Westbrook Food Pantry - The Westbrook Food Pantry has recently shared that their resources have been depleted by high demand over the summer. Our Board of Directors has agreed to send them a $500 cash donation immediately. If you'd like to help, please consider a personal donation of cash or non-perishable items. Popular items include: peanut butter, jelly, pasta, sauce, cereal, canned meats & fish, soups, beans and personal care products. Donations may be sent or delivered to Westbrook Food Pantry, Westbrook Community Center, 426 Bridge Street, Westbrook, ME 04092. They are open on Tuesdays 12-2 and 6-7:30. Watch for a planned food drive at Hannaford Westbrook coming soon.
Westbrook High School Food Pantry - As the new school year approaches, the food pantry at the high school needs to be restocked. Popular items include: meals in a can, tuna & canned meats, peanut butter, jelly, cheese and crackers, granola bars; single-serve raisins, fruit cups, applesauce, roll ups, cereal; personal care items. Before school starts, items can be dropped at the home of school board member Veronica Bates, 450 Saco St #1. Once school starts on August 30, items can be dropped at the high school main office on Stroudwater St.
Community Dinner – At FBC 733 Main St Westbrook. Third Saturday of every month. 4:30-6PM. Next dinner is August 19. Pulled pork sandwhiches... yum!! People who want to help serve the meals arrive at 4:15PM. Those who would like to help cleanup, do dishes, etc, arrive by 5:45PM. There is also need for “intentional diners”, those who just want to sit, eat, chat, and listen to the stories of their fellow diners. If you would like to help, please contact Scott Linscott.
The Locker Project at Westbrook Community Center – Wednesday August 23. One or two volunteer needed at 3:30PM in Scarborough to load truck. Two volunteers needed 4-5:30 to help arrange produce and groceries on tables, then assist students and parents with bagging the food to take home. You will be a welcoming presence, making sure people know they are invited to take food. Everyone is invited to bring food home with them. Please contact Christine Johnson if you can help.
Preble Street Resource Center - Wednesday, August 23 - several volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve a meal to those in need at the Preble Street Soup Kitchen. Volunteer time is from 4:00-6:15PM. Doors open for guests at 4:30PM. The volunteer door is on Oxford Street. A few volunteers are needed at 3:30PM to help with prep. If you can help, please contact Gracie Johnston of the Portland Rotary Club: gracie.johnston@wcsh6.com
Summer Concerts in the Park - Last two weeks!! Once again, legionnaires will be selling grilled and other food items at every Wednesday night concert in the park through August 23rd. Please come enjoy the free music and support your local veterans at the same time. August 16 - Bob Charest Band, August 23 - Delta Knights.
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 (drop off locations can be found at: https://www.clynk.com/locations/maine/ . 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.
Sarah Hutchins, a resident of Gorham, has recently submitted an application for membership. She is sponsored by Phil Spiller.
Sarah recently joined Evergreen Credit Union on Riverside St as a Mortgage Loan Originator after a few yeas as a Sales and Leasing consultant at Prime Toyota in Saco. Over the course of her career she has been a bank teller, a sales coach, a loan originator and an owner/operator of home loan companies. Sarah mentioned in her application that she is a former member of our club.
Sarah is a member of Eastpoint Church and is a mother of three. Her hobbies include volunteer work.
A vote will be taken on her application at the next board meeting. If you have any input on this application, please contact President Bill or other Board member before September 5.
As you should have seen in a recent email from DG Dave Underhill, this year, World Polio Day will be held in Seattle in recognition of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. A generous District 7780 Rotarian has donated airfare and a hotel room for one of us to travel to Seattle for World Polio Day on October 24. This is a chance to be in the audience and see “up close and personal” what major players in this field have to say.
Make a donation to Polio Plus of at least $25 between July 1st and September 30, 2017. Each individual donor, regardless of the amount given, will be eligible for the drawing and the lucky winner will be heading west in October. If you make your donation on-line, it can be made any time right up to September 30. If you choose to do it by check, mail it by September 22 to be sure it will get to Evanston in time to be processed. Every donation is eligible for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2:1 match, so your contribution is tripled.
What’s Included: Round trip airfare from Portland or Boston to Seattle, hotel room for two nights in Seattle. You are responsible for meals and other incidentals.
It was on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, when the longtime Yankee first baseman uttered the famous words at a home plate ceremony at Yankee Stadium: "Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Bill Chadwick used these words on August 8, 2017 to introduce our speaker Karla Wheaton, ALS Northern New England Events Manager – Maine.
Amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It takes away the ability to move, speak and eat. While it is very hard to diagnose, usually by process of elimination, over 6000 people are diagnosed with this disease every year in the US. At any time, about 200 people in Maine are living with ALS. 60% are men and the average age when it develops is between 40 and 70. It is more common among Caucasians, and military veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS – especially those who served in the Gulf war. Average life span is 2-5 years, although some people can live over 10 years. There are two strains of the disease – one strain is genetic, but it not known why most who develop ALS get it.
ALS NNE supports folks with ALS and their families across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. As the preeminent ALS organization, The ALS Association leads the way in research, care services, public education, and public policy – providing help and hope to those facing the disease. Karla shared that as a result of the “ice bucket challenge” that went viral on social media a couple of years back, money raised resulted in development of the first drug in 22 years. While it is not a cure, it has proven to slow down progress of the disease. In addition, The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor recently received and $80K grant to conduct additional research.
By the end of 2017, ALS NNE will be opening a multidisciplinary care clinic at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. This is exciting news for Maine patients who have had to previously travel out of state for specialized care. ALS NNE hosts monthly support groups in Scarborough, Augusta and Bangor. They provide loans of new and gently used medical equipment and communication devices that are frequently needed, in attempt to reduce the financial burden on families. Their Maine care coordinator meets with families to and questions and provide guidance and identify available community resources.
ALS NNE holds two Walk to Defeat ALS events. The one in Portland will be held Saturday September 9. These walks are the chapter’s signature events and their main source of funding. To learn more: Walk to Defeat ALS Portland Sept 2017 or contact Karla at kwheaton@alsnne.org . Volunteers are needed to set up, help with parking and food, and clean up.
We have been receiving many requests to provide programs recently 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 October and beyond.
Here is the list of upcoming dates with speakers and their sponsors:
* 8/15 - Shannon Cilento - Summer Intern Downtown Wsbk Coalition - Phil Spiller
* 8/22 - PDGSheila Rollins - Rotaract at St Joseph's - Bill Chadwick
* 8/29 - Chief Bob MacKenzie - Kennebunk ME - District Recovery Initiative - Christine Johnon
* 9/5 - Becky Albert - Classification Talk- Celebrate International Literacy Day
* 9/12 - District Governor Dave Underhill - Bill Chadwick
* 9/19 - Golf Tournament - No Meeting
* 9/26 - Marty Helman - District Foundation Chair - Steve Rand
* 10/3 - Club Assembly
* 10/10 - WHS Interact and RYLA with Bruce Dyer - Dave Rolfe
* 10/17 - Scott Linscott - Classification Talk
* 10/24 - Lawrence Furbish - World Polio Day
* 10/31 - Owens McCullough - New Rotary House Update
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
NEW LOCATION
Pat's Pizza 844 Roosevelt Trail, Windham, ME 04062
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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