Dear God, In the chill of winter we gather to enjoy the warmth of our friendship in Rotary, and the spiritual warmth of your love and concern for us. We are awed by every evidence of your interest in us and your responses of help in our times of special need. As we embrace each other in fellowship, in our lighthearted moments and in serious involvements, we pray also for your enriching presence in all we do.
We offer thanks for food prepared for our use. and for those who serve us. Let our table conversations be uplifting, and our concern for others genuine. May the time we spend here today be productive for the purposes to which we subscribe. Thank you for all favors received from your hand. Amen.
Club Announcements:
District 6820 Dream Raffle Tickets Deadline
The deadline to buy or sell District 6820 Dream Raffle tickets is December 11. In order for all ticket stubs (including those two you were billed for on the last invoice!) to be included in the January 12, 2018 drawing, they must be filled out and returned to Don Roberts, Administrative Secretary/Treasurer.
Remember, December 11 is the deadline. THEY MUST BE IN FOR YOU TO WIN!!
Birthdays and Anniversaries:
Birthdays:
Erik Hearon December 13
Luther Munford December 14
Wedding Anniversaries:
Tom & Charlotte Turner December 15
Tommy & Marsha James December 16
Membership Anniversaries:
None
Salvation Army Red Kettles. Again this year the Rotary Club of North Jackson will be helping the Salvation Army by staffing its Red Kettles at McDade's Market on Northside Drive on December 12 & 13. Contact Rob Whitley at (601) 362-8844 if you are able to help.
Social Media. Do you 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 Foundation Thought. This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about Polio.
The goal of polio eradication remains difficult, with three countries still polio-endemic and a 99.9% reduction in worldwide cases achieved from the 1985 level. Some in the scientific community raised a difficult question several years ago: "Can the world eradicate polio, or should we try to contain it?"
According to an article by Harvard researchers, controlling the disease would have been far more costly than eradicating it. The developing world could save more than $1 billion a year by eradicating while switching to a control strategy would have condemned 10 million children to
polio over the next 40 years alone.
We must not lose sight of our vision of a world without polio. We must finish our work and hold true to our promise to the children of the world.
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. Please sign up for 2018-2019. Call Bill Osborne @ 601-594-5698 to sign up. This year we will be reading on Tuesdays and Fridays at 09:00.
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
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:
The Rotary Club of North Jackson held its 2018 Holiday Party at The River Hills Club on December 4th. Photos from the event follow. Music was provided by Legendary Blues Guitarist Jesse Robinson. Thanks to Club Vice President, Greg Campbell for organizing the event and thanks to The River Hills Club for a nice evening! A good time was had by all who attended!
Robert Langford, Executive Director of Operation Shoestring, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s November 27 meeting. Mr. Langford discussed the history, role, and future plans of the organization. He is shown in the following photo with Rotarian Lori Greer who arranged for him to speak and introduced him.
One of Operation Shoestring’s strategic objectives is to enhance the educational achievement of the school-aged children it serves. For example, he pointed out that 97% of its 2017-2018 third graders passed the Third Grade Reading Proficiency Exam and were promoted to the fourth grade. This is a significant achievement in Shoestring’s service area. He also pointed out that 100% of the students in its high school Ambassadors program from all seven of Jackson Public Schools’ high school graduated from high school.
Shoestring is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2018. It was originally founded in Wells United Methodist Church’ facilities and is currently remodeling and enhancingitsfacilities on Bailey Avenue in a $2.5 million capital campaign to renovate its building and create an adjacent community greenspace and playground. Look for a grand opening of the transformed building and property in the late summer of 2019.
We thank Mr. Langford for his presentation to our club and for his service to the children of Jackson. He is shown in the following photo with Ms. Greer (left), Club President Anna Powers (second from right), and Ayana Kinnel (right), Operation Shoestring’s Communications Director.
Dr. Charles H. Beady, Jr., CEO, Mississippi Food Network (MFN) spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club's November 19 Meeting. Dr. Beady is a native Georgian and was formerly president of the Piney Woods School in Rankin County. The purpose of his presentation was to thank the Rotary Club for its financial support and to discuss the role and activities of MFN. MFN was formed in 1984. and it serves 150,000 people monthly. MFN's mission is "to relieve poverty-related hunger in our service area by distributing donated and purchased food and grocery products through a network of member churches and nonprofit organizations. We provide nutrition education to our needy clients. We also emphasize advocacy and related needs." Per Dr. Beady, MFN serves 150,000 people monthly.
MFN is the only food bank located in Mississippi. It is a member of Feeding America, the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization. From its beginning in 1985 when it distributed 139,000 pounds of food, MFN has grown to the point that 21.4 million pounds of food were distributed in 2017. MFN is governed by a 24 person Board of Directors, Chaired by Felicia Lyles. MFN's 2017 Form 990 shows total revenue of $24.1 million in cash, grants and food donations received and operating expenses of $19.3 million. Overhead and fundraising totaled $1.8 million.
MFN receives funding from a variety of sources, including grants, individual donations, churches, businesses, and foundations plus a small handling charge paid by member agencies for food receipts. Dr. Beady said that at any time, MFN will have 1.5 million pounds of food in inventory. Food is purchased when necessary. It is also received via food drives by local businesses, and donations from retail vendors such as Kroger, Sam's Club, & WalMart.
Dr. Beady is shown in the first following photo during his presentation and in the second with Club Vice President Greg Campbell who introduced him.
We thank Dr. Beady for his presentation and for his efforts on behalf of the needy citizens of Mississippi.
Mandy Jones Sisson, Community Relations Director of The Mustard Seed in Brandon Mississippi spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s November 13, 2018, meeting. According to its website, The Mustard Seed “seeks to meet the spiritual, physical, and intellectual needs of adults with developmental disabilities by providing a loving and protected Christian community with meaningful activities that allow the participants to fulfill the potential that God has created within them.” Ms. Sissons discussed the role and activities of The Mustard Seed and its seedsters. One of the things she discussed is the painted ceramics that The Mustard Seed sells to help finance its activities. She also discussed some of the seedsters view their lives and the fact that The Mustard has waiting lists for its residential and day programs. According to Ms. Sissons, the majority of seedsters are Down’s Syndrome affected.
Ms. Sissons is shown in the first photo below during her presentation and following it in the second photo (right) with Club Vice President Greg Campbell (second from right), Club Member Lori Greer who introduced her (second from left) , and Jon Wiener (left) of Bash Brothers Media who discussed his upcoming video show “Between the Pines”, Episode 2, “The Vet”, the history and story of Mississippi Veterans Stadium, which will air Saturday, November 17 at 9:00 PM on WLBT in Jackson and on Cspire.com.
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We thank Ms. Sissons for her presentation and for her efforts on behalf of The Mustard Seed.
