Doll of Hope Service Project

Doll of Hope Service Project
Making Dolls for Refugees Worldwide

Saturday, April 11, 2015

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu

Rotary Club of Millcreek business meeting, Thursday April 9, 2015
In attendance: Mustafa Celebi, Cesar Diaz, Jennie Ferguson, Marty Gelman, Margareta Vlasic, Frank Lilly, Susan Marks, Brian Rollo, Mike Siegel, Laurie Pisani, Shannon Tilly, Sonia Woodbury, Judy Zone
Guests: Rachel Sanders and Leeann from South Salt Lake, Jim Schott (a potential new member), Sheila Gelman (Marty’s wife)

President Frank yielded time to Rachel Sanders, Family Liaison Manager for South Salt Lake Promise. Rachel gave us an overview of the refugee experience in camps in foreign lands and how they come to the U.S.



She used the image above to explain the services that were available to families who are sent to Utah. There are somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 refugees currently in South Salt Lake or environs. Case managers for all these agencies are overwhelmed and need whatever help our club, other entities, organizations or individuals can provide. She explained the philosophy of asset development, creating opportunities from strengths, building relationships, becoming Western culture literate, celebrating the richness of refugee culture.

Our club will embark on the refugee family mentoring experience in this way:

Laurie, Christine, Marty (and his wife Sheila), Ladd will meet with Rachel in the next few weeks to complete the assessment sheet which is page two of the Word document. Then, with Rachel’s assistance, they will meet with the two families assigned to our club. 

After these two meetings, these members will formulate a task list to bring back to our club members. Individuals within the club can volunteer to help with specific tasks as our abilities, resources, and time allows. We don’t have to do everything on the list.

In other issues from the meeting:
·         South Salt Lake Promise will make some proposals for projects for their Welcome Centers that can be funded through a Rotary District Grant submitted from our club by July 1.
·         Cesar Diaz presented information about the Mother’s Day lunch for disadvantaged women that he would like our help with. He has sent out a follow up email about this project. Deadline for donation of toiletries or cash is Thursday April 30 at the social at Ladd’s house.
·         Jennie Ferguson discussed our May 20 social at Harmon’s Emigration Market. Only 20 folks can participate in the Thai cooking experience. Contact Jennie for more information jennie.ferguson@comcast.net
·         Judy mentioned that the Youthlinc Benefit on Saturday May 16 has counted in the past as both a club meeting and a social. 100% of club donations support local young people in the Youthlinc Service Year. This year we sponsored two high school students who contributed 80 hours of local service and are preparing their international service in an Amazon River village in Peru this summer.
·         We inducted three new members: Cesar Diaz, Mike Siegel, Brian Rollo. 

From L-R: Mike Siegel, Frank Lilly, Cesar Diaz, Brian Rollo


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Serving Others at the Utah Food Bank

Last week we had a great service project where we took 15 kids from the Sunnyvale Neighborhood Center with their teachers, Erica and Jeilani, to volunteer for a few hours at the Utah Food Bank!

 In attendance for the Millcreek Club were Mustafa Celebi, Susan Marks, Laurie Summers, and Margareta Vlasic.






Sunday, March 8, 2015

March 5, 2015: Regular Business Meeting

Members: Cesar Diaz, Marty Gelman, Margareta Hjorth-Vlasic, Susan Marks, Dayna Revetti, Brian Rollo, Mike Siegel, Liz Sherlock, Laurie Summers-Pisani, John Zone, Judy Zone

Guests: Ralph Montgomery (Murray Rotary Member), Kristi Guest and Jerry Summerhay (Murray Rotarians and Guest Speakers)

We had a wonderful time at our last social. The hike was beautiful, and Khinla and Win prepared us an amazing dinner. Thanks to our donations, they raised enough money for their March payment for their trip.  Thank you to Shannon and Craig (and Carbon) for opening up their beautiful home to us and hosting. We can't wait to meet your new baby girl, Linley, in May!

Cesar would like our club to consider helping with his 2015 Mother's Day Service Project.  He is in need of donations (make-up, lotions, tooth paste, tooth brush, perfume, feminine products, brush/comb, soap, body wash, gift certificates for groceries, movie passes, etc.) and volunteers to pass them out to at least 350 women living in below-poverty. The gifts will be passed out at a lunch/music program from 11:45-2:00, on Saturday, May 9, at Wasatch Elementary.

Ralph and Kristi gave a presentation on the upcoming District Conference in Puerto Penasco, June 8-13. Please visit the website districtfiesta2015.com for more information on pricing, lodging, transportation, and service projects. Sounds like there will be lots of great service opportunities and FUN! Families and friends are welcome, and they are encouraging everyone to sign up soon if you are interested.

Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 12 March: Next business meeting



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

February 12, 2015: Regular Business Meeting

Members: Linda Book, Erin Brinton, Rose Defa, Jennie Ferguson, Marty Gelman, Margareta Hjorth-Vlasic, Susan Marks, Dayna Revetti, Mike Siegel, Brian Rollo


Guests: Sheila Gelman, Lauren Barrett, Harold Weight


We welcomed our newest members, Erin Brinton and Mike Siegel tonight! We are very excited to have both of you.


Margareta provided us with information regarding the refugee families we will potentially be working with this year. Please see attachment in emailed minutes for more information.


Upcoming Events


Saturday, 21 February 10:00am - Sunnyvale Winter Games; Bring your families.  Email Margareta with what food/beverage you will bring for 15-30 kids.
Valley Center Park, which is just around the corner from the Sunnyvale Neighborhood  Center, 4013 South 700 West Murray, Utah 84123.

Monday, 23 February 6:00-8:00pm- Two of our Club members, Stephanie and Margareta, will be traveling to Nepal this summer with Youthlinc. Support them and their students by attending dinner at Spice Bistro, with guest speaker Apa Sherpa, a Nepalese mountaineer who holds the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person (21 times)! $30, RSVP online by Feb 18.

Monday, 23 February 6:30-8:30pm - Rotary's 110 Years Anniversary, with DG Mike Wells as MC. There will be a dinner and live music with cash bar. Cottonwood Country Club, $20,  RSVP at RCHLSLsouth@gmail.com or 801-290-9260

Saturday, 28 February 3:30 (snowshoe/hike) 5:00 (dinner) *note time changes* - Hiking followed by Dinner at Shannon's - Traditional Burmese/Thai dinner will be prepared by Khinla and Win, students and refugees from Burma who will be traveling to Thailand this summer with Youthlinc. The dinner is $20 per person to support the girls' trips; please bring cash and BYOB.

Thursday, 5 March 5:30 - Regular business meeting


Friday, February 6, 2015

February 6, 2015: Regular Business Meeting

Members: Chris Casper, Stephanie Chard, Rose Defa, Cesar Diaz, Margareta Hjorth-Vlasic, Frank Lilly, Susan Marks, Dayna Revetti, Brian Rollo, Liz Sherlock, Laurie Summers-Pisani, Shannon Tilly, Andrea White, Sonia Woodbury, Judy Zone


Guests: Mike Siegle; Liz's husband, Robert Sherlock; Shannon's husband, Craig Norton; Shannon's brother-in-law, Bill Jacobs (member of Boise Rotary Club); Leah Miller and Rachel Sanders (speakers)


We welcomed our newest member, Cesar Diaz, who came from the Draper Rotary Club! We are so happy to have you, Cesar!


This is the last chance to get Frank your prom attire donations for the Cottonwood High Prom. Please contact him if you have any more donations.


Service Update with Rachel Sanders and Leah Miller
The Service Committee arranged for Rachel Sanders, Family Service Liaison with South Salt Lake City, to visit us to discuss a possible new service opportunity with our club. She and Leah gave us an overview of the possibility for Family Mentoring Initiative with our club.  For our next meeting, they will provide us information regarding the refugee families we would work with.


Nominations of Club Officers for 2015
Susan Marks introduced our proposed roster of club officers for 2015:
President: Danny Schoenfeld
President Elect: Stephanie Chard
Secretary: Liz Sherlock
Treasurer: Ladd Tanner
Everyone present at the meeting was in favor of the new officers...Congratulations!

Brian announced that his daughter, Lydia, has been accepted into the Rotary's Youth Exchange Program! We are excited to hear where she will be going and what student will be coming here!


Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 12 February - Regular Business Meeting


Saturday, 21 February 10:00am - Sunnyvale Winter Games. We are in charge of food and drink. 

Monday, 23 February 6:00-8:00pm- Two of our Club members, Stephanie and Margareta, will be traveling to Nepal this summer with Youthlinc. Support them and their students by attending dinner at Spice Bistro, with guest speaker Apa Sherpa, a Nepalese mountaineer who holds the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person (21 times)! $30, RSVP online by Feb 18.

Monday, 23 February 6:30-8:30pm - Rotary's 110 Years Anniversary, with DG Mike Wells as MC. There will be a dinner and live music with cash bar. Cottonwood Country Club, $20,  RSVP at RCHLSLsouth@gmail.com or 801-290-9260

Saturday, 28 February 4:30 (snowshoe/hike) 6:00 (dinner) - Snowshoeing or hiking followed Dinner at Shannon's - Traditional Burmese/Thai dinner will be prepared by Khinla and Win, students and refugees from Burma who will be traveling to Thailand this summer with Youthlinc. The dinner is $20 per person to support the girls' trips.
 



Friday, January 30, 2015

Local Service Updates Winter 2015

Here are some reminders and a little update on our plans for service for this year.

January:
We are collecting formal prom attire for Cottonwood High students. Please bring anything appropriate to our next Business Meeting (February 5th) and Frank will make sure it gets to the school. 

February:
We are organizing the Sunnyvale Winter Games together with the Rock Rotary Club on Saturday afternoon, February 21st. Our club is responsible for food and drinks for the kids. More information and time to follow as we get closer. Let's hope for some more snow!

March:
On Thursday March 19th at 6-7:30 PM we are taking about 10-15 kids from Sunnyvale Neighborhood Center to the Utah Food Bank for a service project. We need to have at least 3-4 volunteers to accompany the kids. More details on transportation and time to meet will follow.

Family Mentoring:
Judy and I have met with the Promise Office in South Salt Lake to discuss possibilities for a more sustainable and meaningful service plan for our club. Our ongoing projects with Sunnyvale will still continue, but lately it has been difficult to get projects scheduled on a regular basis.

Rachel Sanders, the Family Liaison Manager at the Promise Office, has offered to come to our meeting next week (February 5th) to talk about their family mentoring program. If this is something that interests our club we have been promised that they can find ongoing volunteer opportunities for our members. The program could be designed to suit the different kinds of involvement our members have and Rachel Sanders would provide training for us.

Please plan to attend our business meeting next week as it is important for as many as possible of our members to hear this presentation.

Looking forward to seeing you next week,

Margareta


Local Service Chair, Millcreek Rotary Club

Friday, January 9, 2015

January 9, 2015: Regular Business Meeting

Happy 2015!
We had a wonderful turn-out for our first meeting in 2015.


Members: Linda Book, Chris Casper, Stephanie Chard, Rose Defa, Margareta Hjorth-Vlasic, Frank Lilly, Susan Marks, Dayna Revetti, Brian Rollo, Danny Schoenfeld, Liz Sherlock, Laurie Summers-Pisani, Ladd Tanner, Shannon Tilly, Andrea White, Sonia Woodbury
Guests: Stephanie's Friend, Erin and Brian's daughter, Maylie


We started off the year with the Four-Way Test and some great Rotary Moments from our president and members.


Frank gave information on a wonderful volunteer opportunity in the community next month. On February 19, 8-9:30pm, adult volunteers are needed for Granite Park Jr High Reality Town. Contact Bill Hogan (bhogan@sslc.com) to sign up.


Upcoming events:
Thursday, 15 January - Regular Business Meeting: Please bring formal attire suitable for high school students to donate to students for the Cottonwood High School prom


Thursday, 22 January, 6:00pm - Dinner/drinks Social at Layla's Grill (4751 S. Holladay Blvd)


Thursday, 5 February - Regular Business Meeting


Thursday, 12 February - Regular Business Meeting


Saturday, 21 February, time TBA - Sunnyvale Winter Games with Rock Rotary Club. We will be providing drinks and food, and extra hands to help out with the festivities.