Rob Black inspired us with motivational quotes:
- Believe you can and you are halfway there – Teddy Roosevelt
- The only way to do great work is to love what you do – Steve Jobs
- The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams – Eleanor Roosevelt
- Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall – Confucious
Members on Zoom
Luis Lourenco, Paul Pimentel, PJ Fox
Guests
- Steve and Kim Castiglioni (from Law Enforcement and Finance), perspective members.
- Bill Efthimiades’ god son, Dina Psichopaidas from Dartmouth, MA studying Finance.
New Member Induction
Two of the three corporate members of Swan Point Cemetery. Bill Efthimiades and Fatima Rodrigues. Pinned by Anthony Hollingshead and Kris David.
Announcements
Emily Bernstein talked about the upcoming event on Saturday, August 9 at 6:30 pm at Rhode Island FC. The cost is $26.67 per person. The game starts at 7 pm followed by Fireworks!! Students from San Miguel School will be coming with their parents.
There will be a link added to the website. We are looking for Rotarians to pay for an additional ticket for the students and their parents. We are looking forward to a Rotary Evening in the stadium. (Our July 29th speaker will be from the RIFC!)
Past President, Barbara Harris has volunteered to resurrect the Environmental Committee with a service activity with the Friends of Station Meadow who work on planting and preserving the Wildflower garden area across from the Providence train Station. They gather on Mondays from 8:30 to 11:00 am. Barbara is looking for a co-chair for this project. New member, Cheri Hendricks has offered to help Barbara.
Mary Brewster is spearheading the Student school supply project on Tuesday, September 2. They need help at The Marriott early on that day to bring in boxes and to organize the supplies before the assembly of items per classroom.
President Bill reminded everyone that Rob Black needs help at the front desk, help with audio, video equipment set up etc. Please let Rob know if you can help.
Help is also needed for The Rotary Website and Social Media.
Happy Bucks
- Pete Brock was 20 Happy Bucks happy for his 20th Anniversary of my 51st Birthday
- Kris David for everyone who came to Nondas Voll’s beautiful service
- 5 Happy Bucks from Fatima Rodriques who is happy to be here.
- Bill Efthimiades gave two Happy bucks for being installed and having his god son there with him.
- Rob Black gave 5 Happy Bucks for his daughter and her husband who closed on her first home in Pittsburg.
- Barbara Harris gave a Happy Buck for Immediate Past President, Pete Brock who is continuing to come to Rotary meetings.
- Anthony Hollingshead gave two Happy Bucks for Bill and Fatima’s induction as new corporate members.
- President Bill is happy to be here and appreciates everyone who came to the meeting.
- Cap Willey gave a Happy Buck for his granddaughter who moved into her apartment without power. She needed to set up her utilities!!
President Bill broke tradition and decided to carry on with the meeting instead of taking a break.
Speaker
Emily Bernstein introduced the speakers, Eric Calogianes and Natage Hibbert from Young Voices . Emily recently joined this organization.
Eric Calogianes has over 15 years of experience advocating for low-income, first-generation youth in Rhode Island. Since graduating from SUNY Stony Brook in 2008 he has worked primarily within the Providence Public School system, where he advised and mentored hundreds of first-generation students at Classical High School and the University of Rhode Island. As the Development Director of Young Voices since 2022 he has been responsible for their fundraising and grant writing strategy, deepening connections with local institutions and strengthening community bonds across various stakeholder groups. He lives in Providence with his wife of 10 years and two very spoiled cats.
He spoke about his work with this organization over the past 5 years which serves lower income students from urban area school districts in Providence, Central Falls, Pawtucket, and Cranston. They work with them on advocacy issues, communication skills, networking, public speaking through their after school activities for grades 9 to 12. They serve about 200 students annually. They recruit students from Charter and Public Schools.
They also have a very strong alumni participation. There has been great success with future educational accolades of their students in their college careers. Their funding comes from private donations, contracts with schools and universities to do research and grant based support from various organizations such as United Way, RI Department of Health etc.
A recent graduate and access coordinator for Young Voices, Natage Hibbert spoke about her involvement with Young Voices since High School. She recently graduated from University of Rhode Island with 3 majors. She hopes to go on to law school.
