Minutes of the January 13, 2022 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Elizabeth Stevens, at 12:15 PM. John Garrett came forward to offer the invocation. Tommy Blankenship led the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. There were no visiting Rotarians or guests of members to welcome.
Student Guest: Garret Powe introduced Abigail Murray, a senior at Mary G. Montgomery High School who spoke on her volunteer work and concluded that those positive experiences have influenced her to want to continue to volunteer throughout her life. She will be attending Mississippi State.
Announcements – Elizabeth announced:
- Rotary Youth Leadership Conference has been canceled.
- The Mid-Year District Conference is to be held in Dothan the weekend of January 21-22, but a Zoom option will be a less expensive alternative to anyone wishing to attend.
- The installation of rain barrels discussed last week will take place on Friday, January 14. Please let Elizabeth know if you can assist.
- A city volunteer clean-up will be held on Saturday, January 15. Please contact Casi Callaway if you can help.
- Our members celebrating upcoming birthdays.
Program: Bill Tobin, Rotary Relations Manager for ShelterBox, USA
Bill Tobin spoke via remote from his home in California regarding the ShelterBox Project which was founded by British Rotarians in Cornwall in 2000. The original idea was to create boxes which would hold items to assist survivors of natural disasters. The program has now grown to an international scale and Rotary is a partner in the project which to date has assisted 2 million people around the world recovering not only from natural disasters but those trying to survive in war-torn areas, such as Syria.
The boxes are fitted with items chosen depending on the area where the survivors are located. In a cold climate such as northern Syria the boxes have blankets, rugs and warm outerwear for children and adults. In areas struck by hurricanes the box will have tarps to help with shelter as well as basic tools to rebuild. In the fall the Rotary Club of Mobile contributed $500 to the project to assist Haitians struck by an earthquake followed by flooding.
Mr. Tobin said that the organization would like to grow in the Gulf Coast region and would welcome local volunteers. Please go to shelterboxusa.org/volunteer for further information.
Elizabeth thanked the speaker and explained that a donation to the History Museum here in Mobile has been made in his honor.
The meeting adjourned at 12:55 PM.
Tom McGehee