Reported by Phil Thoden
President Dale Lowe called the Rotary Club of Austin (RCA) meeting to order. Jack Nash led the pledges and Michele Heyman gave our invocation of the day. Chris Forrest served as greeter and Russell Gallahan introduced the large number of guests and visitors.
President Dale then introduced new members Margaret Curtis (sponsor Michael Abelson), Justin Deming (sponsor Andy Swanson) and Ann Marie Ellis (sponsor Michael Abelson.) Welcome to all – we’re happy to have you!
Michael Portman then joined President Dale to present Paul Harris Fellow Awards to Michael Eden, Debbie Farnum, Harvey Ford and Thomas Graham. Congratulations to all!
Past President Harold Ingersoll reminded everyone about the Stop Hunger Now event scheduled for this Saturday, February 18, at Tarrytown Methodist Church at 2601 Exposition Boulevard. Jon Yates asked for volunteers for the Pecan Springs Career Day on Thursday, March 2nd beginning at 8:30am.
President Dale had several announcements:
- use MeetUp.com to RSVP for meetings;
- volunteers needed to help Jennifer by serving as a Reporter for the weekly meetings;
- Antonelli’s Cheese Shop is offering Club members a 10% discount for online purchases over the next 2 months. Use the code ROTARY;
- Express concerns about proposed closure of Dawson Elementary via future@aisd.org;
- Bill Baker is getting better and is now at St. David’s Rehab;
- Vlad Bahrencu and his wife have set up a GoFundMe campaign after the recent, complicated birth of their twins.
After 10 minutes of fellowship time, David Menchaca introduced speaker Kristin Gossett who serves as the President of Junior Achievement (JA) of Central Texas. Kristin is a social entrepreneur dedicated to improving lives through education. She has served as a strategic advisor to philanthropists, private foundations, education organizations and corporate leaders in the Central Texas region for more than 15 years.
JA inspires and prepares young people to be successful in a global economy by teaching entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness. JA serves more than 500,000 Texas students annually with in-school, after-school and summer programs.
Kristin noted that despite being the recipient of many accolades, the City of Austin is still one of the most economically segregated. She is a strong believer that Austin needs a robust JA program as entrepreneurship is one of the greatest ways to create opportunity for all people. She shared examples of the power of JA to benefit students (and their families) whether enrolled in a high-performing or a struggling school.
Next week’s speaker will be Eddie Reese, the UT Men’s Swimming Coach.