Members present: Sundra, Barbara, Jeffrey, Bina, Mahbub, Matts, Harvey, Frank, Lee, Loren, Philippe, Shaw, Peggy, Sam Enders, Mayra Tepan
Guests: Douglas Hostetter, Director (Retired) Mennonite Church Committee at the UN; Tim Hodges (Prospective Member), Steve Simpson (Prospective Member)
Meeting Highlights:
Sundra opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, Invocation by Loren. Members recited the 4-way test and sang the Club song.
Happy Bucks:
$35 collected. 50/50 share was $14.
Board meeting Highlights:
The Board has decided to remove those members who have not yet paid their Membership dues. from our membership list. If any of them decide to come back and pay their dues they will be reinstated. This is because RI will bill us for all members on the official list of members as of 31 December. The Board unanimously decided to convert the Membership of Dr. Constantine Flokas to Honorary membership in view of his long service to the Club, which he joined in 1988.
The Board has also decided to join the Yonkers 1st Precinct Community Council and contribute $500 to My Sister's Place as our Holiday project. My Sister's Place provides safe shelters for abused women.
Club Speaker - Sam Enders:
Sam Enders, our member from Liberia, was our speaker. He started as an impoverished child but was able to come to the U.S. and earned a BA and MA from Indiana University. He is presently a congressman in Liberia. The best way to communicate with Sam is via the WhatsApp. He outlined some of the projects he is working on:
Fire engines. There is only one in the entire country. They send someone on a motorbike when a fire is reported. Once they receive the report they may send their truck but there may be no water. His proposal is to have 3 wells dug and additional fire engines donated.
Library: The design for a new library would cost $60,000. But like the school and health clinic Sam organized, rather than wait for all the funds to be collected he is considering a reading room in an existing small building to start.
School buses: 75 schools have used the bus we donated for field trips. Additional buses are needed.
The Club discussed a global grant for the library. Our Club has raised almost $5,000. Sam felt he might be able to convince a Swiss Rotary Club to add an additional amount. The Monrovia Rotary Club would need to be a partner as well. Our prospective new member 1st Deputy Chief of the Yonkers Police Department Tim Hodges thinks the Yonkers Fire Department may have emergency equipment in storage that could be donated. Sam Enders indicated as a Congressman he can get all duty and taxes waived on the Liberia side.
Mahbub indicated that he has arranged a meeting with the Hartsdale Club for Sam. He and Jeffrey would accompany Sam to their next meeting on 19 December. Sam would also make arrangements with President Ira Levine to pick up the books they are donating to the Library.
Interact: The Interact Club officers and Anne, the faculty advisor, will attend our Holiday dinner at the Olde Stone Mill as the Club’s guests. They are doing a collection of used towels, blankets, pet food and pet toys. Peggy will collect. If you wish to donate and help our new Interact Club, please bring in your donations to our 2 January meeting.
Our Holiday Dinner and Raffle Drawing is on 19th December. There is no meeting that day or on 26 December..
Sundra adjourned meeting.
50/50
