harris
Fellow for her ongoing support of Rotary causes. Reid and Judy Schmutz also generously contributed $1,000.
Coats cost $20 each. Each Rotarian is being asked to contribute or raise $100. Gifts may be
made in honor or memory of persons; memorial cards will be available at weekly meetings.
We all read about or listened to the reports of the explosion in Beirut in August 2020 that resulted in more than 200 deaths and the destruction or near destruction of buildings and homes of thousands of residents. (If you are reading today’s newspapers and listening to the news, then you know that this disaster has been compounded by the extreme heatwaves that have left residents of Lebanon and other Middle East countries with no power and perhaps hundreds more dead.)
In order to restore hospitals and medical aid and equipment, Lebanese Rotary clubs worked with Rotary clubs in Germany, Canada, and Australia. Read your Rotary to learn of the work of Rotarians around the globe.
New Membership Tool
LinkedIn has become a powerful social media tool for growing your personal professional network, enhancing your brand, and building meaningful business relationships. Did you know that the platform also provides an excellent opportunity for attracting new Rotarians?
By its design, LinkedIn offers a make-sense tool for professionals wishing to establish networks with existing colleagues and new contacts. Your network makes a statement about you -- who you do business with, who you hang with and what's important to you. If they see that #serviceaboveself is important to you, they just might approach you to explore membership opportunities.
Let's all do our part to bring people to the Club that represent our shared values by taking these steps:
SHARE our community activity stories from Clatter or FB and
INVITE others to lunch.
With your help, 100+ years of community service can be matched with 100 engaged Rotarians!
This Week in Rotary History
August 31, 2006: Youngstown Rotarians had a field trip to Sister Jerome’s Mill Creek Children’s Center.
Save the Date
Rotary International
Convention 2022
Houston, Texas
June 4-8
Registration is open and hotel rooms are filling up! Now is the time to reserve your spot to attend this incredible gathering of the world's Rotarians this time next year. Learn more about it here.
Rotary International
Trip to Greece
It is with much excitement that we share with members the 2022 Grand Tour of Greece with a pre-tour extension of Sorrento, Italy! The group tours formerly sponsored by WYSU will continue to be organized by Ana Torres of YSU and EF Go Ahead Tours through the Rotary Club of Youngstown. This tour is especially customized.
Discover the heart of Europe’s oldest city, from the Acropolis to the Plaka, departingMay 14 and returning May 28, 2022. Participants will make their way along the Ionian coast steeped in mythology and cruise the relaxed idyllic Greek Islands of Santorini and Mykonos. You can review the details of this fabulous tour here. There aren’t many seats left, so if you’re interested, you’re encouraged to book soon. For questions, call Ana Torres at 330-941-1717.
Operation Pollination Mahoning Valley supports the Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative, in cooperation with Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Districts, in helping to create habitat for the monarch butterfly.
Beginning September 1st and ending October 30th, there will be a Statewide Milkweed Pod Collection.
This Week in Rotary History
