Pastor Heather offered a special prayer for Dr. Bruce Middleton who passed away 1/16/23 at the age of 93. Bruce was a longtime Vineland Rotarian, joining in 1964, and a past president of our club. You will be missed, Bruce.
President Harry Maloney called the meeting order. We welcomed Honorary Rotarian Mike Cyter to our meeting. Great to see you, Mike!
We all wished President Harry a happy birthday!
Announcements
Donna Bennett asked everyone to keep Melanie Druziako, District 7505 Executive Administrator, in our prayers. Melanie will be having surgery this coming week. Thinking of you, Melanie.
President Harry read a thank you letter from the Dictionary Project for our club’s continued support. With our recent contributions, Vineland Rotary has surpassed the 10,000 mark in dictionaries provided to third grade students in Vineland schools. Dictionary Project.org, founded in 1995, has provided more than 35 million dictionaries to school children. Vineland Rotary is proud to be a long-time contributor!
Our two Spaghetti Dinners are scheduled for 2/5/23 (the community charity take out dinner) and 3/19/23 the sit-down and take-out fund-raising dinner. Jay Einstein is distributing tickets for Rotarians to sell for the fundraiser. Let’s get them all sold! And remember – we need volunteers for both dinners!
Get Ready for The Disco Ball!
Josie Spinelli reminded everyone that the Disco Ball is approaching! Mark your calendars for Friday, 2/24/23 – “Let’s Boogie Down” will be held in the ballroom of Merighi’s Savoy Inn. Proceeds will benefit Vineland Rotary, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cumberland and Salem Counties and the Vineland YMCA. Tickets can be purchased online at: https://savoyinn.ticketleap.com/the-disco-ball/
Josie also presented the “Rotarian of the Week” award to Gail Marino for all the effort she puts in to support our club and its membership. Congratulations, Gail – well deserved award!!
Joanne Hewes reminded everyone that volunteers are needed for the Spirit and Truth lunch project 2/3/23 – 8:45 am at the First United Methodist Church. Volunteers have fun making and packing lunches in a 45-minute activity each month. Make sure you take your turn volunteering.
Andy Browne reminded everyone that our next meeting is an evening meeting, 1/26/23 @ 5:45 pm at the Green Olive Restaurant, 3513 S. Delsea Drive in Vineland. Our guest speaker, William Gilson, will provide information about Estate Planning. Let’s come out and enjoy good information and fellowship!
Andy reminded us that February is “International Month” where our international lunch speakers will be: Didi Devapriya of Romania on 2/7/23 and Timothy Massawe of Tanzania on 2/21/23. Andy thanked Diane Alcantara for coordinating International Month activities.
Program
Our guest speaker was Stephanie Stawicki who spoke of her experiences with the Peace Corps in The Gambia in West Africa from 2007-2009. During her service, she worked on immunization and malaria prevention campaigns in rural villages with The Gambia’s Ministry of Health and UNICEF. She also partnered with small-scale farmers and women gardeners to improve agricultural practices and increase the availability of hy foods. In addition, Stephanie taught grade 9 English at her village’s school and also served as Lead Trainer for incoming Peace Corps volunteers. Stephanie had three months training in technology, language and cultural skills and had to pass a test to be accepted for service in The Gambia. Gambia is the smallest non-island country in Africa. Languages are French and English.
Stephanie shared detailed information about her experiences with the children, the community and her host family. After a very detailed session, she also answered a number of questions from the very engaged audience.
Currently, Stephanie is the Senior Director of Wharton Online at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In this role, she is responsible for leading and managing a team which creates and sells online business education courses to individual learners and corporate clients. She earned her BA in International Affairs and Russian & Eastern European Studies from Lafayette College and her MA in International Development from Emory University. She currently resides in Cherry Hill with her husband.
Thank you Stephanie for a truly engaging presentation!
nsylvania. In this role, she is responsible for leading and managing a team which creates and sells online business education courses to individual learners and corporate clients. She earned her BA in International Affairs and Russian & Eastern European Studies from Lafayette College and her MA in International Development from Emory University. She currently resides in Cherry Hill with her husband..png)
