April 3, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Guests were speaker Pam Mulcahey, Ed Delany of the Bellows Falls Rotary Club, and Erica LaBella.
Tony presented his famous NH Trivia, Rotary Peace Centers edition.
The 50/50 was won by Mike, who donated it to Tom’s tip.
Bill won the chance to draw for the ace of spades but was unsuccessful.
Thanks to all who worked at the rabies clinic. We vaccinated 106 cats and dogs and the weather was great. We raised $1060. Everyone brought everything they were supposed to and all volunteers showed up.
The District conference is April 19-21 at Lake Morey in Vermont. See the district website for details and registration.
Circle camp cleanup will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19. Beth will pass around a signup sheet at a future meting. The Kane Cleanup is June 1. Sign up at rotarycleans.org
Our speaker today, Pam Mulcahey, was introduced by MaryBeth. Pam is a math teacher at Holderness School and directs their community service program.
Holderness students have provided 4027 hours of community service just since September. The community service initiative is new and Pam is looking for our input on projects that would benefit the community and how to be effective at community service.
The many projects that the Holderness students have completed since September include raising money for the We Care food pantry in Plymouth, painting about 80 bowls for the Empty Bowls Dinner, covering playground duty four days a week so that teachers don’t have to, preparing dinner once a week at the Bridge House and buying Christmas presents for 20 of the residents there, buying clothing and winter gear for 10 students at Paul Smith Elementary in Franklin, and making hats out of fleece. They have a group of kids who love to cook, so they help make and freeze meals for local food pantries. The students have also created a “wood bank” for local folks who heat with wood. In October the school did Relay for Life, with the entire school walking for 12 hours, raising $4000 for cancer research. The students have put in 72 hours of construction on the Habitat for Humanity house. They volunteered at various local road races, collected donated clothes, and made Valentines for seniors. As we well know, they helped us take down decorations at the common.
To do all of these things, the students raised $21,720. They have taken over the snack bar at the school and they started a free Dorm Dash as well, which raised over $10,000. They raised money for the Sarah Duval Memorial Fund (to honor the deceased sister of a student), which helps fund people who want to go into family service or health and human services. They also are funding the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Another student who lost a friend to eating disorders did a weeklong project to support education and treatment for children with eating disorders.
Other projects in progress: The kids were inspired by Common Man for Ukraine, so they have started to work as Pen Pals with Ukrainian children. They are trying to figure out how to do Empty Bowls for an international audience. Sustainability has also been a focus. All containers are compostable/recyclable, and they are moving away from plastic bottles. They want to set up an Earth Day service project on April 22. Finally, they are working on a program for teen mental health during May’s Mental Health Awareness Month.
Rotarians can assist Pamela by identifying people who need volunteer help, and providing expertise in areas like construction so that kids’ skills and interests can be matched to a project.
Alicia gave an update on the Tuesday Trade Talks. Last week she and Matt spoke to 15 students about the excavating business. Yesterday Mark from Finishing Touches spoke to 25 students about auto refinishing.
Happy dollars were shared by Mike, Denise, Ed, and Tony.
Erica announced that there will be a Cinco de Mayo event on May 5 here at the Common Man Inn from 4:30 to 6:30 to raise money for Honduras Hope.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary