Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) -THIS WEEK!! The Gorham Interact Club is doing a “Gift Donations for Elderly Patients” drive to assist Maine Medical Center. Their drive runs through Thursday, December 21. If you would like to help, please bring items to our meeting on December 20 or drop them for Ethan Johnson at Chalmers Insurance in Gorham. Items needed include: Mechanical pencils, 12-pk colored pencils, Disposable lens cleaner wipes, Large Print Activity Books (Crossword, Word Search, Sudoku, Adult Coloring, etc.), Large Print Books.
Altrusa Fundraiser - Your $10 donation puts you in the running to win a great prize EVERY DAY for the month of January! These make great stocking stuffers or Christmas gifts. Prizes include cash ($25, $50, $100, $250) and lots of gift cards (Shaws, LL Bean Gift, Kohls, Applebees, Amato's, DiMillo's and more). To see complete list: Altrusa Prize Calendar Your Donation will help @AltrusaPortland continue it’s great work in the community! To download a copy of the form with directions: Altrusa Portland 2018 Calendar Raffle Entry Form or see Judith Reidman at our next meeting.
Warm Feet for Veterans - Marine Corp League Detachment 1324 is collecting winter socks, jackets, gloves and blankets for homeless veterans and their families in the Portland area. Donations are for all ages and sizes for men, women, boys and girls. The Gorham Police Dept has a collection box in their vestibule that is open around the clock daily. All donations will go to local shelters or agencies that assist homeless vets locally.
WRVC Holiday Giving Project - See story below about this Giving Tree project. Return items to tree by 12/20.
Toiletries for the High School - Ongoing - Collect those tiny bottles of toiletries you are paying for during your next hotel visit and bring them home to help students in need of personal hygiene products. The HS Pantry and the HS Nurse are always looking to restock these basic supplies. You can always drop items off during the school day at the HS main office, or bring them to a meeting.
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.
Can Tabs for Ronald MacDonald House – Ongoing - Let’s keep collecting those can tabs over the winter months so we'll have a big donation in the spring.
CLYNK for Literacy - Ongoing - Don't forget to keep filling those bags to help fund the children's books we ask our speakers to sign for the Baxter and Walker Libraries. Extra bags are always available at our meetings. We're nearing the end of the quarter and the next pay-out window. Please fill those bags with holiday cheer and drop them off by December 29th!
We are pleased to report that Christmas Trees sold out on Saturday December 16 around 1PM. Deb Shangraw was the lucky person to sell that last tree!! Look for financial results soon.
A huge thanks to everyone who sold trees this year. We want to particularly thank Mike Foley for setting up an account so we could finally take credit cards. That was a big hit with customers! Also, we need to thank Mike for stepping into the gap and handling the logistics of the sale with scheduling, notifications, collecting the cash, and all the other little things that have to happen to make a sale a success.
Don't forget, we have one final action item to close out the tree sale fundraiser. This Tuesday, immediately following the meeting, all able hands are needed to break down the site and pack the trailer for the winter. Mother Nature may be helpful as it looks like it might be in the 40s and sunny. Hope to see you there.
The weather wouldn't cooperate on Tuesday night, defying even short range forecasts of warming temperatures that managed to stay just off shore. However, Friday December 15 was a wonderful clear and cold night to hold our annual Christmas Party.
Rotarians and guests enjoyed fellowship, delicious pot luck, and the much-anticipated Yankee Swap. Fewer items changed hands this year than in the past, but the Olive Garden gift card, the Paul Harris commemorative plate, and the furry paw ice scraper did change hands at least once! Our favorite photographer could not attend, but we do have a few pictures from the evening posted at: 2017 Christmas Party Photo Album
Thanks to Judith and Ed Reidman for hosting this year. Next year at the Rands!!
On December 13, 2017, Gorham High School Interact Club officers presented a check for $1370 to representatives from the Gorham Backpack program. This check represented half of the proceeds from the "Just a Kid from Gorham" T-shirt sale fundraiser. Congratulations to GHS Interact for a successful fundraiser!
The Gorham Backpack Program, launched this fall, provides a source of grain, fruit, vegetable, and protein through a variety of staple meal items, breakfast foods, and healthy snacks. Each bag is limited to roughly 5 lbs, so that all students can fit the food in their personal backpack regardless of age. Food is packed in grocery bags supplied by Hannaford.
It costs roughly $225 per year, per student, to receive food through the program. Food is sent home every Friday and over long weekends and holidays. Any student, K-12, who is experiencing food insecurity and/or chronic hunger may participate in the program. Students are nominated by a staff member in the school, parents, and/or students may self-refer.
Participants do not pay and it is not a school funded program. It is fully funded through donations made by the community. With the expected enrollment, as the program builds, the financial campaign needs to raise around $25,000 every year. Similar programs exist in Westbrook, Windham, Scarborough and many other surrounding communities.
Volunteers to pack the bags are needed. If you'd like to help, contact elementary school coordinator Jen Baker jennifer.baker@gorhamschools.org or Middle School/High School Coordinator Heather Whitaker heather.whitaker@gorhamschools.org
L-R: Abbie vanLuling, Aaron Farr, Michelle Row, Jon Scribner,
Stefan Street, Ben Nelson, Sean Pocock, Garrett Higgins and
three representatives from the Gorham Back Pack Program
THIS WEEK: The new Social Services Program at Westbrook Regional Voc Center has set up a Giving Tree in the lobby near the main office. The tree is hung with tags requesting essential items that will be given to clients of Woodford’s Family Services. Most of the tags are for small items, like soap, deodorant, gloves, hats, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, Hannaford Gift Cards, etc. While many tags have been taken and returned, there are still some tags remaining. If you took a tag at our last meeting, please be sure to return your item to the tree by 12/20. If you would like to take a tag, you can always stop by the school during open hours. Or you can pick up a tag during our next meeting on 12/19. Just be sure to return the item to the tree by 12/20.
Rotary is about fellowship, as well as service to our community. Even if you must miss a meeting, you can remain engaged by attending Rotary-sponsored events of our club or other clubs like fundraisers, by 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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