Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061
Members Attending (12): Andy Leyhane, Murray Forth, Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Ray Hannan, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane.
Guests (2): Tom Burdick, Dawn Vavala.
MEETING NOTES: President Andy welcomed 12 members (a quorum) and two guests. … Doris Calamaras announced that she wants to raffle several afghans she has purchased and donate the money to Gift of Life. There was a suggestion to sell the raffle tickets at the Gift of Life Golf Tournament in September. … Phil Kellerman provided an update on proceeds from the sale of CDs released at the recent SRC concert to benefit the Oley Foundation have reached $1,100. Mike McCarthy, one of the performers on the CD, will perform on the back patio at My Place & Co. (1640 Columbia Turnpike) on Sunday, July 7. …
Visiting Rotarian Dawn Vavala, who provides Rotary-branded clothing merchandise throughout the District, reported that sales of the special Rotary Foundation shirts has raised $1,500 for the Foundation. … Jim Leyhane talked about the Rotary Run & Festival for Good, to be held at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in Chatham on Saturday, October 10. The event will include 5K and 10K runs, and offer attendees food and beer trucks as well as events for kids and families. Profits will go to GOL and ShelterBox.
PROGRAM: The District’s Gift of Life President Tom Burdick presented a video about District 7190 and GOL. He noted how much our club has supported the Gift of Life over the years.
He noted that the District helped fund three medical teaching missions to Bucharest, Romania, donating $15,000 for each of the missions. GOL now has become the largest pediatric cardiology non-profit organization in the world.
The District is arranging and funding one or two such operations a year at Albany Medical Center. The GOL feels it is financially better to send teams abroad to train medical personnel, but some children continue coming to Albany because they do not have sufficient facilities in their home country. The Samaritan’s Purse philanthropic organization is being used as a partner because it can have patients fly into Albany instead of New York City. They also bring in an interpreter.
Tom said the District’s second GOL run held several weeks ago drew 200 runners and raised $2.500. A lot of the work was done by the students.
Dawn Vavala spoke about GOL’s clothing donation bins and the need to get more out of Rotary members and friends. Also, people can donate through Amazon Smile and Amazon donates 0.5% of purchases.
In other activities, the GOL is looking for board members. Interested parties can contact Tom. The organization also is considering a rum tasting fundraiser. The annual GOL Golf Tournament is scheduled for Monday, September 16.
NEXT MEETING: We will present $1,000 scholarship checks to a number of graduating high school seniors, an activity postponed from this week. Plus, Kevin Leyhane will present “Music Trivia, Part Deux.”
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 