The Rotary Times

July 22nd Meeting Recap

Our July 22nd meeting provided so much interesting information! Our guests included Lee Hollingsworth from the Roswell Rotary Club and Sara Spring Weston and Sandy Holiday from North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC). Sandy advised that there has been a 70% increase in food pantry need since last year. To serve this increased need, NFCC is opening a satellite pantry on Holcomb Bridge Road. Over 1000 families registered a need for school supply-filled backpacks this year (500 high school, 300 middle school, 300 elementary).

Our member Suzanne Swain "graduated" from her red badge to a white badge. Suzanne stated that she really appreciates the warm and welcoming atmosphere of our club as well as how we follow the Four Way Test.  We are happy to have you in the club, Suzanne!

Immediate Past President Rick Clark presented William Bennett with a much deserved recognition for all the support he provided in the area of club administration last year. Thank you for your service, William!

This week, it was member Mark Hutchins' turn with the Member Mic. Mark and his wife Shirley are from Michigan and have two sons and two granddaughters who live in Michigan. Mark attended Michigan State University and has spent the bulk of his career in banking and mortgages. Prior to joining our Rotary club (at the invitation of Cliff Wilcox), Mark was a member of the Lions Club. Mark serves as a mentor and is training to be a coach with the regional Christian Businessman's Connection. When asked to provide our membership with some 'News we can use', Mark said "go ahead and take on the mortgage and don't waste your time waiting for things to change."  Thank you for sharing a little bit about yourself, Mark.

Our guest speaker was Tom Burgess, owner of Christian Brothers Automotive (one in Alpharetta and one in Cumming) and Airforce Veteran. Tom's topic centered around the unique challenges of fighting a war in the desert (Desert Storm) and the incredible Airforce plane that was critical to the US success in Desert Storm, the E-8 Joint Star. This aircraft was equipped with amazing communication and navigation technologies that served to protect American soldiers on the ground by ensuring protected delivery of critical weaponry resources during Desert Storm. Tom is a Rotarian in Forsyth County and embraces his commitment to serve by providing repaired donated cars to help North Fulton residents in need. He partners with numerous local charities in North Fulton and even does a monthly free oil change for single mothers in need. To date, Christian Brothers has donated 37 cars to families in need over the last two years. 

After our meeting concluded many members remained to help organize and compile school supplies and backpacks to support North Fulton Community Charities. Many thanks to our Service Project Chair, Amie Blanton, for leading the charge on this important project! 

Special thanks to member Carolynn DeSandre for taking the notes for this meeting recap! 

Community Service Upcoming Project

Our next service project will be one that honors local nurses for all they do to support those in our North Fulton community. We will focus on Wellstar North Fulton and Emory Johns Creek nurses, as these two locations have both been very supportive of our CPR/AED training efforts. 

Members will assemble a number of food trays on the afternoon of Monday, August 18th at 4:00 pm (at the Gelber home) and the trays will be delivered to each hospital on Tuesday, August 19th at 11:00 am. We'd love to have members show up in a North Fulton Rotary shirt for a photo op. Steve Cory has arranged to have the food delivery covered by Appen Media at the Wellstar North Fulton location.  Specific meeting location at each hospital will be provided before August 19th.  

CPR/AED Training Initiative Update

We are excited to report that we have trained 876 citizens as of last Wednesday so we are well on our way to 1000! In addition, we know have 20 AEDs distributed in our community. We're especially grateful for all the support we've been receiving from fellow Rotarians, the First Responders of North Fulton and all the citizens who have participated in our training classes. In addition to Marc Gelber and Steve Cory, Jeff Esterkes and Andy West have also become certified CPR providers. Today, with the capabilities of our own team and our First Responder partners, we can meet almost any request for a class. And the classes keep coming! We're scheduling classes for September and beyond; and our classes are starting to fill up very quickly. The appetite for our training is strong!

Several of our training classes have been attended by Sudden Cardiac Arrest survivors - our own Richard Matherly included - and their stories of survival are the inspiration behind our efforts. It's truly remarkable that you could literally save someone's life with CPR, an AED and knowing how to help someone who is choking. If you haven't had a chance to join a class, we would love to see you there. 

Membership

Membership Spark: Extend the Invitation 

Rotary grows one conversation at a time. Each visitor we invite is a chance to share our purpose, celebrate our fellowship, and show how service transforms lives. Think about someone in your circle -- professional, neighbor, friend -- who might find meaning in what we do. A simple invitation can open the door to lifelong connections and community impact.