Prayer.Gracious God, to whom we owe gratitude and praise for blessings unnumbered, we express our thanks today for this gathering and the opportunities it holds for us. Help us, however, to go beyond just voicing our gratitude to living daily with a grateful spirit.
Bless our local efforts to serve others, to infuse our community with the proven principles we espouse, and to be the standard bearers for truth in our spheres of influence. Bless and strengthen us through food and fellowship for the pursuit of our purposes as a Club. Amen.
Club Announcements
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Birthdays
Andy White June 13
Matthew Turnage June 17
Wedding Anniversaries
Jenny & Doug Price June 14
Ed & Barbara SentellJune 15
Marisa & John Davidson June 15
Matt & Katie Monsour June 15
Swan & Gingia Yerger June 16
Wyatt & Ginny Emmerich June 17
Membership Anniversaries None
Social Media.Want to keep up with the service activities and members of the Rotary Club of North Jackson? Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@RotaryNorth) and Instagram (rotarynorthjackson)
Rotary Membership Drive. Please see the following from Membership Director Lee Jenkins.
" Still in progress…2018 RCNJ Membership Drive!
Many thanks to Lori, Erin, and Suman for bringing guests to the Club Assembly! The food was delicious, as usual, thanks to The Holy Smokers, and the fellowship was excellent. I think our guests enjoyed it too!
Great news! Our Membership Drive has been extended toJune 30, 2018!
For those of you who have brought guests and have interested prospects, let me know when they need an application. The Rotary Club of North Jackson has always been a great club with the best members, and we want to make it even better! If you haven't brought a prospective member yet, think of who you know that would be an asset to our Club and invite them to a meeting. Their lunch is on us!
Don't forget the incentives available for bringing in new members right now through the end of June:
1) 500 Paul Harris points for each new member
2) $200 gift certificate to The Manship for whoever recruits the most NJRC members
Also, the Rotarian who brings in the most new members in the District by May 31stwill receive $500 cash!
Think about who you can introduce to Rotary. We want to meet them!"
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought highlights the unique relationship between two Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies Program (RPCS) alumni.
Raveendra Pathiranage, senior state counsel in the attorney general's office in Sri Lanka, and Thevananth Thevanayagam, program manager for the Refugees Rehabilitation Organization in Sri Lanka providing food, shelter, rehabilitation, and other assistance to Tamil refugees, found themselves unlikely classmates in the inaugural session of the RPCS Program. After arguing incessantly, the two formed a strong bond, united in a
desire to bring peace to their homeland. "We erased the hard feelings and went on to ‘What can we do to solve the problem? What can we contribute?'" said Pathiranage. The
two remain close friends even a year after completing the three-month program, which Pathiranage describes as more useful than a year's worth of graduate study. Every minute of every day somewhere in the world our Rotary Foundation is making a difference in someone’s life.
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 mdawkins@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. Our reading for the 2017-2018 school year is complete, but please sign up for 2018-2019.
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) He will provide a membership 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:
How our club attracts and retains alumni as members
Members of the Dupont Circle Rotary Club at a tree planting event.
By Mandy Warfield, president, Rotary Club of Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., USA
The Rotary Club of Dupont Circle was started six years ago by a group of Rotary alumni, and since then, the club has grown to include many other facets of the community, including individuals who have not had any previous experience with Rotary.
Over the last few years, our club has continued to attract and retain alumni members. Sometimes RI finds the alumni and introduces them to our club, and sometimes the alumni find us. We are lucky to have naturally open and social members, and everyone makes a concerted effort to make any visitor feel welcome. One of our Rotary alumni members, Molly, recounts, “When I started attending meetings, no one treated me like a joke or a second-tier Rotarian because I was so young. Fellow members treated me as an equal who had ideas and skills to contribute to the club.”
Our club meets at a neighborhood bar and we meet in the evening. This rather informal environment also allows us to keep dues at a minimum, which is often a swaying factor for younger members. Because we are a small club, we’ve adopted an “all hands on deck” approach in order to execute on our club’s goals; new members frequently become active members of our committees, and even volunteer to step up into the committee chair role. Their fresh insights and perspectives have helped our club grow and have shaped our club over time.
Our service opportunities also reflect this “all hands on deck” approach. Another of Molly’s reasons for joining our club were “the hands-on service opportunities the club offers.” She says, “I like getting to get my hands dirty planting a tree or digging out invasive plant species in a wetlands. Almost all the service events Rotary Club of Dupont Circle does involve that level of activity and commitment.”
What are some tips we have for attracting and retaining Rotary alumni or other young professionals?
Get people involved immediately. New members are interested in your club because they want to make a difference. Ask your prospective member to help plan a service project or take a leading role on a committee.
Explore financing options. If paying dues is the only thing standing in the way of a member joining your club, it is worth sitting down to have a candid discussion to explore other options. Perhaps another existing member would be willing to support a portion of the dues.
Be curious. Ask them questions about their work life and previous experiences with Rotary. Connect them with someone in the club who might have a similar previous experience.
Most importantly– Have fun!
Engaging Younger Professionals, a new online toolkit, helps clubs better understand younger professionals. From ideas for outreach and engagement to long-term benefits of becoming a Rotarian, this toolkit helps clubs rethink their membership, from a broad perspective down to a tactical level.
Ms. Veronica Herrin, Volunteer Coordinator and a Caseworker with the Good Samaritan Center in Jackson, MS, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s June 5, 2018, meeting. The purpose of her talk was to describe the role and purpose of the centers and to discuss some upcoming events Good Sam is conducting, including the events associated with the balloon fest June 28-July 1, 2018.
She described Good Sam’s role assisting people with temporary emergencies, providing assistance applying for benefits, providing food and clothing particularly in their Mid-Town community, and recycling items via their Nuts store, where Nuts stands for “neat Used Things.”
We thank Ms. Herrin for her presentation and for her service to the citizens of Jackson. She (center) is shown during her presentation and following it with club president Witt Ruffin (right) and Club Program Director Matt Monsour (left).
Aldina Welker, Longest Day Coordinator for the Mississippi Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's May 29, 2018 meeting. The primary subject of Ms. Welker's presentation was the Longest Day fundraiser which is held annually on the Summer Solstice, normally June 21. She also discussed the impact and prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and the mission and vision of the Association. The vision is "A world without Alzheimer's disease." She quoted figures of an estimated 47 million people worldwide living with Alzheimer's and an estimated 5 million in the USA/.
Ms. Welker encouraged Rotarians to participate in the Longest Day and distributed handouts describing how to participate, In 2017, Mississippians contributed over $76,000 on the Longest Day. We thank Ms. Welker for her presentation and for her work on behalf of Alzheimer's patients. She (center) is shown during her presentation and following it with Matt Monsour (club Program Director) ((left) and Club President Witt Ruffin (right) in the accompanying photos.
Southern District Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Sam Britton spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s May 22, 2018, meeting. Mr. Britton spoke primarily about the role of the Public Service Commission regulating utilities. He briefly spoke of the failed Kemper County power plant that cost its owner, the Southern Companies, $6.4 billion. In response to a question, Mr. Britton said that what the owner does with the abandoned plant is its business. Since it has invested such a large fortune in it. He also spoke to the No Call telephone lists and the reasons for its need. He said that he expects technology to be developed in the next few years to control this problem, but that the reason the calls exist is that they make money for the perpetrators.
We thank Mr. Britton for his presentation to the club and for his service to the citizens of Mississippi. He is shown during his talk in the following photo:
He is also shown with Program Director Matt Monsour (Left) who introduced him and Club president-elect Anna Powers (right) following his talk in the photo that follows.
