Vineland Rotary Newsletter September 11, 2023 (Sep 10, 2023)

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Highlights from our September 5th Meeting

President Andy Browne opened the meeting. Joe Botero led us in the

Pledge of

Allegiance, Carol Musso performed the Four Way Test and Pastor Heather Sugden gave the invocation. Linda Rumick was our notetaker.

Club members had a moment of silence in honor of Alan Woodruff, a long-time member of the Bridgeton Rotary and a frequent visitor to our club's meetings who passed away recently.

Andy also asked us to keep our District Governor Elect (DGE), Eli Berkowitz in our thoughts and prayers. Eli was in a work-related accident last week and was hospitalized and had surgery because of the extent of his injuries.

Back to School Fun!

Josie Spinelli challenged us to join the Back to School excitement by bringing a lunchbox filled

with school supplies to the September 11 (tomorrow) meeting!

In honor of this activity, lunch on Tuesday will feature a "back to school" menu - delicious foods typical of our school lunch days - things like grilled cheese, tomato soup, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - all the standards!

Don't forget to bring your lunchbox filled with supplies to the meeting tomorrow!

Frank Rumick (left) continued with the Membership Committee's weekly series - "50 Things Every Rotarian Should Know About Rotary" (see item #5 below). Each item is a Rotary gem!

Then Frank and Ed Morvay collected Happy Dollars from a number of happy and grateful Rotarians!

Among the happy were Joe Botero (with Ed below right) who was happy - to be a Rotarian, to be back in Vineland for our meeting and happy that he and his new Florida home we

re spared damage in the wake of recent Hurricane Idalia.

Donata Dalesandro was happy to now be "fully" retired. Preston Centuolo was happy that his son started college but a little sad at being an empty nester (although he and his dog talk a lot!). Jay Einstein was happy because his son became engaged to be married with a date set next August.

And remember, those Happy Dollars all go to the Vineland Rotary Charities budget where they are put to good use. Stay happy Rotarians!

President Andy reminded us about the Vineland Rotary Family Barbeque at Parvins Park on Saturday, September 23 from 3-7 pm. We have both pavillions at the park reserved. We will be cooking and serving hot dogs, burgers and drinks but other barbeque goodies will be provided by our membership! Sign up sheets were passed around at the meeting and will be available again at our tomorrow's meeting. Let's make this a great family event!!

New Member Classification - Kasie Harris

Members

hip Chairperson, Gail Marino introduced one of our new members, Kasie Harris, who gave her new member classification talk.

Kasie was born and raised in Salem County in Alloway. Married, she now lives in Pittsgrove. She went to school in upstate New York at Houghton College where she got her teaching degree. She taught in NJ for several years, using her ESL (English as a Second Language) certification. Once she married, she decided she wasn’t going to teach anymore because she and her husband, planned on having 5 children. In actuality, they ended up having 2.

When her father bought out his brother from the family business 7 years ago, Laury Heating, she went to work for the business doing payroll part time. When her youngest child started school, she began working full time.

“My daughter Lena is 11 and my son Landon is 10. And we're all redheads. Even our dog has red hair. We're a bunch of redheads! My hobbies are, – I work full time, and I'm a full time mom, and I'm a full time soccer mom. And so my hobbies are watching soccer and running the kids around. I like to read a lot, but my passions are my family and my work at this point. I don't have a lot of time for too much more than that at this point. Buy we do like to go to Six Flags Great Adventure, and we like to roller coasters.” When Kasie does get to read, she reads books on business.

Kasie is one of 3 children and her brothers David and Sean are both in the family business. She is now the company’s CEO. Kasie’s father was a member of the Salem Rotary club for about 30 years and he talked her into joining Rotary. Kasie shared information about the company’s structure and plans for future expansion. A new office complex is currently under construction.

We are all very pleased to have Kasie as one of our newest Rotarians!

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San

dy Hearing reminded us of the Friends Helping Friends Boscov’s coupon sale!! The $5 donation goes entirely to our Rotary charity fund! This coupon will get you 25% off of most purchases and 15% off of perfumes! Sandy is getting close to her goal of $500. She will be selling them up until 10/18. Don’t forget to grab some for you and your family members to enjoy

Frank Rumick reminded everyone he will be accepting donations of used soccer equi

pment for Caitlin Terry. Caitlin will be taking these items to Kenya when she returns for yet another Hydromissions water and sanitation project. Items needed are: used cleats, uniforms, socks, deflated balls and pumps. Let's do our best to help Caitlin!

President Andy reminded us that the Charles A. Loyle Vocational Service Award will be presented at our November 14th luncheon meeting. The award, presented annually to a non-rotarian, is awarded to someone who uses their vocation to help others in the community. For more information and to make a nomination, please contact Donna Perez at: tetris0202@yahoo.com

Click here for the nomination form: https://vinelandrotary.org/SitePage/vocational-service-award-nomination-form

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Our Program:

Elizabeth Meenan,

Executive Director

Cumberland Guidance Center

Elizabeth (Liz), Executive Director of the Cumberland Guidance Center was introduced by Jay Einstein, who is a long time member of the Board of Trustees of the Guidance Center. Liz spoke in depth about the programs and initiatives she directs at the Center, "We serve our county's most vulnerable individuals, and mental health is something that everybody's become much more comfortable talking about, much more comfortable talking about since Covid. But really, mental health has been an important factor for years before Covid, and it will continue to remain an important factor in our well being for years and years,” Liz said.

She added that mental health issues are everywhere. One in five will experience symptoms of mental illness. One in 20 will experience serious mental illness. “We're here to serve individuals across all paths of their well being. Our outpatient department serves individuals for therapy and medication monitoring. We have around 1900 individuals currently utilizing services.”

Those services include telehealth and there are therapists available in hybrid mode. “By the end of the year, we'll have our prescribers back on site part time, which is a big addition for everybody. We're not only there for individuals with mental illness, we're also there for the family members.” Liz noted that there are more than 8 million individuals in America supporting loved ones with mental illness. The Center’s Intensive Families Support Services program is there to provide those family members support.

Liz said that near and dear to her heart is the Center’s Residence program. The program can house up to 30 people in total. It serves individuals who have been discharged from psychiatric hospitals and helps them transition back into the community. “So we are teaching life skills, helping with medication. We help them reintegrate into the community - helping with grocery shopping, transportation and landlord relations.We help them leave us and find their own home - a place where they will feel comfortable and safe - a place they can truly call home."

There are many more services available through the Center. Please visit its website for more information at: https://ccgcnj.org/ or speak with Jay!

Thank you, Liz for an exceptional presentation!

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