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WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
Rotary Onlinehttps://dunwoodyrotary.org
ROTARY CLUB OF |
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| President | Rick Otness |
| President-Elect | Rick Woods |
| Secretary | Mike Parks |
| Treasurer | Lawrence Domenico |
Speaker this week:
Douglas Ellis, Jr.
Doug Ellis is a Director of Angel Flight Soars- Georgia. Angel Flight is a non-profit organization that coordinates free air transportation for people that have a medical need than can’t be filled in their local area. Their services are available throughout Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Angel Flight Soars actively seeks both new patients to serve and experienced pilots to fulfill missions.
Fund Raising versus spending
There are two related issues that are being conflated. One is fund raising and the other is spending funds. I have had many conversations with members, and these related but separate issues are being confused.
Raising funds: Simply put, the less money we raise, the less money there will be to spend. We have for the past 8 years had two major fund raisers, the Governors Ball and Run Dunwoody. For reasons that Rick Woods will share at this week's meeting, a decision was made that Run Dunwoody is no longer a viable fund raiser. With that realization it became essential to find a new fund raising event.
Fortunately Hoshi Daruwalla had accepted the responsibility to find an additional fund raising activity before it became apparent that we would no longer have Run Dunwoody as a fund raiser. Throughout this past year he has spoken to Club members, evaluated alternatives, and has made recommendations to the Board.
Spending funds: How we spend funds depends on having the funds to spend. If we don't spend funds wisely, the ability to raise additional funds will ultimately suffer. In the recent small group discussions, there was a lot of concern expressed that the Club membership wants to be consulted before decisions are made, not after a decision has been made. We are looking for ways to make that a reality, but do not yet have sufficient answers to that concern. We are aware that feeling exists and are searching for ways to make that a reality in a volunteer organization.
The decision facing the Club members at this point is whether to embrace a BBQ as a viable and wanted fund raiser, or to say that we should only have one fund raiser during Rick Wood's year (2018-2019), because we believe that we can find an event that will be better embraced/supported by the Club members than a BBQ.
To determine that, we will have two meetings over the next three weeks to allow members that are interested to come together and express their fears and hopes surrounding fund raising by the Rotary Club of Dunwoody. We are tentatively planning to hold one session at 7 PM on Wednesday (April 11th) at the Westin, with a second session (for those unable to make the first session) on Saturday (April 14th) at 7 AM at J Christopher's.
If you are dissatisfied with how we as a Club are spending money, please do not let that feeling prevent you and the Club from finding and embracing a viable second source of funding.
USO Service Project
Volunteers needed for USO day on April 13, 2018 at the Atlanta airport. The Rotary Club of Dunwoody will support our troops with food and hardy welcomes from 9 AM until 3 PM for our semiannual USO Day. Volunteers are needed for three hour shifts. The first shift is 9 AM to noon and the second is noon to 3 PM. We welcome soldiers, give them directions and refreshments. Homemade cookies or cupcakes are needed. Contact Roy Wise to volunteer.
Search for new meeting venue
In July of 2017 the Westin increased the cost of our Friday meetings by 15%. Since the Club's Friday meetings accounts for ~60 % of the Club's operating budget, we began a lengthy and continuing discussion at the Board level on what we should do. The current member dues are not sufficient to cover that increase in cost. The Board decided to cover the increase in meeting costs for FY 2018 by drawing down the surplus that the club has accumulated over the past 10 years, while we examined alternatives.
The following alternatives were considered
1.Raise dues to cover the increased cost of Friday meetings
2.Cut back on other operating expenses
3.Seek out alternative venues
In August & September a Finance Committee lead by President Nominee Cathie Brumfield was formed to look at ways to cut the operating budget. The committee reported back to the Board, but the Board was reluctant to cut other operating expenses enough to cover the increased cost of meeting at the Westin.
In December a Venue Committee lead by Ardy Bastien (Administration Director) was formed to look at alternative venues. The Venue Committee has been hard at work, and will give its recommendations to the Board at the April 17th Board meeting. Their recommendations will be announced at the 04/20/18 club meeting. They have approached at least 9 other venues. They have evaluated those potential venues and the plan is to schedule a weekly meeting at each of top 3 contenders during the month of May. Once the membership has experienced each of those venues, we will ask the membership to vote on which of the venues are acceptable from the perspective of each member. Using that information, the Board will then make a decision on where we will be meeting in the future.
The request for quote (RFQ) that was sent to each of the interested locations can be viewed by clicking on this link
Text Alerts??
Most members have liked the text alerts that remind you of a change in meeting locations, cancellation of meetings due to weather, or to alert/remind members of a Club event. We are still learning what works best for most of our members.
If for some reason you no longer wish to receive Club related alerts via text, please send an email to otness_r@mindspring.com and your phone number will be removed from the text program.
Rotarians socialize on 5th Thursday
Approximately 15 Rotarians( plus friends and spouses) gathered together for a Happy Hour on 03/29/18 at the Dunwoody Tavern from 5:30 to 6:30. It was a great time to just relax and get to better know some of your fellow Rotarians. Watch the Bulletin for the time and location of the next 5th Thursday.
2018 DISTRICT 6900 CONFERENCE
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, Miramar Beach, Florida
FROM THE DESK OF THE NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Send your Newsletter submission to:
Our Club's Weekly Newsletter typically consists of:
·Speaker bio
·New Member Name(s)
·Featured article(s) (regarding events, service projects, or on-going topics general club administrative items, etc..).
·Foundation initiatives or other topics of interest to Members and with value for our Club archives.
·Announcements (seeking volunteers, advertising service projects, etc.)
·For Your Calendar (Club and other activities we encourage members and/or their spouses to attend, including Family of Rotary events
·Member News (birthdays, anniversaries, accomplishments, Caring Hands)
Please keep in mind key components to include with your submission:
·Title of your article
·Description of the activity
·Dates, Time, Location, deadline, etc... (especially for upcoming events)
·Key Points of Contact Information and/or a link to reference website for details
·Names and/or headcount of Rotarians (and others) participating,
·The reaction of those benefiting and the numbers of those benefiting.
·Picture(s)
Please also tell me the number of weeks would you like the article published.
Finally, the deadline for articles to run in the current week are Mondays by 5 p.m.
If you have any questions feel free to ask me!
Thank you!
Tania López
rotary_tls@outlook.com