If you didn’t make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here’s what you missed…

Club Announcements
Online Meetings Continue: We will continue to meet virtually using the Zoom Meeting platform for the foreseeable future. Our meetings will begin at our normal meeting time, Noon on Wednesday. All Rotarians are welcome and participating will count towards meeting attendance. Here is the login details (will be the same for all of our online meetings moving forward)…

Direct Link: https://zoom.us/j/183084884
Meeting ID: 183 084 884

To join by phone, dial 669-900-6833 or 346-248-7799 and enter the meeting ID number when prompted.

Zoom App Downloads
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For Android
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For iPhone
Download Zoom Meeting App For Desktop

Upcoming Programs
Wed., Apr. 29: Guatemala Literacy Project
Wed., May 6: Chelsea Peterson, Knight Cancer Institute

Rotary Phone Tree: We Care Committee has started a Rotary Phone Tree that will be utilized once per week. The goal of the phone tree is to reach out and check on every member of the club to make sure they are doing all right and to provide updates on club announcements and activities (Hint: You have a great list to draw from here). The plan is for the tree to be activated every Tuesday. The idea is that for each person to call the next one on the list. The last person on the list should call the team captain to make sure the list is complete. For more information or questions, or if your information on the Phone Tree is not correct, contact Paul Waterstreet.

Garden Work Party: Our first McDougall Garden work party is scheduled for next Saturday, May 2. We will be scheduling two-hour shifts of six to eight people in order to maintain social distancing while planting. Shifts will start at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. If you are interested in signing up for a shift, please email Lucas Welliver. He will send out a complete work schedule next week.

Donations For Meals For First Responders: Howard Sullivan is coordinating an effort for our club to donate meals to first responders who are continuing to work for our community during the CoVID-19 outbreak. The Community Service Committee will be working with Howard to track donations to make this effort possible. Other club members are looking into a Square page so members can make donations via credit card. Meals will be delivered on the last Thursday of each month. The first meals will be delivered to medical personnel at Tuality Community Hospital in Hillsboro. For more information, please contact Howard Sullivan.

Basketball Photos: If you are still in possession of one of the Forest Grove High School senior basketball photos, please return those to Jeff Hoyt at Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt funeral home. He will coordinate to make sure those photos get to the families of those athletes.

Youth Exchange Update: Our inbound Youth Exchange student, Gabriella Cuadra, was supposed to return home to Chile on April 14. We have since learned that flights to Chile have been canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Gabriella continues to live with the Fischer family and will soon be starting school with an online school in Chile shortly. She hopes to return home in May.

Our 2020-21 outboard student, Melanie Schneider, has had her exchange to Denmark canceled. All, however, is not lost. She has been offered the chance to take an exchange in one of two other countries this coming academic year or take her exchange to Denmark in 2021-22. We will keep the club apprised of any updates. Read More On How District 5100 Is Handling Youth Exchange During Pandemic

Thirsty Thursday: The club’s next Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting is scheduled to take place on Zoom on Thursday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Even with schools closed, the need for resources at the Forest Grove High School Community Food Pantry continues. The pantry continues to be in need of the following items to serve the community that is depending on it…

Food: Pasta, Canned Sauces, Tortillas, Rice, Beans, Canned Fruit, Jelly, Peanut Butter, Boxed Milk, Canned Vegetables, Bread, Applesauce, Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Macaroni & Cheese, Tuna, Crackers, Maseca and Vegetable Oil.

Hygiene Items: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Tampons/Pads, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Deodorant, Hair Brushes, Toilet Paper.

If you are able to donate any of the above items, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Concours d’Elegance Canceled: With the uncertainly on the COVID-19 situation, the Rotary Board of Directors, at the unanimous recommendation of the Concours Steering Committee, has canceled the 2020 Concours d’Elegance, scheduled for Sunday, July 19. The committee will refocus its efforts for the 2021 show. The club board will be talking in the coming weeks to find avenues that we can fundraise for our scholarship fund with the absence of our top fundraising event of the year. Click Here For The Complete Announcement From The Concours Committee

Steak Feed Update: It is unlikely that the Steak Feed will be able to take place as scheduled on Friday, June 12. The club will continue to look at the possibility of postponing this event to a date later in the summer or fall.

Update On Jill Verboort: We continue to extend prayers and best wishes to Rotarian Jill Verboort, who continues to recover from COVID-19. Jill recently finished two weeks of self-isolation while battling the virus and, thankfully, is well on the road to recovery. Jill has been blogging about her battle for COVID-19 and invites Rotarians to check it out at https://spreadingsunshineblog.com/.

Quarterly Dues: You should have received by now your quarterly dues statement from the club. Please note that this statement will not include any prepaid meals expenses. This reflects the decision of the board in March to put all members on a “pay as you go” status for this quarter since we are currently unable to meet in person.

We understand that this is a challenging time for all of us and that some of our members are affected more significantly than others. If you are able, please pay your dues invoice as soon as possible so that we can continue to meet our RI and District obligations. If you believe that your situation will make it hard or impossible to make a payment, please contact President Tim Pearson. The club will consider and work with those hardships on a case-by-case basis.

Helping The Forest Grove School Community: At the request of Rotarian and Forest Grove School District Superintendent Dave Parker, our Youth Funding Committee donated $3,000 to the school district to help in making supplemental learning items available to students as supplemental and distance learning. In addition, our committees have banded together for a $2,000 donation to the Banks Community Food Bank to help with the purchase of food from the Oregon Food Bank.

Rotary Scholarships: With the COVID-19 outbreak, our scholarship committee has extended the application deadline for the Rotary Club of Forest Grove Scholarship program to Thursday, April 30. The following changes have also been put in effect to help make it easier for applicants during this time…

• Applications will be accepted via email. All required documents must be part of the email.
• If a student is unable to obtain an official transcript, a copy of their most recent transcript or grades report will be accepted.

The program is open to graduating seniors who live in the Forest Grove, Gaston and Banks school district attendance areas. The program is funded through the proceeds our club receives by putting on the annual Concours d’Elegance. Seniors who wish to apply can download the application from the Rotary Club of Forest Grove Website. Applications are due by Thurs., April 30.

Take Out Locally!: There are many local restaurants and coffee shops that are continuing to operate for take-out during the stay-at-home order. Those local businesses are seeing a significant drop in business and could use our support. Could you commit to patronizing one of these eateries at least once per week to help stimulate the local economy? Click Here For A List Of Places That Are Opened For Takeout, courtesy of Court Carrier.

Dental Emergencies?: With the COVID-19 outbreak, most dentists in Oregon have been forced to effectively close until at least June 15. Rotarian Vaughn Tidwell has been able to upgrade his office to medical-grade and is offering to take care of dental emergencies for Rotarians and their immediate families free of charge. If you are in need of this service, please contact Vaughn at 503-816-9990.

District Announcements
District 5100 Conference: Due to gathering restrictions with the COVID-19 outbreak, the District 5100 Conference has been canceled.

Disaster Response Fund: Rotary International has a Disaster Response Fund that is drawn from to help clubs provide disaster recovery and support rebuilding efforts. This includes efforts related to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Contributions are combined into one fund and made available through Rotary Disaster Response Grants. To make a donation to the program, Click Here.

Last Week’s Program: Allison Brown, Washington County District Attorney’s Office
In our first program in the Zoom meeting format, the club was joined by Washington County deputy district attorney Allison Brown. Brown has been a member of Washington County DA’s office since 2005. After an overview of the operations of the DA’s office, she presented to the club on the office’s Vulnerable Adult & Elder Abuse Team.

The team is comprised of five deputy district attorneys with specialized skill, training and knowledge in elder abuse. The team also includes victims advocates and a multi-disciplinary team that works together to protect elders and adults with disabilities.

Sixty-five percent of elder and vulnerable adult abuse occurs at home with the majority of those cases involving individuals close to the victim, such as families and caregivers. Thirty-four percent of the perpetrators are at care facilities.

The top scams that target seniors right now include Social Security imposter scams, tech support scams, lottery or sweepstakes scams, romance scams and grandparent scams.

Some of the common warning signs for elder abuse scams include the sudden presence of strangers, people seeking close relationships or unusual contact, unpaid bills, requests for access to finances or power of attorney forms, isolation, sudden changes in behavior (such as becoming withdrawn or being con-communicative or non-responsive), elders not being permitted to speak for themselves without others present or unexplained or suspicious injuries. Trust your gut and contact police if you think something is happening.

 Club Calendar
Wed., April 29: Club Weekly Meeting, Noon, via Zoom
Program: Guatemala Literacy Project
Sat., May 2: McDougall Garden Work Party – Contact Lucas Welliver to sign up for work time.
Wed., May 6: Club Weekly Meeting, Noon, via Zoom
Program: Chelsea Peterson, Knight Cancer Institute