Prayer. O God, we gather once again as men and women committed to the values espoused by Rotarians
everywhere, values and virtues desperately needing to be infused into our culture. We believe the qualities which characterize Rotarianism at its best have their origin in your will and purpose. We pray, therefore, for divine assistance as we seek to so integrate them into our social, business, and professional structures, that they become the accepted basis for behavior.
Accept our gratitude for all gifts and challenges which come from your hand. Amen.
Club Announcements
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Birthdays
Ralph McDaniel Feb. 16
Anniversaries
Mark & Debbie Kennedy Feb. 19
Membership Anniversaries
Andy White 6 years, Feb. 14
Luther Munford 6 years, Feb. 14
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about bringing smiles to those in need.
Mother Theresa said “Peace Begins with a Smile” Rotarians around the world put that
into action every day. One example of this is a Rotary Foundation Volunteer Service
Grant that helped Dr. Marco Antonio Bulas, of the Rotary club of Tehuacan Manantrails,
Mexico and Rotary volunteers from the Rotary Club of Loveland, Colorado, USA carry out project Sonrisas Sin Fronteras (Smiles without Borders). The Rotary volunteers and a team of 23 university dental students provided dentures for 22 patients. “All of the team watched with great satisfaction as each patient was overcome with joy and happiness” commented Ronnie Hogan, a member of the Loveland club.
Every Rotarian, Every Year can bring a smile to the face of someone in need.
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Billy Brumfield House. The Rotary Club of North Jackson is serving supper once a month at The Billy Brumfield House, a Stewpot Community Services ministry. Our club serves on the 1st Tuesday of each month. Interested members need to meet @ Baker Donelson located at the corner of Eastover Drive and the I-55 North Frontage Road @ 5:15 PM and then travel together to Billy Brumfield. Also, if you are interested in sponsoring a month, the est. cost is $180 for the food. Mike Dawkins is project chair and can be reached @ 601-351-2428 or dawkins@bakerdonelson.com.
Between the Lions. Please remember to sign up for Between the Lions. During the school year, we read weekly to pre-Kindergarteners at William Walton Elementary School on Bailey Ave. It is a wonderful experience! The children are truly information sponges and very willing learners. Contact Jenny Price (662) 213-1294 for more information. We have resumed reading and are really enjoying it.
Member Care Committeereminder: for anyone who needs assistance getting to a meeting, please call Luther Munford at (601) 985-4418.
Thinking of Proposing a New Member?
First, discuss with Classification Committee (Paul Miller or Julian Carroll). They will provide a member- ship application, check classification availability and discuss occupational qualifications.
Rotary Membership Occupational Qualifications Applicant should be one of the following:
A corporate officer
A Professional (Attorney, CPA, Physician. Engineer, Architect, etc) A Proprietor
An Agent of a reputable company
A Manager or Supervisor of a department or section of a business
Rotarians, don't forget to like the club's Facebook page to stay up to date on the latest happenings. Search us out at Rotary Club of North Jackson or click the link:
Members of the Rotaract club perform community service.
By Fatima Khurram, Rotaract Club of Faisalabad Janubi, Pakistan
Not long ago, a mother of one of our members saw on the news a documentary about a widow struggling to provide for herself and her three adult children living with disabilities. Her house was broken and she had no income to support them.
When word reached us, we called the news channel to ask for contact information so we could visit her. The very next day, a group from my club visited.
Rotaractors in Faisalabad were moved to help a widow they saw on a news report.
We found the mud house with no proper roof and water flowing across the floor everywhere. We promised to bring them groceries every month and help renovate their house. We felt moved by what we saw, and knew we had to act!
So you ask how a group of young adults like us could manage such an expense? We spread the word and found monthly donors who agreed to contribute groceries. One donor contributed greatly to the renovation of the house, up to 400,000 rupees!
Finally, after three months, the house was renovated and we had given almost seven months of groceries. Following that, the widow found permanent income support.
The best part of the experience was seeing our members come together as Rotaractors to See, Feel, and Act. Our duty ends in action. Without it, our efforts are incomplete. Actiondoesn’t always mean helping directly. But it does mean offering any aid we can to help. This is our belief of what it means to be in Rotaract.
Learn more about how you can get involved in Rotaract
Jackson, MS author, Jackie Warren Tatum, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s February 6, 2018 meeting. Ms. Tatum discussed what it takes to become a published author and she discussed some of Rotary’s key accomplishments as viewed by a non-Rotarian.
She said that once a work is completed, you need to find an agent who will in turn help you find a publisher. Her book, entitled “Unspeakable Things” was published by Mill City Press and is available from Amazon and Lemuria Books in Jackson.
With respect to Rotary, Ms/ Tatum cited the success that Rotary has had in helping eliminate Polio from the world. Thus far it has achieved a 99.9% reduction since 1985 when there were 350,000 cases worldwide. In 2017, there were about 20 cases, mostly in war-torn, developing countries. She also noted the work that Rotary has done in fighting illiteracy, particularly in the U.S. with North Jackson participating in the Dictionary Project and in Between the Lions where Rotarians read to Pre-kindergarten children and in drilling and maintaining water wells in Africa where nonpotable water is an endemic problem. Prior to having wells, citizens have to walk multiple miles to wells that are generally unsanitary.
We thank Ms. Tatum for her presentation and for her interest in the work that Rotary does. She is shown in the accompanying photos at the podium during her speech and after it with Club Past president Tom Parry (left) and 2017-2018 President Witt Ruffin (right).
Dr. LouAnn Woodward, Vice Chancellor & Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's January 30, 2018, meeting. The general topic of her speech was progress being made in improving medical care availability for the Citizens of Mississippi. She discussed the recently completed new Medical a School Building that is permitting the no. of graduates from 100 annually to 155 annually and the school's efforts to retain its graduates in the state. She also discussed the opening of a clinic in Belzoni where the local hospital closed and the use of telemedicine to improve the access to medical specialists. In addition, she distributed two "leave behinds", a map of UMMc's facilities and telemedicine locations in the state and a list of UMMC's successes in 2017. Dr. Woodward is shown in the accompanying photos at the meeting. One photo is of her during her talk and the second is of her with Club member Lori Greer, who is an employee of the Jackson Medical Mall which is operated by UMMC.
We thank Dr. Woodward for her presentation and for her service and commitment to the citizens of Mississippi.
Hon. Delbert Hosemann, Secretary of State for the State of Mississippi spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's January 23, 2018, meeting. Secretary Hosemann, who is completing his second term as Secretary of State, discussed the accomplishments during his term; namely,
significantly reducing the cost of operating the office of the Secretary of State;
improving the quality and accessibility of the department's website;
Improving the ability of corporations and LLCs to file reports;
developing a business-friendly website, Y'all Business, to assist business looking to locate in the state;
reducing the quantity of tax-forfeited property owned by the state;
Increasing the revenues received by school districts from what is called "16th Section Land" that the districts own and lease to individuals and corporations; and
conducting a Y'all Business Survey of Mississippi business owners.
The business survey was targeted at factors that would cause businesses to want to expand their business in Mississippi. The results are quite interesting. Most important is an educated workforce. Down the list, at no. 11 and 12 respectively, were local and state financial incentives and state and local tax structure.
We thank Secretary Hosemann for his presentation to our club and for his service and commitment to the citizens of Mississippi. He is shown at the podium during his presentation and with club members and a visiting Rotarian following his presentation in the accompanying photos.
Shown in the photo following his talk are; from the left, Secretary Hosemann, Rotarian Lori Greer, who introduced him, Club President Witt Ruffin, and visiting Rotarian Dr. Henry Mills.
