Posted on by Mike Sottak

3/17: Schedule Update and Volunteer Opportunities

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March 17, 2020:

As you are making the numerous adjustments in your work and family life to adhere to the numerous federal, state and local mandates, we wanted to share the decision made at an emergency Rotary Board Conference Call this afternoon. Due to the City Ordinance passed by the City of Charleston limiting meetings of 50 or more people, we have had to make the decision to cancel in-person Rotary meetings for the upcoming Rotary Meetings until April 24. However, there are many ways you can help our community in the time need. Please see the article below for some opportunities to provide service.

We have agreed to this schedule:

3/24 – CANCEL (Reschedule Mayor Will Haynie for 2020/2021)

3/31 – CANCEL (Reschedule Catherine Brack for 2020/2021)

4/7 – NO MEETING SCHEDULED (Easter Week)

4/14 – SOCIAL CANCELLED (RiverDogs season suspended)

4/18 – Beach Cleanup on Isle of Palms is still on, as long as no future municipal, state or federal law prohibits it. This is being coordinated by Rotarian Stavros Triantafyllidis, and more info to follow...


As of now, we plan to RESUME REGULAR MEETINGS scheduled for April 21 & April 28. We will regroup with the Board by conference call on April 7 to discuss these dates as well as the month of May and beyond, depending on current status of the containment of the Coronavirus at that time.

We will be continuing communications during the sabbatical, and will continue to publish the Keyway and continue the membership applications currently in process. We also want you to make us aware of any care that any of our Rotarians and their families might need during these trying times. President Sandy, Carroll and all Board members are available to help with any questions you may have.

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY

March 24, 2020 | Issue 4959 | President: Sandy Morckel

COMING EVENTS
    • March 24 – No Meeting
    • March 31 – No Meeting
    • April 7 – No Meeting (Easter Week)
    • April 14 – No Meeting
    • April 18 – Beach Sweep
    • April 21 – Meeting – TBD
    • April 28 – Meeting – Nigel Redden, Spoleto
NEWS BRIEFS

Rotary Club of Charleston History Moment

At each meeting, President Sandy plans to share some of the snippets of our club’s amazing 100 year history and our impact on Charleston and around the world. It will be a fun trip down memory lane and will also be shared in the Keyway.

The 80’s (the Forty years ago decade)(1986-1989)

The Club raised $14,000 to help cover the costs for one of our Gift of Life programs which gave two heart operations to two Korean sisters at the Medical Hospital. An interesting program was by Robert Dickerson, of Robert’s Restaurant, who enchanted us with song and food and tales of food.  One highlight of 1986 was the entrance of women into our Club. One of the first of six female members was Ruth Heffron, director of the Trident Foundation. We planned to purchase a Rotary Fountain to be the focal focus point of the revitalized Wraggsborough Square. The biggest event of 1989 for us and for Charleston occurred on 21 September. (Guess ???)..Hugo..!!! Rotary Clubs from all over the country responded. One Rotary Club, the Aiken Rotary Club, sent two trailer truck loads—one filled with ice and one filled with water.

 

Rotary Committees

We encourage Rotary Committees needing to move forward on business to continue to meet but through conference call/Zoom. Approval of RCCF Grants and International Grants will take place through Conference Calls/Zoom Meetings (to be scheduled) and will be approved at a Board Meeting via Conference Call to be held following their recommendations so that grants can be approved by the end of April.

 

Rotary Exchange Student

Please keep our Rotary Exchange Inbound Student (Tobias – from Switzerland) and Rotary Exchange Outbound Student (Eleanor Pope – in Sweden) in your prayers as they deal with being apart from families during these uncertain times. Both are staying put with their host families. Any support you can give Tobias to help their host family Mike & Toni Sottak would be appreciated.

 

January Dues Past Due

January –June Rotary dues are now PAST DUE. One of the responsibilities of all members is paying the semi-annual dues.  We are not able to hold meetings, etc. when dues are not being paid on time. Past due notices were distributed via email this week to all members still owing January dues. If you received a notice, please make payment as soon as possible or if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Carroll. 

 

50/50 Raffle 

The 50/50 Raffle continues at our next weekly meeting.  Members will have a 1 in 8 chance to win. The pot will start at $224. Bring your cash and let’s grow the pot. You do need to be present to win. Tickets are available at meetings – 1 for $5 or 3 for $10. 

 

Ways to Volunteer & Help the Community

For the time being, we wanted to open up opportunities for Rotarians to be of service during this time of uncertainty when so many of our vulnerable populations are forced to be confined to their homes. We have connected with our long-time partner, Charleston Area Senior Center to help them fulfill new volunteer roles that are needed to help serve low-income elderly through delivery of meals to their homes through Meals on Wheels. There are opportunities to help with Meal Prep @ 7:30 am – 8:30 am or drivers for Meals on Wheels routes @8:30 am – 10:30 am, plus Emergency Food Pantry Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm. 

We ask that you use discretion in volunteering – if you have been sick, or have had exposure to anyone who might have been exposed to Coronavirus, we ask that you err on the side of caution. Donna Cook at Charleston Area Senior Center said they are taking every precaution to protect both the recipients and the volunteers, using safety and hygiene procedures. They are also asking for donations of nonperishable food items (soup, canned vegetables, tuna, peanut butter, Ensure, etc.) 

You can sign up directly for those volunteer opportunities for the days of your choosing by going to https://signup.com/go/irYdDWt  

Please let us know if you know of other opportunities to be of service to our own Rotarians who may need help during this time, or others as we move through the uncharted territory over the next few weeks. We can easily use the Signup.com app to add more opportunities to serve.

For those of you on Facebook, there is a Facebook Group called Charleston COVID Community Response who are identifying needs in the community and linking them with opportunities for service and response. You can find the link to register to be of help by going here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScz-pTsoKtEmxYKELh13gh0RtcYwXc0TFhvXch1o6jSG6MszA/viewform

 

Photo Gallery from Rotary 100th Anniversary Gala

We’ve got two great photo galleries up on Facebook to see and share the pictures from our fantastic evening.

Check out this Photo Gallery on our Facebook page for a ton of great photos from the event.

And this one from our Photo Booth set-up that was a lot to fun for all our members and guests.

 

Get Your Rotary 100 Anniversary Apparel

Rotary 100th Anniversary Commemorative gear is now on sale! Don Oswalt and our PR Team showcased a golf shirt and tee-shirt in varying colors and sizes, along with a baseball cap, all with our 100th anniversary logo. We encourage every Rotarian to purchase one or more of the special merchandise and wear it proudly at every Rotary function or volunteer activity in which we participate. Golf shirts will be available for $45, tee-shirts for $20 and hats for $20.  You can purchase these items online here or at the Rotary Meetings over the next 2 weeks. We will place the group order for all items at the beginning of February.

 

District 7770 All Club Conference Cancelled


Message from District Governor Johnny Moore:

If you have been keeping up with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation, you are aware of the many steps being taken to limit its spread. We have been closely monitoring events and information as they become available. One of the most recent recommendations is “social distancing” in an effort to reduce or avoid the spread of infection. We also understand that the most at-risk population is the age group of 60+ and those with other health concerns. Of course, in Rotary, we have a high percentage of members in that 60+ group.

With all these considerations in mind, with concern for the health and welfare of our members and with input from members of the District Executive Committee, I have made the decision to cancel All Club Conference 2020. For several weeks I have felt the burden of this impending decision. However, when the time came to act, I found the decision to be much less difficult than I had expected. And, I firmly believe this is the right thing to do.

We will find another way to celebrate our success. I appreciate your understanding and support of this decision and look forward to seeing you again in the future.

So, what if you have registered for the conference, have hotel reservations or have contributed to the meal packing event? Here is what you can do:

  1. For your registration fees there are two options. First, you can request a refund of your registration fees by sending the request to [email protected]. Refunds will be processed once per week and paid by check. The second option is to notify us, again at [email protected], that you would like to donate those fees to PolioPlus. In this option you will receive Foundation credit for your PolioPlus contribution, and your donation will be matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation to help end this terrible disease.
  2. If you reserved your room at the Hilton Columbia Center using our room block code, then your room will be cancelled; and no action is required on your part. If you are in doubt, please call the hotel directly at 803-744-7800. There will be no cancellation penalty. If you reserved without using the room block code, then you MUST call the number above to cancel your reservation.
  3. If you donated to the Rise Against Hunger meal packing event there are a couple of options here, as well. First, depending on where you made the contribution, you can allow your donation to remain with Rise Against Hunger for a future District 7770 meal packing event (which we hope to have as soon as possible); or it can remain with the District, again to support a future meal packing event. The second option would be to request a refund. For a refund of donations made to the District Treasurer, please email the request to [email protected]. For a refund of donations made to Rise Against Hunger, please let us know by emailing me at [email protected]. I will work out the details of the refund procedure with them.

Thank you for all you have done to make this a great year for District 7770. You’ve probably heard me say that the District is only a collection of the clubs that make it up. Therefore, the District is only as good as the clubs that make it up. At the same time, each clubs is only as good as the Rotarians that make it up. And, I promise you, we are a GREAT District because of the GREAT Clubs made up of GREAT Rotarians!

Thank you for your understanding and support!

Johnny Moore
District 7770
District Governor 2019-2020

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encourage to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too!  We also need members to send us picture of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc.  We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be send to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].

 

Member News

Best wishes for all of us to stay safe and continue to stay connected as we help those who are most vulnerable in our community.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to fellow Rotarians if we can help you in any way in the days and weeks to come!

Proposed New Members

The following membership candidates have submitted an application and signed letter of agreement to the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston:

Karla Coombs – sponsor:  Heidi Finniff; classification: 

 Megan Fink – sponsor:  Skip Fink; classification:  Non-Profit Marketing 

Leslie “Les” Perkins – sponsor:  Digit Matheny; classification: Engineering/IT

In the event you know Karla, please tell a member of the Board how she will serve the ideas of Rotary.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Leah Donaldson

      • JOINED: March 2020
      • SPONSOR: Past President Alissa Lietzow
      • MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT:  Red Badge Member; Would like to be involved with Community Service & Education Committees
      • CLASSIFICATION: Non-Profit Executive
      • PROFESSION: Director of Client Services, Operation Home
      • SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF:  I love reading books – if I wasn’t working in a non-profit for housing, I would be a Librarian! 

Birthdays

    • 3/27 – Kelsey Willey
    • 3/28 – Sam Steinburg

By the numbers

    • Attendance on  March 17, 2020:  no meeting
    • Not in attendance: No meeting
    • Out of Town Make-ups: None
WELLNESS TIP

Clean your hands often

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

AREA CLUB MEETINGS

Mondays

  • Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
  • North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
  • Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

  • East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
  • Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
  • Goose Creek: 12:45  m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Wednesdays

  • Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
  • St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
  • Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
  • Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville

Thursdays

  • North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
  • Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
  • St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

  • We’re on Facebook.  Take a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
  • We’re on Twitter.  You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
  • We’re on Instagram.  You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.
ABOUT THE KEYWAY 

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

  • President: Sandy Morckel
  • Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
  • Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
  • Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029 ,Charleston, SC 29413-1029
  • Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved