Members in Attendance (11): Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Kevin Leyhane, Ray Hannan, Murray Forth, Dick Drumm, Becky Raymond and John Justino.

By Zoom (2): Dean Calamaras and Carole Heaney.

Guests (1): Mike Stangl.

President Roberto Martinez called the meeting to order.

Theme for the year: Grow membership, do good in the world, leverage social capital, & have fun!

Meeting Notes:

Treasurer Update: Almost done using Quicken to reconcile expenses. $500 will go to the District in April to support exchange students. The check will be given to Marissa. Phil Kellerman will inquire about the tax status. The membership approved allocating $600 to the Boy Scouts.

Bowl-A-Thon: Per Phil Kellerman, the Bowl-A-Thon is scheduled for April 6th from 1pm until 3pm. It will cost $16 for 1 1/2 hours or $20 for 2 hours. The special is $90 per lane of 5 people ($17 per person) which includes 2 hours of bowling, shoes, and food (pizza and soda). Sponsorship is $50. Phil met with the principal of Maple his yesterday about the bowl-a-thon with the suggestion that proceeds go to the Anchor.

Benefit Concert: Phil Kellerman sent an application to the East Greenbush Methodist Church to hold a benefit concert to support a charitable project of the Church. Phil has not heard back yet. He will contact the Church.

Global Grant: Per Roberto Martinez, is moving along.

Defensive Driving: The AAA course will be held on May 17th at the Nassau Library from 9 am until 3:30 pm. We need a minimum of 25 people to sign up. If you are a member of AAA, the cost is $22. If you are a non-member, the cost is $27. Contact Pat Bailey if you wish to attend.

Community Project: Kevin Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Peter Brown and Phil Kellerman met with 17 members of the East Greenbush School District on February 13th about the backpack project to provide food over the weekend for at risk students. There are seven schools in the district which split $25,000 to cover the cost of food. It is administered by Regional Food bank. Funding is donated by various local businesses and the PTO. The SRC Rotary will help organize fundraising for this project on an ongoing basis. Kevin Leyhane spoke to the Athletics Director yesterday about a fun run fundraiser to support the backpack program.

Star of Hope: Per Roberto Martinez, will be relocated to Columbia High School this spring.

Public Image Grants: Carol Heaney noted that the CNY Public Image Committee is offering grants for $250 in matching funds for branded materials.

Members in Action: Phil Kellerman spoke to the Cobleskill Rotary yesterday about immigration.

CNY News: Information on all of the following and more is posted to the website, cnyrotary.org.

Blue Star Mothers 4th Annual Golf Tournament: Please see the flyer posted at the bottom of the page.

CNY Member Orientation is held every 4th Tuesday of each month. The next will be held on March 27th at 7 pm.

Foundation Grant Management Seminar, Zoom, on March 23rd. Pre-registration is required.

RLI March 1, Johnson City, NY. LI is $25, L2-G is $40. The Club will cover tuition. Sign up at http: //www.rlinea.org. Phil Kellerman and Chris Bystroff may be attending.

In-Person PETS Training, March 15-16, double Tree Syracuse. Registration has begun. Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane and Phil Kellerman will be attending.

District Conference: April 4-6th, Hilton Downtown Albany. Registration required. Roberto Martinez will be going.

RI Conventions: Calgary, June 21-25, 2025. Carole Heaney will be attending.

Next Meeting: The next meeting is Thursday, March 6th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. The guest speaker will be Melisa Multari with an Update from the District.

Entry Choices will be Chicken Rustica Salid, Lasagna and Cheese Ravioli.

John Justino is the Director of Global Health for the SUNY College of Integrated Sciences and Vice-President of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. The College of Integrated Sciences was launched in September of 2024 after 2 years effort combining the 40-year-old School of Public Health with the 60-year-old School of Social Welfare and a new nursing program. The School of Public Health’s current location will be vacated as the combined College of Integrated Sciences moves to the main campus of SUNY Albany.

Facility fought for and acquired integrative participation in the process of creating the College of Integrated Sciences. Dr. Erin Bell, Dean of the School of Public Health will serve as Dean of the College and Dr. Vicki Rizzo, Head of the School of Social Welfare will serve as Vice-Dean. Faculty helped create the Mission and Vision Statements. An Advisory Committe was established to determine what Global Health will look like going forward. The College of St. Rose Nursing Program was shifted to the new College. Accreditation of the Nursing Program is in process.

The School of Public Health was formed by David Axelrod when he created a partnership between SUNY Albany and the NYS Department of Health to train future health care professionals. Many faculty are appointed from the Health Department. The College has a growing undergraduate public health program, as well as, Master’s in Science, Master’s in Public Heath, Doctoral Programs and accredited Graduate Certifications along with a social worker program. There are more than 1,000 students of which 450 are in Public Health. There are 197 faculty and 12,000 alumni. Many of the students are commuters.