One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is food insecurity, with families ordinarily not in need now experiencing shortages because of lost income.
The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club has identified four (4) food pantries in our area of service. Some members who already have mailed in lump-sum contributions as part of this year’s fundraising effort (click here to refresh your memory on that process) have designated food pantry support as one thing they would like part of their donations to help underwrite.
However, other members still can contribute during this holiday period when food pantries experience particularly heavy demand.
A food pantry donation can be made through the club with a check made payable to “SRC Rotary Club” and “food pantry” in the memo line. But, please let Treasurer Murray Forth know ASAP that you plan to contribute so he can figure in that amount to the pool of pantry dollars he’s about to send out to the pantries. If you prefer, you can send checks directly to the pantries. But, if you do so, we ask that you please put “SRC Rotary Club” in the memo line.
The four pantries:
• Food for Families (headquartered at Columbia High School, but serving families throughout the entire district at all grade levels)
Checks should be made payable to “Michael Leonard,” and mailed to:
Michael Leonard Athletic Director / Food for Families Coordinator Columbia High School 962 Luther Road
East Greenbush, NY 12061
• CoNSERNS-U (a food pantry operated out ot the City of Rensselaer by Catholic Charities Tri-County Services )
Checks should be made payable to “CoNSERNS-U,” and mailed to: Jessica ZintCoNSERNS-U Program CoordinatorCatholic Charities Tri-County ServicesP.O. Box 28, 50 Herrick StreetRensselaer, NY 12144
•The Anchor Food Pantry (a pantry and thrift store service of the Cooperative Christian Ministries of Schodack)
Checks should be made payable to “The Anchor Food Pantry,” and mailed to:
Paula Sancomb, Manager
The Anchor Food Pantry
P.O. Box 92, 35 Boltwood Avenue,
Castleton on Hudson, NY 12033 • Doors of Hope (a community-based food pantry and thrift store that recently moved to new quarters)
Checks should be made to payable to “Doors of Hope Food Pantry,” and mailed to: Doors of Hope Food Pantry P.O. Box 522, 12 Mall Way West Sand Lake, NY 12196
There’s a national discussion going on about the pros and cons of scrubbing college loan debt for many people. We at SRC have a way to help “pre-scrub” the costs of college or post-high school training courses — by awarding scholarships to local high school seniors each year.
This year, to help underwrite that initiative, we have been selling handcrafted scented soaps.
Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez started the project back in October, and have sold nearly all of the first batch of 100 cakes of soap. And, they have just received 100 more cakes with some new scents, all of which would make great presents for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and any other occasion you can think of, especially for the person who has everything.
The soaps are available on a first-come, first-served by contacting Roberto or Jim who will arrange for delivery. Just check our website’s Member Contact Data page for their phone numbers and email addresses if you don’t have them.
The products are plant based, meaning they derive primarily from plants and natural sources. Simplicity is beauty. They are made in Syracuse, and therefore are Upstate Local. As we like to say, they don’t kill anything, they just soothe you and make you feel good, a very welcome treat in this stressful pandemic era.
Price: $7 per cake, or three for $20. Jim and Roberto footed the bulk purchase of the soaps, so all sales proceeds go directly to our club treasury to help fund the annual SRC Rotary Scholarships.
Here’s what we have to offer, and their appealing scents: 10 bars each of …
Meeting held virtually via ZOOM videoconferencing.
MEMBERS ATTENDING (15): Dick Drumm, Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Bill Dowd, Pat Bailey, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Ray Hannan, Charlie Foote, Kevin Leyhane, Tony Morris, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Andy Leyhane.
GUESTS: None.
MEETING NOTES: President Dick Drumm welcomed members. … He announced that because of social restrictions during the pandemic we will not hold our annual Holiday Party & Gift Basket Auction. … Project coordinator Bill Dowd reported that the annual Adopt-a-Family effort is going extremely well. He delivered a carload of donated gifts for our two families to Circles of Mercy on Wednesday. He will be at Quigley’s from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Friday to accept last-minute donations, then deliver a second carload of gifts to Circles on Monday. He expressed appreciation for the generosity of Rotarians, family members, and friends who donated gifts. …
Bill Dowd also researched local food pantries and recommended a lineup of four for the club to award grants of $460 each from treasury funds earmarked for the purpose. Treasurer Murray Forth will send checks to (1.) Food for Families (which serves families throughout the East Greenbush Central School District); (2.) CoNSERNS-U (a food pantry operated out ot the City of Rensselaer by Catholic Charities Tri-County Services ); (3.) The Anchor Food Pantry (a pantry and thrift store service of the Cooperative Christian Ministries of Schodack), and (4.) Doors of Hope (a West Sand Lake community-based food pantry and thrift store). … We have $1,300 accrued from CLYNK beverage deposit returns and member donations for ShelterBox. When we ascertain the new mailing address we will send out a check. …
Phil Kellerman says the specialty coffees sale is going well, and Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez said the scented soaps sale also is doing well. … An individual has donated $250 to cover a request from Goff Middle School for funding gift card appreciation awards for staff in recognition of efforts during the pandemic. … We had not budgeted financial support for this year’s RYLA program. However, school response to it was weak because of the pandemic and necessity to move it to a virtual platform. District 7190 is hoping to hold a truncated in-person program in April and May of 2021 if public health rules allow it. We will consider some sort of student funding if that actually comes to pass. … Our last ZOOM meeting of 2000 will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 17. We will be on hiatus during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s.
Participation in this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program, which switched to a virtual format because of the pandemic, had much less participation than usual. But, its organizers are not calling it quits.
“The program originally did not get as much attendance as in previous years and we believe much of that has to do with the current world situation and the virtual format. One of the most important aspects of RYLA is getting students from across the region together to brainstorm and build relationships. The virtual format provides less of that for students,” said Ken Adamczyk, an organizer.
“Our current plan is to try to have the course in person in late spring, but only if it is safe for the students. We will watch the virus conditions, coordinate with schools by watching what they are doing and, if possible, provide a clean and safe environment for the students to learn. It will be three Saturdays starting in late April and ending in May 2021.
“We have access to a Business Incubator space that normally can have over 150 people and it provides breakout space for us to spread out as needed. We will always focus on safety, and then turn our focus on the course. If we are unable to complete the program in this manner in the spring we would like to invite all the students to join us in August for the 2021-2022 program in the old format.”
Examples of the tentative new agenda are being sent to students, guidance counselors, and other school administrators throughout District 7190.
The first load of presents headed for Circles of Mercy.
We’re in the homestretch of another successful “Adopt-a-Family” partnership with our friends at Circles of Mercy, the family aid organization.
Project coordinator Bill Dowd dropped off the first load of donated gifts at Circles this morning, then headed for the dropoff point at Drumm Veterinary Hospital (today was the deadline for depositing gifts there) and nearly filled his car again. He’ll be posted in the parking lot of the former Quigley’s restaurant to accept last-minute donations from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Friday.
If you’re among the last-minute donors, please remember to gift wrap all donated items and label them with the name of the intended recipients.
A sincere thank-you to all who got involved in this year’s drive to help the Burnett and Fitzgerald families. Their holidays will be much more enjoyable thanks to the generosity and good will from members and friends of SRC.
Update from the Rotary International Convention planning committee:
“We are monitoring the global pandemic and are committed to hosting an event that is safe for all participants. A decision regarding the International Convention will be made in early 2021 based on all available resources and the recognized science and safety standards available. Consequently, we are extending the early-registration discount to February 15, 2021.”
The online registration and details are available by clicking here for the convention, hopefully to be held in the capital city of the island nation of Taiwan.
Solari, a member of the Rotary Club of Anaheim, CA, is board chair and chief visionary officer of Solari Enterprises Inc., a property management company with 300 team members specializing in affordable rental housing. The company, which she co-founded with her husband, Bruce, was inspired by Rotary’s guiding ethical principles.
“The Four-Way Test hangs in our lobby, and every team member sees it as they come into work,” Solari says.
Solari joined Rotary in 1993. As governor of District 5320, she organized the district’s first million-dollar dinner fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation and helped it become the second known district consisting of 100% Paul Harris Fellow clubs. She has served on the committee for the Foundation’s Peace Major Gifts Initiative.
The Solaris are members of the same Rotary club and support the Foundation as Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors, and members of the Arch Klumph Society. During Solari’s second year as director, her daughter Gianna will serve as a district governor, making it the first time in Rotary history that a mother and daughter have served in these two leadership roles simultaneously.
Lois Wagner, wife of former SRC member Stewart Wagner and well-known to many club members and their families, passed away Thursday night at Albany Medical Center from complications of COVID-19.
Both Stewart and Lois were hospitalized with the virus. Stewart is recovering at home and doing much better. He has asked well-wishers to pause any phone calls for now. The club sends Stewart our prayers and well-wishes.
More information on a limited service and the obituary will not be available for several weeks, per Stewart. He plans a celebration of Lois’s life sometime in the new year. Lois last visited our club in May 2018 when Stewart was our featured speaker.
For those who wish to send cards of condolence, Stewart’s mailing address is:
As we all know, the norm is anything but normal in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is adversely affecting Rotary fundraising efforts that usually entail in-person interaction, group efforts, et al.
Thus, a consensus of your SRC Board of Directors and a followup discussion among other club members several months ago ascertained that we will continue to underwrite at least three (3) areas of our usual financial largesse — (1) Circles of Mercy family and school projects, (2) our youth educational scholarships, and (3) assistance to local food pantries.
We also will continue to consider financial support of other endeavors on a case-by-case basis as the 2020-21 Rotary Year progresses, that depends on the level of ongoing individual donations and the creation and undertaking of fundraising efforts that conform with projects that adhere to stringent COVID-19 pandemic restrictions as well as conforming to Rotary’s Avenues of Service.
To accomplish this, rather than ask for member support on a month-by-month, project-by-project basis as we habitually have done, we have been asking for a one-time (or by multiple installments) financial donation to support the important work of the club to underwrite local and international humanitarian projects.
The level will depend on your personal financial status and your interest in supporting SRC and allied Rotary projects. In judging that level of support, you may wish to bear in mind that we usually have 38 dinner meetings a year, and that would mean a projected saving of $18 every week, or $684 if we do not hold any dinner meetings in 2020-21 as appears to be the case.
In addition, we are not asking for the usual weekly contributions to our “Spare Change” jug; the usual “Summer Casual” events (Mac-Haydn Theatre, ValleyCats pavilion picnic and baseball game, various field trips, etc.) were not held this past summer, so no member money was spent; and, no sponsorships were solicited for various efforts such as the annual SRC Bowl-a-Thon, etc., that have been cancelled.
Thus, members have not been asked to be forthcoming with donations and fees to any degree this year, so much money has been saved individually.
Here is how the new financing system is working — and we thank all who have donated so far:
• One-time or periodic donations. To create your level of support, we acknowledge that different members are financially able or financially willing to donate at different levels. Several members already have submitted checks. The amount(s) is strictly up to you.
• You may designate which local, regional, or international efforts you wish your donations to support: i.e., when you submit your checks simply attach a note indicating how the money is to be divided. If you do not, we will assume you wish your entire contribution to go to the club’s general treasury.
• The level of donation is confidential. This is not a competition. The only person who is aware of the individual donations is, by necessity, be Murray Forth, our club treasurer. He will direct funds to the various efforts in conjunction with your specific instructions and will report to the membership only aggregate, rather than individual, amounts.
A huge caveat: If you wish to donate to non-local or non-club efforts and make your donations tax deductible, you need to take certain steps to qualify. Please submit checks designated for SRC club activities separately from checks meant to support other efforts. (If you need guidance, please contact Bill Dowd about the process.)
For example, to assure tax deductibility:
• Donations to ShelterBox: Checks must be made payable to “ShelterBox,” with “SRC Rotary” entered in the memo line. Please submit all such checks to Bill Dowd, our club’s ShelterBox liaison officer who regularly collects donations and delivers them to District coordinators so our club and the individuals receive credit for donations.
• Donations to Gift of Life: Checks must be made payable to “District 7190 Gift of Life,” with “SRC Rotary” entered in the memo line. Please submit all such checks to Dean or Doris Calamaras, our club’s GOL liaisons who will deliver them to District coordinators so our club and the individual receive credit for total donations.
We hope this methodology will alleviate the periodic stress on members of helping pay for our community service efforts until we achieve some form of normalcy as the pandemic dissipates.
Thank you, as always, for your compassionate efforts. While no one can do everything, everyone can do something. We ask only that each SRC member does that something in a timely manner.
Mailing Addresses for check submissions:
• For the club — SRC Rotary, Box 71, East Greenbush, NY 12061
• For ShelterBox — Bill Dowd, 7 Hyland Circle, Troy, NY 12182
• For Gift of Life — Dean & Doris Calamaras, 106 Birchwood Drive, Castleton, NY 12033
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 