INSPIRATION
John Meara gave the inspiration, relating a story his mother used to tell him about perseverance.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, Etc.
Paul Segal reminded the club to think of the Providence Rotary Charities Foundation as we prepare to make end of the year charitable gifts. Our local foundation directly benefits our community as more than $50,000 was given to charities in and around Providence this year.
Art Norwalk complemented Paul’s reminder by pointing out the worthiness of charitable contributions to The Rotary Foundation which is responsible for programs such as the race to end polio, clean water, and literacy on an international basis, and for District Grants that support local service projects. Please visit Rotary.org/donate to make donations online.
Randy Dittmar issued a call for volunteers to deliver dictionaries to third graders in Providence schools. He still needs volunteers to handle 17 schools. Total time investment is less than two hours including pickup of the dictionaries from the Roger Williams Park boathouse. Please make pickup arrangements ahead of time with Christy Claussen.
Bob Murphy advised the club of the preparations underway for our traditional holiday luncheon with the kids from San Miguel school which will be held next Monday, 12/4. A good time will be had by all and Santa Clause has given assurance of his visit.
The Bill Belichick of bell ringing, Walter Adamowicz, announced that our club will be ringing bells and brightening spirits at the Eastside Marketplace on Thursday, December 7th. See Walter to secure your spot in the lineup.
Members, kids & friends of Providence Rotary
had a fun night at the PBruins game
to support Polio Plus.
Present, past and future district governors attending the game included current DG Steve Certa, shown with First Lady Paula. Plus DGE Bill Tennant and PDGs Kris David, Charlie Murphy & Joe Clancy.
President Don informed attendees that our next Million Dollar Meal will be held next Spring at Johnson and Wales and will honor longtime Providence Rotarian, Mo Gaebe. Thanks to Jim Gilcreast for helping to arrange the event.
ROTARY HELPS REBUILD PUERTO RICO
by José Lucas Rodríguez, governor
Rotary District 7000 (Puerto Rico)
Rotarians in Puerto Rico are now focused on the recovery and reconstruction phases. Rotary clubs have developed plans to work with pumping systems for renewable energy projects in communities without potable water, the installation of water filtration systems, and the rollout of community economic development projects for the most affected areas. Disease prevention efforts in areas affected by the hurricane are also taking place, among other initiatives.
How to help: A Rotary Foundation Donor Advised Fund designated by donors has been established to accept contributions that will aid hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. If you’d like to help, go to this web page and enter the Account Name and Number with your credit card information:
HAPPY BUCKS
Margaret Kane handled the collection and led off by sharing her happiness over weekend victories by the Patriots and her alma mater, Florida State.
Laraine Beck --$5 in tribute to the club and its members.
Rob Gessman—Was happy to be back at a meeting.
Cap Willey—happy about the Pats win as well as the Friars recent victory.
Randy Dittmar—happy to see Rob G. again.
Jane Kratsch—in honor of Cy Wyche, she has a buck and is happy.
Jim Gilcreast—Welcome to Rob G. and as the personal agent for Santa himself, guarantees a visit next week.
David Hunter—Happy to reconnect with a friend he hadn’t seen in forty years to attend a BC football game.
Pete Brock—Happy for the Pats six game winning streak and utter domination of a hapless Miami team as well as last week’s opportunity to eat well.
Bob Morse—Enjoyed a recent cruise through the Panama Canal and a wedding in New Orleans where his son served as best man.
BUILDING SMALL BUSINESSES
IN RHODE ISLAND
Goldman Sachs was recruited by Governor Raimondo to bring its 10,000 Small Businesses (10ksb) program to RI, and our guest speaker, Karina Wood, is the local executive director.
10ksb was set up to help small businesses grow and is unique in that it combines education and networking with access to capital. Ours is the first statewide offering.
To be eligible for the program, a business has to have been in existence for at least two years, have at least 2 employees (including the owner), $100,000 in annual revenue, and commit to growing both employee count and revenue. Finally, the business must be located in RI and committed to staying here.
Participants are led through 9 modules which provide reality based learning on topics such as how to hire/fire the right people, finance, etc. Full scholarships are provided to all participants and are underwritten by Goldman Sachs so there is no cost to participants or taxpayers.
Scholars are chosen via a rigorous application process which starts online and culminates in live interviews. A selection committee from outside the local area makes the final decisions which ensures home town biases are kept out of the picture. For additional information please see 10ksbapply.com.
