INSPIRATION
Paul Segal quoted from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “When we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last.’”
ANNOUNCEMENTS, Etc.
Active members should have received ballots to elect officers and board members for next Rotary year. Please fill out your choices and mail your ballot back ASAP in the enclosed postage-paid envelope.
President Don announced that Norm Saute, a long time Rotarian in our area, has died. Don also spoke about Judy Alexander’s Celebration of Life service and how she and Jim lived Service above Self.
Christy Clausen spoke about the Warm for Winter program on 1/28 at the Salim Rogers Rec Center. She thanked Jane Kratsch for making 24 hats for the kids and Pete Brock for the role he played in obtaining 2,000 gloves from Ocean State Job Lot.
Paul Segal announced that the foundation end-of-year appeal has raised $10,069 from 25 donors. Thanks!
Randy Dittmar is appealing for Rotarians to deliver dictionaries to five more Providence schools.
Members of Saturday’s painting team inspected some areas needing touch-up at Harry Kizirian Elementary School.
HAPPY BUCKS
Pete Brock for his five-year old granddaughter wanting a hug.
Bill DiBiasio for learning about mutual friends in Zimbabwe with Jim Alexander while talking at a Rotary lunch one day!
Jane Kratsch had fun making 24 hats and thanked Sharon Garland for buying the fabric.
Bob Murphy promoted delivering dictionaries as a great experience.
Art Norwalk thanked Jan Feyler for great notetaking on her last day on the newsletter team. Anyone interested in reporting on meetings once every five or six weeks, please contact Art or Dick Gregory.
John McGinn will chair the Street Painting Festival on OCTOBER 20, for the PC basketball team and for five nights in Florida.
YOUNG GOICES: HELPING STUDENTS
BUILD CONFIDENCE AND INVOLVEMENT
Karen Feldman, founder and executive director of Young Voices, introduced Sonya, a graduate of this program who is now a freshman at The College of the Holy Cross.
Sonya was extremely shy when she first participated in the program in the tenth grade. She attended 2-3 sessions a week and in the three years she was in the program, she overcame her shyness and testified at the State House on several different topics, did one-to-one asks of donors to the program, learned communications and public speaking skills and how to advocate for herself and others. She is using these skills at college and is now volunteering to teach adult newcomers English. She was valedictorian of her high school class and is excited she’ll be going to Spain to study this summer.
Young Voices was founded in 2006 by Karen when she realized that adults were making all the policy decisions about youth without their involvement. In addition to teaching leadership skills the college access program helps them fill out college applications, negotiate financial aid. 100% (23) of last year’s graduates were accepted at colleges, receiving $2.1 million in financial aid. Young Voices also supports the students in college to avert the high dropout rate of first generation students.
