Members in Attendance (12):  Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Kevin Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Andy Leyhane, John Justino, Ray Hannan, Debbie Rodriguez and Mary Alice Caldes.

By Zoom (0): 

Guests (1): Richard Zazycki

President Peter Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

Iron Giraffe Bowl-a-Thon: The bowl-a-thon will be held on Sunday April 14 from 2 pm until 4 pm. The cost will be $13 per person. Per Phil Kellerman, sponsorships are $50. Phil has several sponsors. Please let Phil know if you want to be a sponsor.

Membership: Each SRC Rotary member is asked to bring a friend to either the Rotary meeting on April 11th or the meeting on April 25th. One of these meetings will have a speaker (TBD).

Water for Kenya: Tony Kasura, one of Peter and Debbie Brown’s guides during their trip to Maasai Mara Kenya, Edith Kenara of the Rotary Club of Enkare Naroch and Peter Brown agreed to locate the bore hole in Enabelibel Village at the Full Gospel Church. Mr. Kasura and Ms. Kenara will be visiting the Full Gospel Church on February 7th. Peter is sending them a model of a Memorandum of Understanding which will also include what everyone is responsible for. The next step is to develop a needs assessment. Peter and other Club members will meet with Jeff Simons, Superintendent of the East Greenbush Central School District, at Genet at 10 am on Monday, February 5th.

Exchange Program: Peter Brown reported that the Schodack School District is still looking at the Program.

Grants Management Training: There will be two sessions to choose from. Trainings will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, February 7th at 7 pm. and on Monday, April 1st, at 7 pm. The Club needs at least two people to attend. Register for grant training at https://cnyrotary.org/.

PETS Training: The first of the four free virtual pre-PETS trainings will be held Monday, February 5th at 7 pm, Tuesday. The other trainings will be held on February 13th at 7 pm, Wednesday, February 21st at 7 pm and Thursday, February 29th at 7 pm.

Rotary District: The in-person PETS training will be held March 15th through 17th at the Double Tree in Syracuse. Mario Cesar Martins de Carmargo from Brazil, the RI President for 2025-26, will be attending. Register early to secure a hotel room. For further information go to  http://www.RotaryEmpireMDPETS.org. The majority of the meeting will be held on Saturday if you are considering attending for one day.

Rotary Leadership Institute Northeast America: The Institute is holding a graduate class on succession planning on Saturday, March 2nd, at Johnson City High School in Johnson City, New York. The class will start at 7:30 am and end at 3:30 pm. The course includes suggestions on how to develop leaders. You must have completed the Rotary Leadership parts I, II and III to take the graduate course. Register at RLINEA.org.

Easter Baskets for Circles of Mercy: Roberto and Jim Leyhane purchased 25 baskets and delivered them to the YMCA. Richard Zazycki, Circles of Mercy, is asking that the baskets include coloring books, color pencils, facial tissues, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss, hair combs, hairbrushes, small stuffed animals, toys, small games, small books, and different types of wrapped candy. Shannon needs the items for the baskets by March 18th so she can get the baskets to Richard by March 22nd. Easter is on March 31st this year.

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 8th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Our speaker will be Sister Betsy Van Deusen, CEO of Catholic Charites in Albany.

Entree choices will be Chicken Cesear Salid, Veal Marsala and Baked Ziti.

Richard Zazycki is the President and CEO of Circles of Mercy located at 11 Washington Street in Rensselaer. The Sisters of Mercy sponsor the organization. For twenty-five years, Circles of Mercy has provided services for people in need with a special emphasis on helping women and children.

Circles of Mercy offers free tax preparation assistance, financial literacy and computer training and assistance with employment searches and resume preparation. They provide kids programs, coordinate and run Christmas adopt-a-family, back to school and Easter basket programs providing Christmas gifts, school supplies and Easter baskets to families in need. They provide human service resource referrals for those services not provided by Circles of Mercy.

Catherine’s Closet is a thrift shop run by Circles of Mercy and also located at 11 Washington Street. They provide clothing grants for clients and families, layette sets for newborns and monthly grants for baby clothes, diapers and wipes. The thrift store is open from 10 am until 2 pm Monday through Friday. Donations are accepted from 10 am until 1:30 pm. They do not accept toys, household electrical or baby equipment.

Though their donations and grant revenues were down this past year, Circles of Mercy was able to provide 7,900 service transactions involving 1,600 clients. They have maintained and expanded their volunteer and benefactor base and have met or exceed their strategic planning goals. For more information on Circles of Mercy and Catherines Closet go to https://circlesofmercy.org/.