Today's Events:

President Mike Mills presiding

We welcome all of our visitors:

* * * A N N O U N C E M E N T S  * * *

President Mike:

~ thanked PDG Roy Gonas for jumping in and lending a hand at the Sergeant-at-Arms table.

~reported that the Dictionary and Atlas project is doing will under the direction of Ellen Book and Jennifer Dewsnap,

~received notification of a Rotary medical mission to Kenya initiated by three Clubs in the Atlanta area and one in Pennsylvania. Both medical and non-medical volunteers are needed and if you volunteer, anticipate spending $3,000 for round-trip air fare. For more information, contact President Mike.

~also mentioned some sad news, Ann Fisher’s sister-in-law passed away and Pansy Graham’s father is seriously ill. President Mike asked that we keep these Rotarian’s in our thoughts.

Cathy Miller – RI Foundation:

Reminded the membership that there was still $250 available in matching funds for your contribution to The Rotary Foundation.

PDG Roy Gonas:

Presented the Club with banners from the RC of Dublin and the RC of Limerick, Ireland. He and Roz visited past member Clare Mckenry who is doing well with her law practice and her new marriage.

Last night’s

RCSM Club Board Meeting & RCSM Foundation Board Meeting

Foundation Board elections were also held and President Mike said if you weren’t at the meeting, you may have been elected in absentia. Congratulations to all those who were elected!

Foundation Board for 2008-2009

Bill Enright, President

Pansy Graham, President-Elect

Doreen Reitnauer, Secretary

Don Streaker, Treasurer

Michael Mills, Vice President

Appointed Board Members: Fabio Fernandez, Ellen Book, Diana Phillips, and Linda
Kaplan

President Mike reported on last night’s Foundation Board Meeting, which approved a large contribution to Take Stock in Children (TSC). TSC deals with at risk children and encourages them to stay in school and rewards them with a college scholarship to go to college when they graduate from High School.  

The club is funding one seventh grade child chosen from South Miami Middle School to be  sponsored to four years of college tuition + all fees and the $50 application fee.   Cost to the club:  approximately $7,000 with additional funding required being matched by Take Stock in Children.

In addition to the TSC program, the Foundation addressed an immigrant children program and the Haiti Water Project.

http://rotary2008.com/la2008hoc/

SOUTH MIAMI ROTARY ARTS FESTIVAL

Saturday & Sunday, February 21 – 22, 2009

www.southmiamiartfest.com  (official site)

 www.myspace.com/southmiamiartfest (unofficial site)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Miami_Rotary_Art_Festival (wiki encyclopedia article)

$$$ PRINTER CARTRIDGES FUNDRAISER $$$

Our club goal is 100% Attendance!

If you miss a meeting, it can be made-up within 2 weeks, before or after, of the missed meeting date.

For online make-ups:

http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/pdfs/eclub_list.pdf

For make-ups anywhere around the world when traveling internationally: http://rotary.org/support/clubs/index.html

2007-08 RCSM OFFICERS:

President:  Michael Mills
millsmike@aol.com

President Elect:  Bill Enright

bill@handsonmiami.org

Vice President: Linda Kaplan

lk@lindakaplan.com

Secretary:  Doreen Reitnauer

dhiker217@aol.com

Treasurer: David Jacobs

david@jnccpas.com

Sergeant at Arms:  Hampton Booker

Hg262@bellsouth.net

To send an E-mail to the Rotary Club of South Miami’s Board of Directors, board@southmiamirotary.org

South Miami Rotary Club:
www.southmiamirotary.org

Rotary District 6990:

www.rotary6990.org

World Organization:
www.rotary.org

Mission Statement

The mission of Rotary International, a worldwide association of Rotary clubs, is to provide service to others, to promote high ethical standards, and to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

THE 4-WAY TEST OF THE THINGS WE THINK, SAY OR DO:   

Benefits of Being A Rotarian (Membership)
Rotary membership provides the opportunity to:

¨       Become connected to your community.

¨       Work with others in addressing community needs.

¨       Interact with other professionals in your community;
assist with RI's international humanitarian service efforts.

¨       Establish contacts with an international network of professionals.

¨       Develop leadership skills.  Involve family in promoting service efforts.

Renewing or Joining
To Renew ($250) or to become a New Member ($300) contact

Asaad Massoud, at www.racharters.com

Fundraisers
Interested in putting together a fundraiser? Contact Club Service Chair Linda Kaplan at lindakaplan@lk.com

Ed Fischer, May’s Programming Chair and Past President, introduced today’s speaker

Erica French, Executive Director

Educate Tomorrow

1717 N Bayshore Drive, Suite 203
Miami, FL 33132

www.educatetomorrow.org

french@educatetomorrow.org
P: 305-374-3751 / F: 866-897-1564

Erica earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education at Michigan State University and taught Special Education at the elementary level. From there, she joined the Peace Corp and served in Niger , West Africa. She then returned to teaching in Chicago and relocated to Miami following the sever Blizzard of 2004. 

.Educate Tomorrow focuses on foster children emphasizing the value and importance of education. She showed a video about the program and its need. For example, 45% of prison inmates and 30% of the homeless are school dropouts.

The problem stems from Florida’s foster care program which ousts foster children from the program at age eighteen. Currently they number 300 per year. Of these age-outs, 42% become homeless within one year; 51% are unemployed by age twenty-two; and 40% end up on welfare.

Educate Tomorrow assigns mentors to these 18-year olds to serve as role models and be helpful to these parentless former foster children, They also have contacts within every school in Miami-Dade County  as well as with the Juvenile courts. There need is for volunteers to be available to mentor these emerging adults who have no one to turn to for direction. Mentors are only committed to provide five hours per month with their charge.

Erica also pointed out that millions are spent in promoting Breast Cancer awareness when there are only 150,000 cases per year in the U.S. yet there are 500.000 foster care age outs per year. She then encouraged the membership to volunteer as a Mentor.

From their website:

Erica French developed the Mentor Program, the Juvenile Court Contact Training Program and more recently the "It's Your Life" life skills camp.  She has worked as case manager, volunteer resource coordinator, trainer, camp director, helped organize every major fundraiser and is the true engine behind the daily operations of ET.

Ms. French also served in the United States Peace Corps in Niger , West Africa 2002-2004.  Ms. French holds a BA in Elementary Education from Michigan State University, with minors in Agricultural Science & Psychology.   Ms. French is a certified teacher with an extensive background in special education.
Her passion is to truly work and serve for the youth she comes in contact with.  

Educate Tomorrow, Corp. is an international not for profit certified 501 (c) 3.  All over the world, poverty denies children, as well as adults, the promises of a better tomorrow.  Forgotten by society and social welfare programs, children born into poverty are trapped in a cruel and often violent cycle that frequently continues for generations.  Lacking the inspiration, confidence, knowledge, and means to change, entire families are lost to the cycle of hopelessness.

Educate Tomorrow believes that the best way to end the cycle of poverty is through education. Our mission is to make education an attainable goal for the most disadvantaged in our world, so that all may be afforded the possibilities that can be achieved through learning.  We strive to reach out to these individuals and provide them inspiration, guidance, and support and lead them on the path of life-long learning.

Based in Miami, Florida, Educate Tomorrow supports 16, 17, and 18 year olds, who are aging out of the foster care system, by matching them with mentors.  These mentors in turn help the young people to enroll in college and training programs, find housing and jobs, as well as apply for educational and social assistance that may be available to them.  

Educate Tomorrow also provides educational and life skills camps called "It's Your Life", which is funded by The Children's Trust.  These camps are a coordination among many community participants including the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, the Dade County Bar Association, Legal Aid, Department of Children & Families, CHARLEE, Children's Home Society, Lawyers for Children America, University of Miami Children & Youth Law Clinic,the Guardian Ad Litem Program, Suited for Success, and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Miami Chapter, and Casa Valentina.

Internationally, the founders of Educate Tomorrow established one of the first local language primary schools in the remote and impoverished village of Kabey Fo, Niger , West Africa.
The founders also developed an Adult Literacy Program in the same village. Established under the same principals as the Miami-based efforts, these educational programs are designed to provide inspiration, guidance, and support and lead the children and adults on the path of life-long learning. Some of the first students will graduate from primary school this year.
To facilitate their continued success, Educate Tomorrow is establishing a dormitory about 2km from the nearest secondary school, which will provide room and board, as well as tutoring to the students from Kabey Fo.These programs continue to be funded by generous donations to Educate Tomorrow's International Program.

Click on our generous sponsor's business cards to visit
their website: