Downtown Westbrook Coalition Benefit - Fundraiser dinner on Thursday June 1 Brea Lu Cafe with two seatings at 5:30 and 7:00 PM - $25. Spaghetti dinner by Brea Lu, dessert from Black Dinah Chocolatiers, and Mast Landing Brewing Company beer at a cash bar, plus some other goodies for dinner attendees. Salad and non-alcoholic drinks are included in the dinner. Buy tickets in person during regular hours at Brea Lu, 9 Cumberland St. More info at: Downtown Westbrook Coalition Fundraiser Tickets
Downtown Westbrook Coalition Benefit - Chance to win 2 jet blue tickets. Value up to $800. Proceeds go to downtown Westbrook coalition who's mission is to make downtown walkable, livable and thriving destination!! $5 per ticket, 5 tickets for $20. You can purchase tickets directly from the DWC Director or a board member, at the BreaLu dinner noted above, or at Westbrook Together Days. Raffle winner will be drawn around 8 PM on Saturday, June 3 at Westbrook Together Days.
The Locker Project - On Wednesday May 31, two volunteers are in place. For Wednesday June 14, volunteers are still needed. We will be helping at the produce and baked goods table at Westbrook High School from 12:30PM until about 2PM. Activities include helping off load produce boxes (light and heavy), setting up the food on tables for students to take home with them, interacting with students, and cleaning up at the end. If you can help on June 14, please contact Scott Linscott.
Ronald MacDonald House - Ongoing - Pat and Cliff Plummer are back and collecting can tabs for RMH. Aluminum can tabs from beverage cans, pet food cans, tuna cans, etc, all are worth money in quantity. Please consider saving your aluminum tabs over the summer and bringing them to a future meeting. The Plummers have been working on this project for quite some time and would appreciate our help this year.
Donate to our Club's Charity through Amazon Smile – Ongoing - If you order items from Amazon.com, even if not very often, you can help Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club Charities. Go to http://smile.amazon.com/. Search for our Charity and select it. You may need to login to your Amazon account before being able to finalize your selection. Then, when you shop Amazon.com (always starting from http://smile.amazon.com/) a portion of every purchase will be donated to our charity.
CLYNK for Literacy – Ongoing - Keep those cans and bottles coming! Drop off your filled CLYNK bag at any Hannaford. Thanks to those who have contributed bottles so far to help purchase books that we donate for each speaker. If you need more CLYNK bags, they are available at each meeting.
Final call for 2016-2017 donations to secure the club match.Deadline May 31 to allow time to compile results and send match to TRF by June 30. For every dollar donated to the Rotary Foundation (TRF), up to $100, the club will make a matching donation to TRF in that member’s name. Here is a great opportunity to support our well-respected Rotary Foundation which consistently achieves the highest rating from Charity Navigator. It is also an opportunity to move closer to a Paul Harris Fellow or PHF+ level.
All money donated to TRF is spent on projects created and run by Rotarians. Your donation can be earmarked for the Annual Fund, Polio Plus, Endowment Fund or sent directly to the Peace Centers. If you choose the Annual Fund, you can donate to the SHARE Fund or to projects in any of Rotary’s six areas of focus: maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, clean water and sanitation, disease prevention and treatment, economic and community development, or peace and conflict resolution. Money donated to the Annual SHARE Fund drives the amount available to be returned to our District three years hence for projects championed by Rotarians in our District.
To make it even easier, you can sign up for Rotary Direct. With Rotary direct, you may have an amount automatically paid with a credit or debit card on a periodic basis: monthly, quarterly or annually. At the end of the calendar year, Rotary provides a receipt detailing your donations. If you sign up for Rotary Direct, the club will donate an additional $25 in your name.
To donate on line, go to https://www.rotary.org/en/donate. Click on the Donate button and select a fund. When you choose an amount, you may also choose to enroll in Rotary Direct on that page.
If you have any questions about TRF, about signing up for Rotary direct, or about your progress towards a PHF level, please contact our Foundation Chair Steve Rand steve@desmondrand.com.
On Wednesday night May 24, an ecstatic capacity crowd cheered on the graduates from all of the WRVC programs. Pat Plummer represented Westbrook Gorham Rotary, presenting 15 scholarships and 9 toolships. She described the evening as “joyful”. Cliff Plummer also attended. He commented “Today, students can take part in programs for not only building trades and electrical, but also medical and social services, computer and web design, truck driving and heavy equipment operation, early childhood education and business. I almost forgot firefighting and EMT's.”
As part of the celebration, Culinary Art students had some delicious treats for graduates and family members.
We are happy to be affiliated with this wonderful institution that equips its graduates to succeed as they further their education or immediately embark on their chosen career.
The Gorham Interact Club is winding down a book collection to support our ongoing literacy project. The students asked their classmates to bring in gently used children’s books for all ages. Through May 23, they had collected well over 300 books! Collection at Gorham ends on May 31.
L-R: Tom Nelson, Brittany Desjardin, Caroline Gross,
Jacob Dupuis, Neile Nelson
Beginning on May 30, Westbrook High School Interact Club will start their own book collection. They have structured it in the form of a contest, challenging Freshman, Sophomore and Junior classes to collect the most books. A prize will be awarded to the winning class.
We are so grateful to the Interact Clubs for embracing this project. Collected books will be distributed where there is need including at Stroudwater Food Pantry, Gorham Rec, Intercultural Community Center, and the summer bookmobile.
The Samoset Resort in Rockport was the location of our 2017 District Conference. Our Guatemala Water Project was featured in the House of Friendship which lead to additional clubs coming on board as partners on the project.
Much of the weekend was focused on the opioid crisis facing Maine. On Friday, several attendees created banners for use by the local MCRC (MidCoast Recovery Center) at summer events. Saturday included a panel discussion on opioid misuse featuring Kennebunk Police Chief and Kennebunk Club Past President Bob MacKenzie, and recovering addict Ashley Hurteau who shared her story.
We learned some astonishing facts about addition. For example, 1 in 10 babies in Maine are born to addicted mothers. It costs about $5K per year to treat substance abuse, but $50-100K to incarcerate. The rate of drug overdose deaths is higher than deaths from auto accidents and the relapse rate for addiction is about the same as for other chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes. Most importantly, long term addiction causes chemical changes in the brain. Reversing these changes can take time, requiring long term treatment. Like any disease, there is no one course of treatment that works for all. Counseling, faith-based resources, chemical substitution, residential recovery, meditation, yoga, job assistance, all can play a role in recovery. When an addict is in recovery, there is a 37% increase in employment and a 52% increase in children living with their biological parent.
We also learned about projects underway in several clubs. The Kennebunk Club has a mentoring program for youth offenders. The Biddeford Saco Club has the Red Ribbon Committee that works with the community to promote healthy choices through youth education. The Portsmouth Club has provided funding to open the Safe Harbor Recovery Center. Finally, Saturday evening’s speaker was Andrew Kiezulas, a recent USM Graduate in Chemistry and co-founder of the Recovery Oriented Campus Center.
District Changeover Ceremony - Camp Hinds in Raymond - The changeover ceremony will take place near the waterfront from 5-6:45PM, including networking time. There is no charge to attend this portion of the evening, but bringing an appetizer to share would be appreciated. Water and non-alcoholic beverages will be available. At 6:45PM, those who wish to have dinner with the RYLA campers will move to the new dining hall. The charge for dinner is $10. Dinner will be followed by RYLA skits. All members are welcome to attend. Register at: http://rotary7780.org/event/district-changeover-at-camp-hinds/
We have been receiving many requests to provide programs this year so have not assigned members to specific weeks as we have done in the past. If you have an idea for a program, please contact Christine Johnson. We are currently seeking programs for July, August and beyond.
Here is the list of upcoming dates with speakers and their sponsors:
5/30 - Vanessa Pike - Membership Director Visit Portland - Phil Spiller
6/6 - David S. Nealley- Publisher MAINE SENIORS Magazine
6/13 - Andrew Turcotte - Russian Sister City Updates - Phil Spiller
6/20 - Betty Balderston - Elder Abuse Prevention
6/27 - Changeover Ceremony - Welcome Dr Bill Chadwick as our new President
7/4 - No Meeting - Happy Independence Day
7/11 - No Lunch Meeting - See you at the Lobster Boil
7/18 - TBD
7/25 - Aaron Farr - President GHS Interact Club - Ethan Johnson
Portland - Fridays 12:15PM at Holiday Inn by the Bay or Clarion
check website for current week's venue
Portland Sunrise - Thursdays 7:15AM
Cumberland Club 116 High St Portland
Falmouth - Mondays 4:30PM
American Legion Post 65 Depot Rd Falmouth
Scarborough - Tuesdays 5:45PM
Cabela's 100 Cabela's Blvd Scarborough
Sebago Lake Rotary Club - Thursdays 12:15PM
Dena's Lobster House & Tavern 765 Roosevelt Trail Windham
OR you can always claim a make up by attending Rotary-sponsored events of our club or other clubs like fundraisers, selling Christmas Trees, by volunteering at our Golf Tournament or our Road Race, or by attending District events or training. Just let our Secretary Mike Foley know when you have participated in any of these activities at mfoley@me.com
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