Minutes of the October 13, 2016 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by club president Les Greet at 12:15 PM. Henry Seawell offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
Student Guest: Alex White, a senior at the Alabama School of Math and Science was introduced as the Student of the Week by Rotarian Monica Motley, President of the school.
Paul Harris Fellow: Sarah Teague was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow “plus one.”
Announcements: Les Greer made the following announcements:
• The Rotary Children’s Foundation will meet following today’s meeting.
• The Board of the Rotary Club of Mobile will meet following the October 20 meeting.
Program: Elyse Goonan: “One Mobile”
Cart Blackwell introduced Elyse Goonan, executive director of One Mobile. Mrs. Goonan explained that One Mobile is a local privately-funded, non-profit organization which seeks to improve the quality of life in Mobile via the sharing of ideas through their website, onemobile.org. The site offers a way to share ideas regarding at least 10 different areas of concern ranging from the environment to the arts.
As a 501 C3 organization, One Mobile can also assist local organizations in their raising of tax deductible contributions. Some of the programs the group has assisted include the Midtown Mobile Movement, Mobile Streets Alive and Food Fight – a program where competing teams aid food banks by creating sculptures from canned goods.
Mrs. Goonan said that as a result of an idea sent in a “safe drop off” had been established at four local police precincts. Anyone buying or selling an item on Craigslist or some other site can meet at one of those precincts and have a safe location for the transaction. She said that if the other party does not want to meet at a police station you might want to reconsider doing business with him.
A new program which many Mobilians will soon take note of is a program creating artistic murals around town. She said the program is called “Create Change” and will partner apprentices with professional artists as they create scenic murals around Mobile.
Les Greer thanked Mrs. Goonan for being our speaker and said that in her honor a donation has been made to the Rotary International Foundation. The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee