Minutes of the May 19, 2016 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Robby McClure at 12:15 P.M. followed by an invocation delivered by Bill Kinnaird. Tom Martenstein led the club in song accompanied by Bill Oppenheimer on piano. Tom then introduced visiting Rotarians and members’ guests.
Announcements: Robby McClure made the following announcements:
• The Mobile Sunrise club will not meet on Wednesday, May 25.
• The Rotary Club board will meet on May 26 following the meeting.
• Please see Peggy regarding changes to the upcoming roster.
• Les Greer announced that the club will be subsidizing a number of members to attend the Rotary Convention to be held in Atlanta next June. The sign up date to take advantage of a sizeable discount is May 28-June 6, 2016, he said.
Program: Juvenile Court Judge Edmond G. Naman – NEST of Mobile
Bill Oppenheimer introduced Judge Edmond G. Naman who presented an enthusiastic program outlining the successes of the NEST Program here in Mobile. He recognized several of his board members who were present and praised their efforts in volunteering to tutor and mentor young people as well as families at risk. He described these young people as being at a point in their lives where they believe no one cares. NEST works to change that, he said.
Judge Naman explained that NEST stands for “Nurture, Equip, Strengthen and Transform” and that it works to serve the needs of at-risk families. Once approved by the court, a team of volunteers work with families with one or more children on probation – a term of usually six months, he said.
Each family receives guidance from the volunteers to attempt to break the cycle of poverty by addressing four areas: education, communication, transportation and mentoring. Families can be helped in many areas including preparing resumes, creating a family budget, adult education and getting their children involved in team sports programs. He gave examples of young people who had been written off by school officials suddenly making “a’s” for the first time in their lives.
Judge Naman encouraged his audience to become involved and volunteer for the NEST program and visit info@nestofmobile.org to learn more. Robby thanked the speaker and said that in the judge’s honor a donation has been made to Wilmer Hall. The meeting adjourned at 1:00 P.M.
Tom McGehee