Reminder: If Westbrook Schools are closed due to weather, there will be no Rotary lunch meeting that day. This is usually not decided or announced by the school district until early in the morning of the day of cancellation. We will make every effort to send out notice to members as soon as possible, but please monitor weather reports and check available sources.
You can find out about school closings from many sources including: wmtw.com/weather/closings or wcsh6closings where you can search on Westbrook or sign up for email notifications.
The Locker Project - Fresh food and baked goods distribution at Westbrook High School in the cafeteria. Two volunteer needed for each of these upcoming dates. Approx 1-2PM each time. Sign in at front office and go to cafeteria. Wednesdays February 7, March 7, March 21, April 4. Thursday March 1 has been added. No heavy lifting is required. Help lay out food on tables and interact with the kids to encourage them to take items. 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. This a great way to de-stigmatize free food distributions, particularly in the case of fresh food that would otherwise get wasted. If you can help on any of these dates, please contact Christine Johnson. For more information, or to donate, visit their website: mainelockerproject.org
Frugal Feast - District Event Friday February 23, 5:30PM. Woodfords Church Portland - $25. Celebrate Rotary's 113th Anniversary and World Understanding and Peace Day. Sign up at the District website at rotary7780.org-frugal-feast.
District Training Assembly - Save the date. Saturday April 7. 8:30AM York County Community College, in the brand new Pratt and Whitney Center. Sign up will be available after February 23 with detailed agenda. Here's an opportunity to network with Rotarians from across the District and attend educational sessions on a variety of topics of interest to all clubs.
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.
If you have ever considered volunteering to work directly with students in Westbrook Schools, here is a great opportunity. Superintendent Peter Lancia is spearheading an initiative called Read With Me to pair every Kindergarten and First Grade student in Westbrook schools with a reading mentor. Planning is currently underway with a target reading kick-off date during the week of March 12. Volunteer training will start during the week of February 26th. Minimum commitment is 30 minutes per week for 10 weeks, on the day of the week of your choosing , reading to 1 or 2 assigned students. Time of day to be negotiated between the volunteer and selected school (Canal, Congin or Saccarappa). To sign up go to: bit.ly/ReadwithMe
You will also need to fill out a Volunteer Application to complete a free background check. The application can be found at: Westbrook School Dept Volunteer Application . This form can be edited to enter your information. However, since your social security number is currently required, it is recommended that the form be printed, signed and returned to the Administrative offices at 117 Stroudwater St located next to the high school. They are open M-F 8AM to 4PM.
Please note. This form does not have to be completed to participate in group events, like The Locker Project distributions.
On February 14th , President Bill Chadwick will be leading a multi- Club team of Rotary volunteers and friends deep into the jungles of Guatemala. Team members from Westbrook-Gorham Rotary are: Bill Chadwick, Steve Rand, his son Tyler Rand, Carlo Giraulo and Doctor Wayne Lopez. They will join forces with four members of the Celebration Florida Rotary Club in Miami. And finally at the destination of Cuatro Cayos a third club, the Los Amates Rotary Club will join the team for the projects
Projects include the construction of 20 brick ECO-STOVES in the village homes. These stove remove deadly toxins caused by open fire pits that are used for cooking inside of the huts. This project reduces lung cancer in women, which currently stands at an alarming 18% percent. The team will also install 13 cement floors in village huts, improving sanitation. They will also hang more than 20 Zika nets over the sleeping areas of village homes.
Mosquito netting being placed
on a previous trip
In addition, there will be distribution of school supplies that were collected by the Gorham High School Interact Club. The club, consisting of 120 students, solicited the Gorham High School student body and the local community. They received enough donations of notebooks, pens, glue, pencils, crayons to completely supply the school in Cuatro Cayos for an entire year.
GHS Interact President Aaron Farr
delivers school supplies
At a recently built medical clinic, Dr. Wayne Lopez and Rotarian Dr. Brenda Valdez of the Los Amates Club will be offering dental services to over two hundred people. Dental hygiene instruction will be provided to help cultivate proper oral care.
The Rotary efforts will be hosted by Centro Cultural Cristiano de Guatemala who provide logistical support, translators, and transportation. Sixteen members of the Stroudwater Christian Church of Portland will also be on the trip.
Lynn DeRocher, Director of Business and Community Development, spoke to Westbrook-Gorham Rotary on January 30, 2018. ConvenientMD, a small chain of NH-based urgent care walk-in clinics recently opened its first Maine location in downtown Westbrook. They quickly opened a second location in Portland and plan further expansion to add four more Maine locations in the near future.
In the United States, emergency visits increased dramatically from 90 million in 1996 to 130 million in 2013. This has resulted in long wait times, with the average being 4 hours. In addition, the average cost of a non-emergency ER visit topped $1500. The average time to appointment with primary care provider (PCP) various across New England from 16 days to more than 60 days and the dominance of hospital networks has resulted in high cost care. The large majority of ER visits are during daylight hours, by insured patients, and are not emergencies. ConvenientMD was created to fill the gap between PCP and ER.
ConvenientMD has on-site x-ray, onsite lab, and can set bones. They are open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are an extension of primary care and share all information on treatment with a patient’s primary care physician. They provide a broad scope of care: sprains, broken bones, abrasions, burns, colds & coughs, flu, asthma attacks, bee stings, physicals, etc. However, they do not provide mental health or emergency care for immediate life or limb threatening conditions (like heart attacks). They partner with school nurses as a way to give back to the community. If a school nurse identifies a need for treatment, the student can come in at no charge (with parental permission). A signature part of their care is their follow-up protocols which include thank you note, texts, and check-in call 3 days after the visit.
It is currently a busy time of year due to the flu. However, even with this factor, traffic at the Westbrook location has exceeded projections. They are very pleased with the warm welcome and positive response from the community and expect to be adding staff sooner than expected to keep up with demand.
The Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham was well-represented at the Mid-Year Leadership dinner on Monday January 29 at the Fireside Inn in Portland. Each year at the mid-point of the Rotary year, Presidents, Presidents-Elect, and VPs from clubs across the District gather to meet with other District leaders for a program and training. It provides an opportunity for each Presidential “class” to network with their peers, with their AG, and with the District Governor team. Our club had a "hat trick" this year with all three Presidential track members in attendance!
Our own President Bill Chadwick and AG Tony Wagner presented segments of the program to discuss our Guatemala water project and inter-club collaboration. It was also the first opportunity for many to meet Peggy Belanger, District Governor Nominee Designate of the Kennebunk Portside Club who will be our DG in 2020-2021.
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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