Rotary Club eBulletin, 5/1/18 (May 03, 2018)

5/1/18 Rotary Club Meeting Notes

Posted by James Bruckbauer

Music: The Kinsley Trio led us in the Rotary Show closing song.
Christopher Cox gave the invocation.
Bob Cooney introduced guests. No visiting Rotarian’s this week.
Christopher Cox also introduced our Students of the Week, Joelle Price and David Alekseyenko from Traverse City Christian School.
Dave Chilcote introduced our newest member, Dave Marvin.
Mark Eckoff thanked the club for all their effort in putting together this year’s Rotary Show! He mentioned many of the behind-the-scenes volunteers who were crucial to the show’s success.
Homer Nye is looking for volunteers for Kid’s Free Fishing Day on June 9. There will be two shifts. Mark it on your calendars.
John Noonan is looking for volunteers to help get some of the Rotary Camps & Services properties ready for summer. There will be two cleaning bees:
- The Greilick Outdoor Recreation & Education Center Cleaning Bee will be held on Saturday, May 12.
- The Discovery Center & Pier Cleaning Bee will be held on Saturday, May 19.
- Those will be held from about 9:00 to noon and people can sign up next week.
Congrats to Mack Beers on winning the 50/50!
Andy Kempf introduced our speaker, Nick Beadleston.

On the Ground

Posted by James Bruckbauer

When we sip on a nice, warm cup of coffee, we don’t often stop to think about what it took that get that coffee into our hands.

Here are a few things you may not know about the coffee industry:

The land available for growing coffee is declining, yet coffee consumption is rising at an incredible rate while.
Coffee is produced almost exclusively in developing countries.
The average age of a coffee farmer is 56 and rising, and most farmers and their families face extreme poverty.
The coffee market is also very volatile, which is good for speculators and professional traders, but often bad for the growers themselves.

There’s also a growing gender equality issue: Women—in addition to home keeping responsibilities—perform up to 80% of the field labor for coffee, but do not participate in the decision making for the local cooperatives that supply to the global market.

On the Ground—A non-governmental organization (NGO)—is trying to change that. Their mission is to improve the lives of the people in the communities where coffee is grown.

One of their main projects right now is to raise awareness about gender equity issues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where some of the world’s best coffee is grown.

According to On The Ground’s Nick Beadleston, the community would like to get more decision-making and money into women’s hands. They say women are more likely to spend money on family while men are more likely to spend on drinking and gambling.

To reach their goal, On the Ground partners with locals in the Congo to provide gender equality training, educational programming, and training to help women diversify their income streams.

Nick Beadleston shared the story of NEEMA, an orphan who would walk seven kilometers each day to get to work. Nick said On The Ground provides Neema with job training and education that will allow her to live on her own and not depend on others.

Thanks for the very interesting and informative presentation, Nick!

http://onthegroundglobal.org/

Two Rotary Club of Traverse City Rotarians Honored with 2018 Governor's Service Awards

2018 Governor’s Service Awardees Announced:
Two Recipients from Traverse Demonstrate Community-wide Dedication to Service

TRAVERSE CITY, MICH.— May 3, 2018, Marsha Smith, Executive Director of Rotary Charities and Connor
Miller, Communications & Marketing Director at Traverse Area Association of REALTORS® and Vice-Chair of
the FUSE Young Professionals Program at the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce will be honored for
their service during a special ceremony hosted by the Michigan Community Service Commission on Tuesday,
June 5, at the Wharton Center in East Lansing.

Marsha Smith will receive the Lifetime Humanitarian Award for her service to increase the quality of life and
economic well-being of residents in Northwest Lower Michigan for over 40 years. After founding the Women’s
Resource Center with friends in the 1980’s, Smith remained dedicated to serving non-profits in the region. In
1993 she became the Executive Director of Rotary Charities and has remained at the helm for the past 25 years.
Her leadership of Rotary Charities has guided over $58 million in community investments towards social justice,
land use and environment, poverty reduction and so much more. Smith was instrumental in forming the Grand
Traverse Regional Land Conservancy which has protected over 40,000 acres of land and 124 miles of coastline
to date.

"Throughout her illustrious career, Marsha has been a visionary leader of leaders, a consensus-builder who
knows how to get things done" said Traverse City Noon Rotary Club President John Racine Jr.

Connor Miller will be honored as a 2018 Volunteer of the Year. His volunteer service in the community began
immediately when he arrived in Traverse City in 2011. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Miller worked on the Grand
Vision and Great Lakes Stewardship Initiatives and volunteered with the FUSE program (formerly Traverse City
Young Professionals) at the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce. His continued engagement in the
community through positions at North Sky Nonprofit and United Way and his memberships in the Traverse City
Noon Rotary Club and his local church led him to make a commitment to volunteer for a different non-profit in
the region each week of 2017. Unlike most resolutions, Miller stuck to his and worked with 54 unique nonprofits
at 64 different events for a total of over 200 hours in 2017.

“Connor volunteers time *every day* for one worthy cause or another. He embodies the Rotary motto: Service
Above Self” said Racine.

Rotary Charities and FUSE are working towards celebrating these momentous achievements with the honorees.
A short survey is being used to gauge interest for attending the event in East Lansing or virtually in Traverse
City. Please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VQBCGLK to respond to a four-question survey by Friday,
May 11th that will help determine the size and location.

Additional Northern Michigan honorees being recognized include Jan Thomas of Copemish (Senior Volunteer of
the Year), Desiree Herrst of Bellaire (Youth Volunteer of the Year) and two awardees from Ludington. The full
list of honorees being recognized is available at https://www.michigan.gov/mcsc/0,4608,7-137-8168-467512--
,00.html.
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Lifetime Humanitarian Award: John and Cleo Leppien (Alma), Marsha J. Smith (Traverse City)

Volunteer of the Year: Timothy Danielson (Ludington), Kenyetta Dotson (Flint), Connor Miller(Traverse City), Wendy Jo Morrison (Brighton)

IM Rotary - 5/8/18 - New Member Orientation

Meeting #5

Meeting #5: International Service -May 8th

World Community Service

Polio Plus & The Rotary Foundation

Meet in the Eagle Landing Room after you check in and get your lunch.

GOREC Day of Service, May 12th

Greilick Outdoor Recreation & Education Center (GOREC) Spring Service Day on Saturday, May 12th. 8:00am until 4:30pm. Day of service for scouters, Rotarians and community members. Come for the full day, 1/2 a day, or any part of the day you can. Winter always gives us projects to do. Trail maintenance, painting, wood cutting, you name it we will be doing it!! Details on Projects and specifics for the day can be found here.