Doll of Hope Service Project

Doll of Hope Service Project
Making Dolls for Refugees Worldwide

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Virtual Business Meeting Minutes 6-4-20


Members in attendance:  Thank you to all members that were able to join our Zoom conference/phone call! (Joe Balstaedt, Jayne Barnett, Linda Book, Chris Casper, Dave Chassé, Denise Chassé, Dave DeMarco, John Haglund, Julie Jones, Safia Keller, Frank Lily, Susan Marks, Terry Palmer, Justin Powell, Jim Rudin, Sherry Rudin, Danny Schoenfeld, Dave Veenstra, Erica Wolff, Judy Zone)
Guests in attendance:  Karen Hansen
Business items:
1.       Call to order, Four-Way Test
2.       Potential member induction – Karen Hansen told us a little about herself.
3.       A big thank you to Tim Jones and Erica Wolff for all they’ve done for us/our club!  Both are leaving for personal reasons.
4.       Service:
Volunteers of America (VoA) Service – Terry Palmer indicated she still needs some servers and food items for the June 14 lunch we’re providing and serving.  Details of the VoA address, COVID-19 protocols, etc. to be provided by Terry or Christine Casper.
5.       Social:
Frank indicated the Spruces picnic site is reserved for June 27th.  Picnic will be preceded by a hike (Frank will send out details of where and when to meet for the hike, as well as what time to meet at the Spruces picnic site.  Due to COVID-19, the decision was made that attendees will bring their own food and plan to cook it (Frank will get the charcoal fire going).
6.       Club President Installation Event – planned for July 2.  Distanced in-person gathering planned in John Haglund’s front lawn.  John to send out details, but plan to bring your own food and drink, as well as chairs.
7.       Rotary Citation update – Justin indicated we’re on-track for the citation.  Justin is working to capture our club’s activities (service, etc.) as he completes the application for the award. 
8.       Next meeting will be via Zoom.  It will not be a formal business meeting.  Rather, SL County Mayor Jenny Wilson will be speaking to our club.  If you have questions/subject areas to propose, please get those to Justin no later than Thursday 6/11, and he’ll compile them and send them on to Mayor Wilson.
9.       Polio Pig - Club members need to contribute an average of $42 each for the year.  Currently, we’re well below that bogie.  Additional contributions can be made via Venmo (@millcreek-rotary).
Upcoming Events
June 14th – Service – Serve lunch to the youth at Volunteers of America.  Lunch prep begins at noon, with serving beginning at 1:00 p.m.
June 18th – 5:30 p.m. – Zoom conference/phone call with SL County Mayor Jenny Wilson as guest speaker –Zoom link/meeting to be set-up and distributed.
June 27th – Social – Hike and Picnic in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Hike details (location and time) to be announced.  Picnic will be at a picnic site in Spruces Campground.
July 2nd – Installation Event – Come thank Justin for his hard work as president this past year, and welcome John as he takes the reigns for the next.  Details to be announced by John.

Monday, April 6, 2020

VIRTUAL Business Meeting 4/2/20


Members in attendance:  Thank you to all members that were able to join our Zoom conference/phone call!
Business items:
1.       Call to order, Four-Way Test
2.       New member inductions – Terry Palmer, Jim Rudin and Sherry Rudin each said a little about themselves and then were (virtually) pinned.
3.       Service:
                                       i.            Volunteers of America (VoA) Service – Tim reported that he, Julie Jones, Jayne and Daniel served sack lunches to 200 people at the Womens Center.  Our club’s donation of $5,000 will be captured photographically next week, possibly with an oversized check for PR purposes.
                                     ii.            Millcreek Elementary – Tim indicated some Millcreek Elementary families are having trouble getting food.  Tim’s evaluating what we might do to help this situation.
                                   iii.            Virtual food drive for the Utah Food Bank – Rose mentioned that some members have generously donated online to the food bank, and encouraged all members to consider doing so.
                                   iv.            House of Hope Mother’s Day toiletries gifting – Rose reported that the House of Hope is struggling with their services during the COVID-19 epidemic.  Rose indicated we members should purchase lotions, etc., in anticipation of this gift giving.  A list of the items needed will be sent out.
                                     v.            Per Justin, the $1000 donation our club made to Hay Soe, will eventually be used but is currently on-hold as Hay Soe was unable to travel to Burma.
4.       Social:  No update.
5.       Youth:  Jayne indicated the Interact Club gathered new underwear for Volunteers of America. 
6.       Rotary District Conference: Has been cancelled
7.       Wine Into Water planning – Justin wanted to get us all thinking ahead to our annual fundraiser event.  Particularly, we need to firm-up a venue.
8.       Guest speaker: Congressional Representative Ben McAdams told us about his personal experience with the COVID-19 virus, including 9 days in the hospital.  He expressed his recommendation that we all do our part to protect ourselves and the people around us from contracting the virus.  Ben answered multiple member questions about the virus and also about his efforts in bringing the two predominant political parties together to solve problems.
9.       A suggestion to members:  Please consider what you can do to help local businesses financially and community members in any way during the pandemic.  Give some one a phone call to let them know you’re thinking about them in this uncertain time.

Upcoming Events
Apr 16th – 5:30 p.m. – Business Meeting OR social Zoom conference/phone call – Announced intent: to touch base with our membership – Zoom link/meeting to be set-up

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Business Meeting Minutes - March 5, 2020


Members in attendance:  Jayne Barnett, Rose Defa, Daniel Diaz, John Haglund, Julie Jones, Tim Jones, Frank Lilly,  Justin Powell, Laurie Summers-Pisani, Jordan Taylor, Dave Veenstra, Sonia Woodbury
Guests in attendance:  Jim Rudin, Sherry Rudin, Julie McKee
Business items:
1.       Call to order, Four-Way Test
2.       New member induction – Jordan Taylor
3.       John Haglund reported on PETS (President Elect Training) in Denver
4.       2020-2021 Club leadership positions presented and ballot vote held:
President: John Haglund
President Elect 2021-2022: Tim Jones
Secretary: Julie Jones
Treasurer: Daniel Diaz
Membership Chair: David DeMarco
Local Service Chair: Christine Casper
Rotary Foundation: Justin Powell
Social Chair: Safia Keller
PR Chair: Dave Veenstra
Interact / Youth Service Chair: Jayne Barnett
5.       Interact Service Support: Club members brought new socks and underwear for project donation. 
6.       Financial review, Tim Jones
7.      Next Meeting: March 19th with guest speaker(s) from local nonprofit, Immigration Legal Services
8.      Service: Geraldine E. King Women’s Resource Center/VOA – Sunday, March 29, 5-7 p.m. Tim Jones will email Sign Up sheet.
9.       District Conference: May 14-16 at Empire Lodge in Park City.  Everyone is welcome - especially new members.  Saturday 5/16 BETS (Board Elect training) is highly recommended. The Club will reimburse members 50% of the registration fee. 
10.   Polio Pig was circulated
Upcoming Events
May 7th – House of Hope Service Project

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Business Meeting Minutes, February 6, 2020

Members in attendance:  Joe Balstaedt, Jayne Barnett, Chris Casper, Denise Chassé, Rose Defa, Dave DeMarco, Daniel Diaz, John Haglund, Julie Jones, Tim Jones, Safia Keller, Frank Lily, Susan Marks, Terry Palmer, Justin Powell, Laurie Summers-Pisani, Shannon Tilly, Jordan Taylor, Dave Veenstra, John Zone, Judy Zone,
Guests in attendance:  Kaileen Balzano & Jim Rudin
Business items:
1.       Call to order, Four-Way Test
2.       New member inductions – Daniel Diaz, Dave DeMarco, Safia Keller
3.       Club Goals – Justin reviewed the goals we have selected to pursue in support of our strategic priorities.
4.       Next Meeting: February 20th with a guest speaker TBA
5.       Winter Social: Satutday Feb 22 ski at Solitude/snowshoe at the Solitude Nordic Center (located between Brighton and Solitude).  Meet for lunch at 1:30pm at Honeycomb Grill.
6.       Service:
                                       i.            Volunteers of America (VoA) Service – Thursday February 27th at 5 p.m. (dinner to be served at 6 p.m.)  We’ll be cooking hamburgers and hotdogs for homeless and troubled youth.  Tim Jones & Julie Jones are organizing.
                                       i.            Our club contributed $1,000 to Hay Soe, a refugee now student at the U of U (our guest speaker on 1/16/2020), for the purchase of supplies in Burma.
                                     ii.            There is a blood drive at City Academy on Feb 10 from 2:00-7:00 pm in the multipurpose room.  You can sign-up ahead of time using the Red Cross Blood Donor app.
7.       District Conference: May 14-16 at Empire Lodge in Park City.  Everyone is welcome - especially new members.
Upcoming Events
Feb 20th – 5:30 p.m. – Business Meeting with guest speaker to be announced – Youthlinc Office at Brickyard Plaza
Feb 22nd – Snowshoe and Social at Solitude Mountain Resort and Nordic Center
Volunteers of America (VoA) Service – Thursday February 27th at 5 p.m. (dinner to be served at 6 p.m.).  Downtown location

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Social and Service Night January 16, 2020

We enjoyed food ordered from Wann Jale, a new Burmese restaurant in Sandy (and Spice Kitchen graduate), while listening to the inspiring journey of Hay Soe, a positive and hard-working former student of our club member Dave Veenstra.  Hay Soe is of Karen descent and was born in Burma (Myanmar).  He moved to a refugee camp with his family as a very young child and then to Utah when he was 7 years old.  He overcame many challenges in school, graduated high school as valedictorian of his class and is now a student of the College of Business at the U of U. He volunteers to assist others in our community and is currently organizing a Bridging Borders trip in March to deliver dental supplies and other much needed items to refugee camps in Africa.

After a short slide presentation (and wiping away some tears), we quickly transformed into a seemingly well-oiled production team tracing, sewing, embroidering and stuffing dolls and bears for Dolls of Hope, another inspiring organization that supplies the materials, trains volunteers and delivers the toys to children in refugee camps.

Our 25 attendees stuffing and sewed 27 dolls and prepped 30 additional dolls for the next step in the creation process.  We discovered unknown skills in each other and enjoyed much laughter in the process!










Business Meeting Minutes – January 9, 2020


Members in attendance:  Joe Balstaedt, Jayne Barnett, Linda Book, Chris Casper, Dave Chassé, Denise Chassé, Ronda Eiting, John Haglund, Julie Jones, Tim Jones, Susan Marks, Justin Powell, Laurie Summers-Pisani, Erica Wolff, Pearl Wright, Terry Palmer
Guests in attendance:  N/A
Business items:
1.       Call to order, Four-Way Test
2.       Announcements
a.       Guest Speaker & Service & Social– Thursday January 16th, Hay Soe, refugee student will speak.  Dolls of Hope service project for refugees in camps worldwide.  We’ve invited the Sugar House Rotary Club to participate.
b.      Service
                                                         i.            Volunteers of America (VoA) Service – Thursday February 27th at 5 p.m. (dinner to be served at 6 p.m.)  We’ll be cooking hamburgers and hotdogs for the youth.  Tim Jones is the organizer.
                                                        i.            Madagascar Clean Water Project – Took 3 years, but is now completed.
                                                       ii.            Wine into Water – We’re going to look into possibly changing the venue to the Baldwin Radio Factory.
                                                     iii.            Socials – February 22nd we’ll be doing a snowshoe hike and after party.
                                                     iv.            Club Survey - Results of the survey were discussed.  A lot of good input was received.  If you want to see the survey results, please contact Justin.
                                                       v.            Rotary Club Clothing – John Haglund mentioned that all forms of Rotary Club clothing articles are available RTPClubClothes.com, use code NY10 for 10% off your order.
Upcoming Events
Jan 16th 5:30 p.m.– Guest Speaker Hay Soe, Dolls of Hope service project and Sugar House Rotary Club combined service and social - Youthlinc Office at Brickyard Plaza
Feb 6th – 5:30 p.m. – Business Meeting – Youthlinc Office at Brickyard Plaza
Feb 22nd – Snowshoe and Social – details to be announced.
Volunteers of America (VoA) Service – Thursday February 27th at 5 p.m. (dinner to be served at 6 p.m.).  Downtown location (Tim Jones, help!)