FROM:  CLAUDIA REACH, ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR ST. MARTIN’S IN THE PINES ASSISTED LIVING

RE:  THE ROTARACT CLUB VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

St. Martin’s in the Pines, Assisted Living, is a better, brighter, and happier “home” because of our incredible volunteers from the Birmingham Rotaract Club.  These young professionals have been so generous, so thoughtful, so kind, so caring…changing and enriching lives with each visit.

As the Wednesday approaches for our evening with the Rotaract Club, my residents begin asking…”Is this the night we play games with all those wonderful “kids”?…Are we going to play dominos with those cute “kids”?…Can I bowl with them?…They ask for certain volunteers by name since relationships have been developed and nurtured.

Now that you are directing activities and events, the Rotaract Club visits have been even more enjoyable for my residents.  There has been more variety in the activities; there have been more Rotaract volunteers; and there have been more residents participating.  Every new idea that you have has had has been a huge success from a Halloween Carnival to a Dirty Santa Party.

We are so grateful for all the generosity from the time shared, the love given, and the gifts contributed. We are so blessed, so honored, so lucky to be involved with our wonderful Rotaract Club.  The men are all so handsome and the ladies are all so gorgeous!  Really!

You lift our spirits, warm our hearts, make us laugh…what fabulous gifts!

Thank you from our hearts.

Claudia Reach

On February 11, 2012 from 10:00 – 2:00 Rotaract will partner with The Community Kitchens of Birmingham to prepare, serve and entertain over 50 guest in need of a hot meal.  We will be cooking and serving spaghetti so we need your help in preparing our kitchen and dining hall,  cooking, and serving our guest at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.  St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is located at 1024 South 12 Street in Southside.

Community Kitchens serves a lunch meal 365 days per year from St. Andrews. Annually this amounts to over 95,000 meals served to help stop hunger.  The doors to Community Kitchens are open to all. No one is required to attend a religious service, rich or poor are equally welcome-they only need to be hungry. Those we serve are our ”guests” and we strive to treat them as such.

The club will need to have at least 20 volunteers from 10:00 – 2:00 to complete this service project.  Please feel free to attend for the whole time period but if you would like to volunteer for a split shift please feel free to.

Shift 1:  10:00 – 12:00

o   Preparing the Kitchen and Dining Hall

o   Cooking of Meal

o   ETC

Shift 2:  12:00 – 2:00

o   Completing the meal

o   Serving the meal

o   Entertaining Guests

o   Cleaning up

A recent survey of Jefferson County reported that 80,000 families do not know where they will get their next meal.  Let’s do our part to make sure our guest on Saturday February 11, 2012 get a hot meal.  For immediate information about this project, please contact Wesley Carpenter at Wesley_carpenter@ml.com or at 326-9668. Register to serve online.

Celebrate the season by giving back.  Rotaract has adopted 10 Angels through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program.  We will be providing shoes, clothing, and a holiday surprise to our Rotaract Angels.

Providing for these children can only be accomplished with your help.  Donations will be collected at the lunch meetings on November 17th, December 1st and December 15th as well as our Facebook Page.

On December 5th, we need volunteers to shop for our Angels.  We will meet at the Chick-Fil-A on Montclair Road (near Wal-Mart) at 6 p.m.  After a casual dinner we will then head to Wal-Mart to shop till we drop!

Please resister via the Rotaract Website to become a shopper!  If you have questions contact Wesley Carpenter at Wesley_carpenter@ml.com or at 326-9668

Rotaract has adopted 10 Angels Through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program and we will be providing shoes, clothing, and a holiday SURPRISE to all of our children.  The Angel Tree Program began over 30 years ago to allow foster children of Alabama to participate in the Holiday Spirit.  We need your help and so do our Angels!

Meet the Angels

How to Participate:
Donations:  (Deadline for Donations is December 23, 2011) You can participate in the Angel Tree Service Project by making a donation to help purchase the items needed for the children.  Donations will be collected at the lunch meetings on November 17th, December 1st and December 15th.  In addition you can make a donation via our Facebook Page at First Giving. We have a goal $1,000 this year so we need your help!!!! Any donation makes a difference, so nothing is too small or too BIG.  Corporate donations are also acceptable but they will need to be made directly to the Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation.

Volunteering:
In addition to making a donation, you can sign up to participate in the “Shop Till You Drop For Rotaract’s Angels” event on December 5, 2011 at 6:00.  Please see the “Shop Till You Drop For Rotaract’s Angels” event on the website to sign up for the shopping.

Providing for these children can only be accomplished with your help.  Let’s make sure that the less fortunate have the same holiday experience that we all do.  If you have questions contact Wesley Carpenter at Wesley_carpenter@ml.com or at 326-9668.

Come spread some holiday cheer with your fellow new members and the residents at St. Martin’s in the Pines!

Activities will include Dirty Santa, most likely losing to the residents at dominos and general merry-making!

Wednesday December 14th at 5:30 pm

Be sure to register your spot online!

For the 2nd year in a row, Rotaract will provide volunteers for the Ronald McDonald House.  The Ronald McDonald House of Alabama is a home-away-from-home for families of sick and injured children being treated in Birmingham.  Rotaract volunteers will host a Thanksgiving themed evening of fun for the families staying at the house. 

Please arrive at the Ronald McDonald house at 5:15 so that we can be properly setup by 5:30.  The event should last almost 2 hours. Also, please make sure to sign up via the Rotaract Website.

Get outside and serve! For the third year in a row, Rotaract will provide volunteers for the P.E.E.R. East Lake Farmers Market. The market runs for 18 Saturdays throughout the summer.  The market is organized P.E.E.R. (Powering Empowerment and Enrichment Resources) a community development group designed to draw resources and provide information and education concerning existing resources to the South East Lake neighborhood.  Rotaract volunteers will help set up tents and tables for the market.  We also will fill and deliver over 150 baskets of fresh vegetables to nearby senior living facilities (Villa Maria). View the pictures from last year!

We will meet at East Lake United Methodist at 7am to set up the tents for the market.  (I understand if you move a little slow in the morning and 7 will be difficult, but if everyone can trickle in by 7:30 that would be great).  We should be finished by 10:30.

East Lake UMC is located at 7753 1st Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35206.  FYI–77^th Street North is also known at Oporto Madrid Blvd.

Here is a link to Google Maps.

If you have a Rotaract t-shirt, please wear it.  If you don’t have one, let me know your size and I’ll bring one for you.  Also, if you have an SUV or truck, please drive it because we will need it to transport the market baskets to the senior homes.

Please register online to participate in this service project.  For more information about the event, contact Wesley Carpenter.

Check out our service partner on Facebook and Twitter!

In partnership with Better Basics, Rotaract is dedicated to improving and encouraging reading skills for 2,000 of our local children.

Who? YOU. The only requirement to volunteer with Ready 2 Read (R2R) is to attend one training session. Rotaract is sponsoring two sessions: 8/2 (launch party) & 8/8 (make-up training) at 6pm at Pale Eddie’s Pour House. Even if you are unsure if you want to get involved, come see what this amazing program is doing!

What? R2R endows every 2nd grade classroom in our Birmingham City Schools with an excellent library and provides a Reading buddy that will read twice a month for 30 minutes each time. Total monthly commitment of 1-2 hours! You are welcome to find your own partner or we will pair you up. You do not have to be a Rotaract member to be involved.

When? Completely flexible! The volunteers will communicate with Better Basics and their assigned teachers teacher to find convenient times for the readings.

Why? The basic reading skills are dangerously low in Birmingham elementary schools. Low reading skills have been linked to higher school dropout rates, future unemployment, and higher crime rates. We can help in breaking the poverty cycle and changing lives.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
July 12th Social – Grab a Ready 2 Read Flyer!
July 21st Luncheon – Ready 2 Read Education from Better Basics’ Karen Kapp
August 2nd  - Launch Party and Training at Pale Eddies
August 4th Luncheon – Ready 2 Read Mini Program
August 8th – Make-up Training at Pale Eddies

The Launch Party will give you all of the necessary information that you will need to make the decision on if becoming a reading buddy is right for you.  If you decide that a Reading buddy is something you want to participate in, we will even provide a very short training presentation (10 minutes) at the conclusion to get you equipped and ready to go.  Please feel free to invite any of your Rotaract and even non-Rotaract friends to this great event and remember to sign up via the Rotaract Website.
If you already know this is a project you want to participate in then to go ahead and sign up to become a Reading Buddy for 2011! By being a reading buddy, you will be instrumental in helping Rotaract improve the literacy of the all 2^nd graders in Birmingham City Schools. (If you have already requested to be a volunteer please visit the website to register as well so that we can have an updated list of who all is participating.) Make sure you register to be a Reading Buddy AND for the 8/2 Launch Party Training. Keep in mind this is two different events.

Deadline to register is August 5th. Please register online for either training session and to become a Rotaract Reading Buddy. Over the next few weeks more information will be posted on the website about this event and available in our luncheons.  For immediate information about this project, email Ready2Read.bham@gmail.com.

For the fourth straight year, the Rotaract Club of Birmingham is the title sponsor for Birmingham City Councilor Roderick Royal’s 6th Annual District 9 “Back 2 School – Equipped 2 Learn”  school supply give away.  Rotaract will be distributing school supplies to over 500 children at locations throughout District 9 on August 6, 2011 from 9:00 am – 10:00 am.

Rotaract is pleased to sponsor this project, which makes a tremendous impact on our community.  With great economic challenges still facing our community, many students do not have the basic supplies they need to help them begin the new school year.  This project equips these students with what they need to be ready to learn from day one.

The Club will need at least 5 volunteers at all 3 locations to help distribute supplies to children and families.  In order to participate in this exciting service project, register online. Over the next few weeks more information will be posted about this event.  For immediate information about this project, contact Wesley Carpenter at Wesley_carpenter@ml.com

Rotaractor and incoming Social Director, Richard Davis, has been nominated for YP Birmingham’s Young Hot Birmingham fundraising competition.  Richard has selected the Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation as the beneficiary of his campaign. Details about the competition and fundraising opportunities are detailed in a letter from Richard below:

As you may know, I was selected by YPBirmingham to represent the Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation for this year’s “Young Hot Birmingham” fundraising competition.  Trust me, I know I’m not “Hot” and I’m barely still “Young” but what I am is committed to supporting this great foundation.  Me and Niki Harris, another contestant, are serving fresh beverages this Wednesday in hopes to raise enough money to put our foundations in the lead.  See below for details.

Event: Young, Hot & Thirsty

When: Wednesday, June 8^th, 5pm – 9pm (or later)

Where: Rogue Tavern (click link for location details)

Why: YPBirmingham’s “Young Hot Birmingham” contestants raising money for the Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation & Autism Society of Alabama

Cost: $5 sponsored beers.  $4 of each beer purchased and tips will be divided and distributed evenly between each charity.

Can’t Attend but want to Donate: click this link to make an online donation: Donate Online

Event Details:

With the recent string of sweltering hot days, come quench your thirst and the thirst of our community by joiningYPBirmingham, Rotaract and the Autism Society of Alabama Junior Board Wednesday, June 8^th at Rogue Tavern from5pm to 9pm.  For every beer you buy, 80% of your dollars spent will be donated directly to The Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation and the Autism Society of Alabama. The Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation supports the various service initiatives of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham, such as Ready 2 Read (a literacy program for Birmingham City Schools) and an annual school supply drive. The Foundation plans to commit portion of funds raised at this event to thetornado relief effort. The Autism Society of Alabama provides numerous services to and lobbies on behalf of those in our state impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder.

On behalf of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham Foundation, the Autism Society of Alabama Junior Board, Niki Harris, myself and most importantly, the Birmingham Community, we hope to see you there and thank you for your donation and support!!!

Sincerely,

Richard