Pres-elect Steve Hug ran the meeting in President Holly Applegate’s absence. He began by noting that it was Giving Tuesday, and that he donated at the Providence Rotary.org site. He encouraged all Rotarians to go to our site and donate so that the momentum behind our Literacy mission can continue.
Inspiration
Anthony Landi read us The Elephant Rope, an inspirational short story. A man entered an elephant camp and noticed that all that was holding the elephants from escaping the camp was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs. He was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape. They could easily have done so but instead, they didn't try at all. He asked a trainer who replied that when they were very young and much smaller, they used the same rope to tie them as at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them. They adopted the belief that it just wasn't possible. The moral of the story is that no matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible.
Guest:
Matthew Buckley, Volunteer Coordinator for Inspiring Minds and our liaison with Kizirian School, introduced by Mary Brewster.
Matt spoke briefly about the mission of Inspiring Minds - to empower students for success in school and life by creating trusted relationships, with tutoring and mentoring from inspired community members. The Providence Rotary has had an ongoing relationship with Inspiring Minds and with Kizirian, but more volunteers are needed. Start a safe relationship with a student by becoming a pen pal and when the time is right, meeting with your student at the school. See Mary Brewster if you are interested in participating.
Good Works Committee
Mary Brewster reminded us that we have one more week to bring in hats, mittens, gloves, and scarfs to be donated to Family Service of RI. New items, please. Bring them to Tuesday’s meeting.
Rotary After Dark: Liz Messier
Stay tuned for more information on a game night for January. We will keep you posted!
Happy Bucks
Margaret Kane – because she’s happy!
Jim Gilcreast gave one happy buck because he’s happy. And the second one because today is his 52nd wedding anniversary.
Richard Applebaum gave two happy bucks, one because he’s back and the other is to thank Anthony Landi for arranging a fun evening watching the PC basketball team win.
Pete Brock – gave five happy bucks, one because he’s Yaeger’s father (his dog) and the rest because it’s the holiday season and he’s happy!
Our Speaker, Leigh Vicola – Director of Advancement, Farm Fresh Rhode Island
Farm Fresh is a nonprofit that has been around since 2004. They envision a northeast abundant with diverse family farms and fertile soils with locally and honestly produced foods and flavors at the heart of every table. Originally inspired over a decade ago by Brown University students, their mission is to grow a local food system that values the environment, health and quality of life for the farmers and eaters in our region.
Farm Fresh works to fulfill their mission by offering a number of programs:
- Farmers Markets during the summer months in neighborhoods where shoppers have low access to affordable fruits and vegetables
- Bonus Bucks – for every dollar a shopper spends at a farmer’s market using their SNAP/EBT card , they will receive bonus bucks to buy more fruits and vegetables at a later date at participating farmer’s markets.
- Farm Fresh has the largest indoor market in New England; a purpose-designed 60,000 sq. ft. facility on the corner of Kinsley Ave and Sims Ave in the Valley neighborhood of Providence. Half of the space will house Farm Fresh RI’s programs and operations, including a year-round farmers market. Remaining space will be leased to food and farm-related small businesses.
- Their Farm to School team provides a “Harvest of the Month” campaign, cafeteria taste tests, garden programs, in-class and after-school lessons on the food system, and one-on-one assistance for school communities.
- Their Community Education team delivers programming outside of schools — such as hands-on cooking demonstrations at senior centers, farmers-market based Healthy Foods, Healthy Families activities, summer camp gardening programs, and outreach at local events.
- Harvest Kitchen – This program is a culinary job training program for youth ages 16–19 involved with the RI Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). Trainees work to create our full line of value-added products — from pickles to applesauce — using ingredients sourced from local farms, and get hands-on retail experience selling their goods at farmers markets.
- Mobile Market delivers to wholesale customers throughout Rhode Island, the Boston-metro area, and along the 95/128 corridor. Farm Fresh RI also offers home delivery to Providence, Pawtucket, East Bay, and Newport.
To learn more about Farm Fresh RI go to www.farmfreshri.org
