Meeting was called to order by President Mike Norcia at 12:30
Inspiration was from John Pencer who gave us the literal recipe for making lemonade out of lemons, he also gave us a figurative recipe. He had car troubles in Tahoe last week. Long story short, he had to have the car towed back to Campbell but during his ride with the driver, he learned a lot about towing cars, stayed a night in his own home and made it back to Tahoe by 9:15 the next morning. It all worked out and the family enjoyed the rest of their week together.
Guests:
Henry Vitkovich introduced his wife, Mary Jane.
Tina Orsi-Hartigan introduced Leigh-Ann Marcellin.
Sue Heller introduced Jan Sirkin here for a second visit.
New member:Barry Cheskin introduced our newest member, Adam Mayer. Adam is an architect and Los Gatos native who has recently relocated back to the area after being in SF for 10 years. He has opened his own practice in San Jose. Welcome Adam.
Rotarians on the Town:
- There were at least 40 guests at the First Tuesday held at the Norcia’s last week. Mike was unsure what the turnout would be due to the heat. Judy Rodriguez and Jan Norcia served up some delicious margaritas which seemed to help cool everyone off. Mike N. thanked Mike and Elizabeth Frangadakis for celebrating their 41st anniversary with the group.
- September 27 we will not be meeting at Shir Hadash instead we will be meeting at the Metro Ed building. Mike asked for a show of hands to get a preliminary number, invitations will be going out later. This will be a regular meeting with lunch being provided. We will then tour the facility.
Volunteer Service:
- September 30 we will be volunteering with Second Harvest Food Bank at St. Lucy’s Church on Camden Ave beginning at 8:30 in the morning. You can sign up online. Rachelle Lopp told us there are 3 spots left. Questions? Ask Rachelle
- October 22 Rebuilding Together Sign up online by September 25. Ask Kirsten Bridges if you have any questions.
Charities Grant Recap:
Mary Jane thanked us for LG Rotary’s $1,000 donation to AAUW’s Local Scholarship project. The mission AAUW is to promote gender equality for women through research, education and advocacy. To qualify for a scholarship, the student must have permanent residency is SJ, Campbell, Milpitas, or Santa Clara. She must also be enrolled in a 4-year program, have completed 2 years of college and maintained a minimum G.P.A. of 3.0. The candidates go through a significant interview process before being selected. Since 1980 they have given over $800,000 to young women. In May of this year, they awarded $125,000 to 22 deserving women. Mary Jane thanked us for helping young people achieve their dream of a college education.
- Mike gave us an overview of how money flows through the club. There are 2 funds that are 501c3 organizations. LG Rotary Scholarship fund which gave $46,100 last year and the Charities Foundation that gave $108,075 last year. The charities foundation has 3 buckets:
- World Service and Grants: These are international grants that have Rotarian participation or money that goes to an international organization. A champion form completed by a club member is required. The forms are due Feb. 28.
- Charities Advisory Board: These go to local organizations that do not require Rotarian participation. Champion forms are submitted to the president. Forms are also due Feb. 28. If the application requires member participation it will go to the either World or Service.
- Community Service: These are local organizations that require Rotarian participation. New this year a champion form can be turned in and approved anytime during the year.
- Projects that primarily just require Rotarian time (with maybe a small amount of money for supplies, etc) go through the Service Projects Committee. These projects can be brought to the committee throughout the year.
- Summary of this can be found in Club Runner.
30 for 30
- Cindy Gentile gave as a thank you to Ed Stahl for donating a trip to Hawaii to the 2015 Crabfest. They had such a great time they took the same trip again this year.
- Paul Christensen gave $41 to thank John Colwell for the football ticket. John was fishing in Alaska. He also gave $100 for his new grandchild.
- Ed Stahl donated in honor of his trip to the North Pole.
- Ron Cassel gave in honor of Andrew Stearns and something that happened at the BBQ. We didn’t get the story, I guess we’ll just have to ask.
- Randy Cobb gave in honor of the 9/11 program that Greek was involved in with the Veterans Foundation. Greek said he thought it was moving that the speaker focused on Sept 12 and how the country came together.
- Mike had a hat that was left at his house last Tuesday, owner will want to pay for its return.
Program:
Our speakers today were from Parents Helping Parents. They were: Carlos Lamoso, LGSHSD
Kristy St. George, LGSHSD
Mouna Raad, PHP
Mouna spoke about PHP and how they support families with special needs children. They have an extensive program called Connections California that helps families as their children transition to adulthood. Information can be found at PHP.com
Carlos and Kristy both work with students LG and Saratoga with IEP or 504 to help them learn life skills as they transition to adulthood. The students are in 2 groups 16-18 years old and 18-22. They are taught a variety of skills such as cooking, transportation, functional academics, and social skills. A big part of the program is helping them find employment. The students work about 1 hour a week and are given support from the program staff. The students are paid from funds from the Transition Partnership Program and they have works comp insurance. There is no cost to the employer. They are always looking for businesses that are willing to work with the students, please contact them if you are interested.
Meeting was adjourned at 1:30.