Club Meeting Recap--August 8, 2016

 
District Governor, Dr. Ranjan Kini,
Addressed the Club
 
 
Club President, Scott Puckett, rang the bell calling to order the August 8, 2016 meeting of the Elkhart Rotary Club.
 
Scott Franko led in the pledge and Four Way Test.
 
Attending guests were Past District Governor Judy Walker, Nancy Keller, from the Concord Club, Art Decio, Pete Welter, Moe Jacobson and Connie.
 
Announcements:
 
Eric Garton from Wellfield Gardens reminded us that Taste of the Garden’s is August 27th.  Tickets are available online for $6.00 and will be $8.00 at the gate.  Buy early, buy often!
 
Scott Franko , club Chair for the 100th Anniversary Committee, announced the first meeting in a couple of weeks, August 22 at 11:15 a.m.
 
Scott Puckett asked for volunteers to please host a birthday party before September 30 for Rotary International (RI) and educate those in attendance about the history of the Foundation.  Scott also reminded members that "Thirsty Thursdays" are held the 3rd Thursday of the month at 5:05 pm at Artisan, 505 Main Street, and Board meetings are held the 2nd Friday at Perkins at 7:00 am. 
 
The Sargent for the day was Matt Lentsch.
 
Presentation:
 
Rotary Interact Class 2016 --Rotary supports the Interact Club that consists of several students from the local High Schools.  The Interact Club is a service organization that is sponsored by Elkhart Rotary and is dedicated to community service in all walks of their lives, like road clean-ups, food drives, Habitat for Humanity builds, etc.
 
Interact Club was involved in a trip to Costa Rica to help restore their local library, The David Kitson Library.  The only money the library receives is from donations and fundraising. The government does not help them.  Upon leaving, the students were also able to present the President, Beverly S. Kitson, with a $5,000.00 check.
 
The featured speaker was Dr. Ranjan Kini, the current District Governor, who spoke about his passion for Rotary.  
 
Rotary is an experience!
 
He recalled a quote from Bill Gates: “If you are born poor it is not your fault but if you stay poor it is.”  Ranjan believes that because you have no control over your life, who your parents are, where you live, what school you go to, that you are influenced by other things in your life.  That is where we, as Rotarians, come into play. We at the community level and global level can help change the world.  We, as an outside force, can affect many lives; how to do good; how to give hope.
 
Ranjan said that he himself has been impacted deeply by Rotary, and reminded us that even though you may not be able to see it, all Rotarians make a huge impact on others.
 
He listed a few highlights of our club, including:
 
  • 148 members
  • 2 major donors
  • 98 PHF
  • Chartered 8/1/17
  • Club Lifetime giving $627,490.59
 
He also highlighted a few goals of Rotary International:
 
  • Young Rotarians; make use of technology
  • Flexibility/progressive
  • $300 million this year for annual programs
  • $3 Billion endowment by 2025 to do more good in the world.
 
Current RI President John Germ’s goals:
 
  • Eradicate polio by 2017
  • Serve humanity-small or big opportunities
  • Rotary Club Center-increase intensity of use.
  • Biggest and boldest party world has ever seen.