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

Club Announcements
Miss Our Meeting?: If you missed our weekly meeting or would like to go back and watch it again, Click Here.

 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 are 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., May 6: Chelsea Peterson, Knight Cancer Institute

Youth Citizen Of The Month…Part 2: We had the honor of presenting the second of our Rotary Youth Citizens of the Month for April, Emma Duyck of Neil Armstrong Middle School! We were joined in our Zoom meeting by Emma and her parents. Click Here To Read About Emma

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.

 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 first delivery of 20 meals went out on Thursday to medical first responders at Tuality Community Hospital and were purchased from Diversity Café in Forest Grove. Thank you, Howard, for coordinating this effort!

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. For more information, please contact Howard.

DacDB Training: Are you interested in learning more about the club and district’s database program, DacDB? Online trainings are being held every Tuesday. President Tim will be emailing out information to the club about each week’s training session. All Rotarians are invited to participate.

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. She had decided to delay her exchange for one year and go to Denmark for the 2021-22 academic year. 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 21 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 need 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 can donate any of the above items, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to 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 on 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

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: The deadline for applications for the 2020 Rotary Club of Forest Grove Scholarship Program was on Thursday, April 30. The Scholarship Committee will be meeting via Zoom over the next few weeks to determine this year’s recipients. Thank you to the committee, chaired by Sharon Olmstead, for doing this important work on behalf of the club!

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. The district is planning to conduct an awards banquet at a time to be determined once stay at home orders have been lifted.

RYLA Canceled: With the uncertainty of when stay at home orders will be lifted, the difficult decision was made to cancel the District 5100 RYLA program for 2020. The program will be back stronger than ever in 2021. Click Here For More Details

Rotary International Announcements
Virtual Rotary Convention 2020: Mark your calendars for 20-26 June for an exciting opportunity to gather online with the family of Rotary for our first online convention.

Now More Than Ever, Rotary Connects the World: The 2020 Rotary Virtual Convention will join you with Rotary participants around the world during a time of unprecedented challenges.

Together, we’ll still experience the spirit of Rotary, be inspired by innovation, celebrate our resilience, and explore how clubs are addressing COVID-19. Experience Rotary in action during our Flag Ceremony, witness the power of connection during our general sessions, learn new ways to engage with Rotary during our breakout sessions, find inspiration from our global speakers, and much more.

We have never needed Rotary — and we have never needed each other — more than we do now. We hope to see you online, because Now More Than Ever, Rotary Connects the World.

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: Guatemala Literacy Project
Our program last week was a pre-recorded program presented by Joe Berninger of the Ohio Pathways Rotary Club on the Guatemala Service Project. This is an ongoing international service project that has sustained since 1996. At the present time, over 600 Rotary Clubs from 80 different districts are involved with the program.

The Guatemala Literacy Project’s goal is to raise the level of literacy in the country by instilling three basic competencies: reading, technical skills and graduation.

Why Guatemala? Four out of five people in the country live in poverty. The majority of children in Guatemala drop out of school by the sixth grade. The project helps to give children opportunities to reach at least the middle class and set themselves up for success. When the project started in 1996, two out of every three people in rural areas could not read or write. Today that ratio is one out of three.

The Guatemala Literacy Project currently has 207 textbook programs in schools, 94 literacy projects, 53 computer centers and has 753 kids on school scholarship.

Some of the major projects of the Guatemala Literacy Project…
Spark Reading Project: The program trains teachers for two years and provides a robust library of books (150) to engage students in reading. Over 800 teachers have been trained in this program. This force will educate 2.5 million children through their careers.

Textbooks: 90 percent of rural students do not have access to textbooks. This project provides 4 textbooks per grade level in four core subjects. Rotarians do the distribution of the books. By doing this, teachers get 25 percent of their time back, providing critical time for additional instruction. 200 community schools in this program.

Computers: Began in 2001. 60 percent of mid-level jobs in Guatemala require computer skills. Many rural schools do not have access to computers or technology. 95 percent active in the program find employment of further education.

Sustainability: Once programs are set up, they are 100 percent sustainable forever. The cost of a textbook is $5. Principals rent books to students for $1 per year. Over five years, the rent pays for replacing books in the cycle.

Rise Scholarship Program: Only 1 out of 10 kids in rural areas graduate from high school. Students who can attain a high school diploma will be out of poverty for the rest of their lives. A third of reason kids are out of school is economics. The program provides job interview skills, tours of businesses, life skills (leadership, problem-solving) and community service opportunities.

To learn more about the project and to find ways to get involved, visit guatelmalaliteracy.org. To view the full presentation sent to our club, Click Here.

Club Calendar
Wed., May 6: Club Weekly Meeting, Noon, via Zoom
Program: Chelsea Peterson, Knight Cancer Institute
Wed., May 13: Club Weekly Meeting, Noon, via Zoom
Program TBA
Wed., May 20: Club Weekly Meeting, Noon, via Zoom
Program TBA
Thurs., May 21: Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom