Author: SRCrotary

A volunteer service club located in Rensselaer County, NY, that is part of Rotary International, the 1.23 million-member international organization of men and women serving their community and their world.

December Update

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As the Holiday Season marches on, wanted to share some information during this busy time of year.

This Thursday’s meeting will be held at Moscatiello’s on Thursday at 6:00pm. Our usual room has been booked for another group so we will be meeting in the back room on the far right of the building. Our presentation will be from Megan Keil, a U.S Peace Corps Recruiter and fellow Rotarian. Meagan will be joining us via Zoom which means the meeting will be hybrid using the zoom link posted on the top of the calendar page of our website. We are sharing the link with other clubs in our district.

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club’s Annual Christmas party will be held on Thursday December 15, 2022 at 6:00pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant. The menu is a choice of Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Caesar salad, Meat Lasagna, or Chicken Marsala plus a side salad and cookies. The cost is $30 each and any accompanying children can order off the kid’s menu at the posted prices. We look forward to seeing everyone at this annual tradition.

Our annual Christmas Party also means it is that time of year for our most creative fundraiser of the year, the gift basket silent auction. Each family is asked to create and bring a themed gift basket (roughly $35 value) similar to the ones above and below. The baskets will be place on a table during the event and throughout the night members and guests will have time to look over and bid on the baskets in a silent auction style. At the end of the night all baskets are awarded to the highest bidders and all proceeds will be used for future youth programs. So start planning and searching the internet for those gift basket ideas. If you have invited guests to our Christmas Party, be sure to reach out and ask if they would like to create and donate a basket.

Cafe Capriccio Raffle: Once again we are raffling off a private dinner for 12 in the Chef’s Dining Room at Cafe Capriccio. The cost of the tickets is $20 each with the funds being designated for community and youth initiatives. The drawing will be held at our meeting on January 19. 2023 with the winner being posted on this website. Cafe Capriccio will work with the winner to select a date for the dinner.

Adopt-a-family update: Successful progress is still being made for our two adopted families. An updated gift list is posted below. Red indicates the gifts have been purchased, green indicates someone has purchased a gift in the category but more may be purchased. All gifts should be wrapped and labeled. If you need the full name of an individual for the gift, please email Kevin. Richard Zazycki from Circles of Mercy will be attending our Christmas Party and has agreed to take the gifts with him when he leaves. So plan on bringing donated gifts to our party, or if you are unable to attend contact a board member to arrange delivery to our party on the 15th.

This Week’s Meeting is In-person with a Hybrid Presentation from the United States Peace Corps

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This Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 6:00pm we return to Moscatiello’s for another fascinating presentation scheduled by Becky Raymond. Joining via Zoom will be Megan Keil a recruiter for the United States Peace Corps, New Hampshire Office, and she is a fellow Rotary Member. Megan will be speaking on the mission of the Peace Corps, and how the Peace Corps and Rotary intersect. She will be discussing new opportunities for service in over 60 countries around the world.

The meeting will be run as a hybrid with those who can’t make it too Moscatiello’s can join us remotely using the link posted on our club calendar page. We are also reaching out to other clubs in our district and sharing the link so others may join us for Megan’s presentation. The presentation is set to begin at 6:00pm. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.

Meeting Clipboard 12/1/22

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MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Becky Raymond, Ray Hannan, Debbie Rodriguez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Phil Kellerman, Dick Drumm, and Terry Brewer. By Zoom: Murray Fourth, Charlie Foote.

GUESTS: Line (pronounced Leena) Hendriksen and Mike Stangl.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

MEETING NOTES:

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to Kevin Leyhane. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

Student Exchange Program: We are in communication with Maple Hill High School.

Cafe Capriccio Raffle: Tickets are now available from Andy Leyhane. All members are asked to sell ten raffle tickets for $20 each. The drawing is planned for January 17th. The dinner will be held sometime in February on a date mutually agreeable with the Restaurant and the raffle winner. Raffle proceeds will be used to fund the Student Exchange Program.

Circles of Mercy Adopt a Family:  The Club has adopted two families this year. Their wish lists are now available on the website. Gifts should be wrapped and tagged with family member’s name. Please bring your gifts to the December 8th meeting ore conact Kevin Leyhane to make alternate arrangements. Gifts are due by December 12th. Kevin will deliver them to Circles of Mercy.  The due date may be extended to Dember 15th if Richard accepts our invitation to the Holiday Party.

Holiday Party: Our party is scheduled for December 15th at Moscatiellos. Dinner is $30 per person. The menu is a choice of Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Caesar salad, Meat Lasagna, or Chicken Marsala plus a side salad and cookies. If you have not yet done so, please let Roberto Martinez know if you are attending and if bringing a guest(s). Please bring your baskets for auction. It was suggested that the cost of assembling the baskets be $30. This has been a successful fundraiser in past years.

Next Meeting – Thursday, December 8, dinner 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 Megan Keil, US Peace Corps Recruiter and Rotary member.

Entree choices will be Chicken Ceasar Salad, Meat Lasagna or Cheese Ravioli with marinara or meat sauce.

Line Hendriksen spoke about Apparel Impact which is a textile recycler. The Company was founded in 2014 and is New England based. They have 830 partners that allow Apparel Impact to place recycling bins on their property. The bins are emptied once or twice a week. At the warehouse, the clothing is placed in large sacks that hold 350 to 400 pounds each. The clothing is not sorted. When they have collected 40,000 pounds of textiles, the sacks are picked up and are sold to wholesale brokers. The sacks end up in sorting centers are then shipped to Central and South America, Africa and Mexico. Apparel Impact has recovered 6.5 million pounds of textiles. Over 700,000 tons of used clothing is sent to other countries annually. The economies in these countries are positively impacted through the creation of markets and jobs. 87% are women owned businesses.

Did you know:

70% of the world population can’t afford new clothes.

8% of global carbon emissions are produced by the textile industry.

1.3 million gallons of water are used per year in fabric dyeing. You can see next seasons fashion colors in Chinese rivers.

It takes 750 gallons of water to manufacture one tee shirt.

14 million tons of textile waste are generated in the U.S. annually.

Only 15% of textile are recycled. The rest end up in landfills.

American taxpayers spend 900 million dollars per year on landfills.

We can address some of these issues by keeping the textile waste out of landfills by recycling them. You can also have clothing swaps. Textiles can be upcycled. Used textiles are used for stuffing seats in cars and for insulation. Ideally, rethink clothing purchases. Do we really need that article of clothing?

This Week’s Program: Apparel Impact

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This week SRC Rotary returns to Moscatiello’s for a regular scheduled meeting, and will feature a presentation from Line Hendriksen. Line is the Operations Manager for Apparel Impact. Apparel Impact is a family and veteran-owned and operated business that focuses on the recovery of textiles and the support of communities throughout the country. Their primary mission is to reduce waste and improve the environment. Nearly 10% of all trash in local landfills is textiles. You have probably seen Apparel Impact’s green bins at many locations. Come Thursday night and find out what happens to the clothes and shoes that you drop in the bins. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday at 6:00 pm.

SRC Rotary Club Adopt-a-Family 2022

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Once again we have partnered with Circles of Mercy to adopt two families this year. We have been very successful supporting Circles of Mercy in the past and we look forward to continuing our support during these challenging times. All gifts are to be wrapped and labeled and delivered to Kevin no later than December 12th. This wish lists are posted below.

Here is how the lists will work this year. Select which item or items you wish to purchase, and notify Kevin. You can email at Leyhaneke@egcsd.org or send a message using the remind app. Kevin will respond to the messages with the name of the individuals so that gifts may be labeled. When messages are received the list on the website will be updated using a color code which is posted. Items in White are available for purchase and have not been claimed yet, Red items have been purchased and are considered done, and items which are Green have been purchased but more can be purchase (clothing, for example).

SRC Rotary Christmas Party with Gift Basket Silent Auction

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The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club’s annual Christmas party will be held on Thursday December 15, 2022 at 6:00pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant. The menu is a choice of Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Caesar salad, Meat Lasagna, or Chicken Marsala plus a side salad and cookies. The cost is $30 each and any accompanying children can order off the kid’s menu at the posted prices. We look forward to seeing everyone at this annual tradition.

Our annual Christmas Party also means it is that time of year for our most creative fundraiser of the year, the gift basket silent auction. Each family is asked to create and bring a themed gift basket (roughly $35 value) similar to the ones above and below. The baskets will be place on a table during the event and throughout the night members and guests will have time to look over and bid on the baskets in a silent auction style. At the end of the night all baskets are awarded to the highest bidders and all proceeds will be used for future youth programs. So start planning and searching the internet for those gift basket ideas.

Danes Rotaract tackles the Basket Brigade

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Friday, November 18, 2022

Dane Rotaract officers, Monica Barrera and Meghan Lippa, together with Becky Raymond, joined YMCA Executive Director, Shannon Romanowski and the volunteers at the Greenbush YMCA to set up the stations for the Basket Brigade. The Brigade assembly was held Saturday the 19th, resulting in 450 “baskets” of Thanksgiving dinner for families in Rensselaer and Warren counties.

Meeting Clipboard 11/17/22

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MEMBERS ATTENDING (12): Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Ray Hannan, Debbie Rodriguez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown and Terry Brewer. By Zoom: Murray Fourth, Charlie Foote.

GUESTS: None.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

MEETING NOTES:

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to Kevin Leyhane. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

Student Exchange Program: Per Peter Brown, we have not heard back yet from Maple Hill High School.

Cafe Capriccio Raffle: Funding for the Student Exchange Program will come from the proceeds of the raffle ticket sales for the Cafe Capriccio dinner. All members are asked to sell ten raffle tickets for $20 each. Tickets will be available shortly. The drawing is planned for January 17th. The dinner will be held sometime in February.

Clynk: Murry Forth is managing the SRC account. Please contact Murray if you need bag stickers.

Circles of Mercy Adopt a Family:  Per the request from Richard, the club agreed to support two family of five members each this year. Circles of Mercy would like gifts to be delivered by December 12. Per Kevin Leyhane, he contacted Richard, and the family information is not yet available. Kevin will post the information on the website when available.

YMCA Thanksgiving Basket Project: The Club donated $200 to the YMCA Thanksgiving Basket Project. Danes Rotaract Club members will help assemble the baskets tomorrow.

Holiday Party: Please let Roberto Martinez know ASAP if you are attending and if bringing a guest(s). We need at least 25 people to guarantee our room reservation. It is a very busy time of the year for holiday parties. Our party is tentatively scheduled for December 15th at Moscatiellos. Roberto Martinez is working with Moscatiellos regarding the date, menu and cost. Last year the holiday dinner was $30 per person. Please bring your baskets for auction. It was suggested that the cost of assembling the baskets be $30. This has been a successful fundraiser in past years.

Next Meeting – Thursday, December 1, dinner 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 Line Hendrickson form Apparel Impact.

Entree choices will be determined.

Meeting Clipboard 11/10/22

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Danes Rotaract Club and Board Members

MEMBERS ATTENDING (15): Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Dick Drumm, Pat Bailey, Phil Kellerman, Ray Hannan, Murray Fourth, Debbie Rodriguez, Charlie Foote, John Justino, Becky Raymond, Peter Brown and Debbie Brown. By Proxy: Terry Brewer.

GUESTS: Monica Barrera, Meghan Lipp and Cathy Stone.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order, noting the presence of a quorum.

MEETING NOTES:

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to Kevin Leyhane. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

Student Exchange Program – Per Peter Brown, we have not heard back yet from Maple Hill High School. Funding for the Program will come from the proceeds of the raffle ticket sales for the Cafe Capriccio Dinner. All members are asked to sell ten raffle tickets for $20 each.

Shelter Box: The Club will send $800 to Shelter Box. $250 was raised from the sale of the lanterns and the rest came from member donations.

Circles of Mercy Adopt a Family:  Per the request from Richard, the club agreed to support two family of five members each this year. Circles of Mercy would like gifts to be delivered by December 12.  Further information will be posted on the website.

YMCA Thanksgiving Basket Project: The YMCA is still collecting brownie mix, powdered potatoes and powdered gravy. Please deliver your donations to the YMCA. Jim Leyhane proposed that the Club donate $200 to the YMCA for their Thanksgiving basket project. Club member unanimously approved the donation.

Holiday Party: Is tentatively scheduled for December 15th. Roberto Martinez is checking with Moscatiellos about the date and menu. Please bring your baskets for auction. This has been a successful fundraiser in past years.

Rotaract:

Danes Rotaract members President Monica Barrera, Secretary Treasurer Megha Lippa and Alumni Member at Large Cathy Stone joined us tonight for dinner. They are in the process of forming their identity as a Club. They are focusing on increasing membership, planning a social gathering and help with neighborhood cleanup for the West Hill Refugee Center in Albany. The Refugee Center purchases abandoned properties and fixes them up for rental properties for refugees. The Center also provides services such as language and educational programs to refugees. They discussed the possibility of helping the YMCA with assembling the Thanksgiving Baskets. Becky Raymond will contact the YMCA for the date and time. They are invited to also join our Rotary meetings via Zoom. The Danes Rotaract Club is looking forward to collaborating with the SRC Rotary.

Next Meeting – Thursday, November 17, dinner 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. 

Entree choices will be Chicken Caesar Salad, Baked Ziti and Spaghetti with Meatballs.