Rotary Club of Vineland Newsletter February 9th, 2026 (Feb. 03, 2026)

__________________________________________________

Highlights from our February 3rd meeting:

Josie Spinelli, Club President, welcomed everyone and conducted the meeting.

Notes Taken By: Cara Weber

Pledge: Preston Foster

4-Way Test: Andy Browne

Prayer: Pastor Heather Sugden

Guests:

Joe O'Rourke's guest- Prospective Member, Michael DiSalvo
Jim Siwek's guest- Prospective Member, Dr. Dana Palma

Birthdays: Ted Laury- 2/4

Together, Rotarians and students sang "God Bless America".

Announcements:

Josie mentioned that Compass Academy will be sponsoring a Skate Night at Skate 2000 located at 1748 S. Burlington Road in Bridgeton on February 11 from 6-8PM. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Vineland Rotary Charities Foundation. The cost is $15 per person. All money raised will go towards our Spaghetti Dinner.

Josie thanked Preston Foster for signing up Rotary and donating the funds to register us for the Chamber’s Event on 2/13/26 for “Love Your Local Businesses” at the Cumberland Mall. It is from 4-8PM. We need volunteers to man table. We can begin setting up at 2:30pm. Sign-up sheet passed around today. This is a great opportunity to connect with the community, share our love of Rotary, and promote the good work Rotary does locally and around the world. Let’s share our love of Rotary Club of Vineland!

Josie let everyone know about A Night for the Needy- 3/7/26 at Savoy. Josie would like to get a Rotary Table at this event to support the honoree Thomas Merighi Jr. Please let her know.

Sherri Prescott reminded everyone of the Spaghetti Dinner on March 8th. If you need additional tickets, please see Sherri. Please send in money for tickets if you haven’t already. We have a lot of charitable organizations that are looking for tickets to be donated to them. If you need additional tickets, please let Sherri Know. We are doing a fundraising placemat this year. We have 6 spots left- $150 dollars for sponsorship. If you are interested let Sherri know. Please let Dave Schad know how many tickets you plan to purchase or have already paid for and if you plan on just donating to someone who needs them.

Dawn & Josie Mentioned Flags and Flowers event that we are partnering with Vineland Chamber and Vineland Historical Society. June 14^th, 2026 in honor of America’s 250^th Birthday this year! 11am-2pm

Event location: Vineland Historical Society grounds and inside building

Event description: Event purpose is to honor and celebrate America’s 250^th birthday.

We will give out 250 packs of flowers, a small American flag, and a patriotic goodie bag to each person. Event sponsorships available for $250.00.

Joe mentioned at the next meeting on 2/10- Dr. Sandy Cohen will be our speaker.

Josie would like to take a little bit of time to make valentines for Veterans at the Veterans home.

Our own Rotarian, Sue Sauro, is getting an award from Manna- Congratulations Sue!

Sherry reminded everyone Peanut Butter & Jelly is this Friday 2/6/26.

Happy Dollars collected today will go towards blessing bags that we are preparing at meeting on 2/17.

Josie mentioned Rotary Book club hopefully starting this week! Thank you to Andy for organizing!

Dawn mentioned the Annual Dandelion Dinner that the Vineland Chamber hosts will be March 27^th.

__________________________________________________

Pins:

Ed Morvay invited Justin White to come up to receive his 5 Year Pin.

__________________________________________________

Ed Morvay invited Steven Plevins to come up to receive his 10 Year Pin.

Congratulations to both Rotarians!

__________________________________________________

New Member Induction:

Donata Dalesandro

Representative of VDID/Main Street Organization

Sponsor: Dawn Hunter pinned new member Donata!

Congratulations Donata and welcome to our Club!

**All members stand to welcome our newest member Donata!**

$$ Happy Dollars $$ were collected to support our Blessing Bags initiative! There were plenty of happy Rotarians to go around!

Reminder: Membership Meeting- 2/12 7:30 AM @ Black Olive.

Board Meeting- 2/17 5:00 PM @ DNS Solutions

__________________________________________________

Joe introduced our guest speaker for today’s meeting: One word that came to mind today is “response”. What do we do when we see something out there, how do we respond? RDC is a wonderful organization that provides essential services and the response that they do to help people out. Let us welcome Jill Lombardo-Melchiore with Rural Development Corporation as we get to hear about the essential services that they provide for our local community.

Program:

Click here to visit website: Rural Development Corporation

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

The deadline for completed applications, including two (2) recommendation forms, is February 28, 2026.

All applications and recommendation forms must be submitted via email to:
VinelandRotaryScholarships@gmail.com

__________________________________________________

USE YOUR CAMERAS!

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Sunshine Notes:

Please keep Carol Musso in your thoughts and prayers.
Carol was recently diagnosed with cancer and while the journey hasn't been easy,

she remains in good spirits.

If you would like to send a card or a note of encouragement, they may be mailed to:

Carol Musso 721 Morton Avenue, Bridgeton, NJ 08302.

Your prayers, kindness and support are deeply appreciated and mean more than

words can express to Carol and her loved ones.

_____________

Please keep Caitlin Terri’s family in your thoughts and prayers.
Her brother-in-law (Peter) is recovering from a serious injury and recent surgery.

Cards and notes of encouragement may be sent to:

Peter Pelosi 5114 Landis Avenue, Vineland, NJ 08360.

Your kindness and support mean so much during this difficult time.

__________________________________________________

Recent Events:

Winter Social 1/22/2026

❄✻❄✼❄✽❄✼❄✻❄❄✻❄✼❄✽❄✼❄✻❄

The winter social was a beautiful reminder of what makes Rotary special

—shared smiles, joyful dancing, a room filled with laughter, and the

comfort of being surrounded by dear friends.

❄✻❄✼❄✽❄✼❄✻❄❄✻❄✼❄✽❄✼❄✻❄

Thank you to everyone who helped in any way to make this event a success!

__________________________________________________

Peanut Butter & Jelly 1/2/2026

__________________________________________________

Save The Date:.

Rollllll With It- Skate For a Cause!

__________________________________________________

Share The Love!

__________________________________________________

Our next PB&J: 3/6/2026

__________________________________________________

Serving up spaghetti, smiles, and Service Above Self!

__________________________________________________

Flags. Flowers. Freedom.

__________________________________________________

Reminder: the Hydromissions Store is open! 🎉

Now you can show your support for water projects with every shirt, hoodie, or mug you buy. All items are printed on demand, so there’s no inventory, no waste — just impact.

Your purchase helps Hydromissions provide water wells, sanitation facilities, and hygiene education to communities in need across the globe. 🌍💙

Shop the store here 👉 Hydromissions | Official Merchandise | Bonfire

__________________________________________________

Membership Announcements

Get to know our Newest Members:

~ Welcome Michael Toscano!

Michael is an Owner Agent with New York Life Insurance. He was inducted on 8/26/25 by Ed Morvay. Sponsor- Dawn Hunter.

_________________________________________________

Proposed New Members:

Dr. Dana Palma is proposed by Rotarian Jim Siwek. Dana is a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones.

Erik Young and Mari Collazo from Bay Atlantic Federal Credit Union are proposed for Business Membership by Rotarian Gail Marino. Erik will be the Rotarian and Mari will be the Business Alternate.

Michael DiSalvo is proposed by Rotarian Joe O'Rourke. Mike is a retired UPS driver.

Additional Notes:

Any concerns or objections to new memberships should be directed to President Josie Spinelli, josiecatlover@verizon.net

_________________________________________________

Rotary Board 2025-2026

(14 Member Board)

Jay Einstein, Immediate Past President

Josephine Orlando Spinelli, President

Joseph O’Rourke, President Elect

Sherri Prescott, Vice President of Fundraising

David Schad, Charities Treasurer

Bonnie Laube, Club Treasurer

Melody Montgomery, Club Secretary

Sherry Soutiere, Community Service Chair

Karen Bauman, Club Administration Chair

Nick Surace, Membership Chair

Dennis Palmer, Foundation Chair

Maria LeBlanc, Youth Services Chair

Susanna Philippousis, International Chair

Preston Centuolo, Community Awareness Chair

_________________________________________________

Contact Bonnie at: bll@GreenblattLaube.com or 856-691-0424

The club now accepts Zelle as a form of payment!

Search: bll@GreenblattLaube.com

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1 Log in to your bank's mobile app or online banking: to access Zelle.

2 Navigate to the Zelle section: by looking for options like "Send Money with Zelle" or "Pay & Transfer".

3 Select a recipient: from your contacts or by entering the recipient's email address.

4 Enter the amount: you wish to send and add an optional note if desired.

5 Review: the transaction details to ensure they are correct.

6 Tap "Send": to complete the payment.

If your bank isn't a partner, you can still use Zelle by downloading the standalone Zelle app, but you'll need a U.S.-based bank account, a U.S. mobile number, an email address, and a valid U.S.-based debit card.

__________________________________________________