Meeting at The Dolphin Restaurant was called to order at 6:15 by President Alix who led the pledge of allegiance and offered an invocation. The Club recited the 4-Way Test.

The minutes of the meetings of October 11 & 18, 2017 were not considered due to a lack of a quorum

Happy Bucks of $18 were offered.

Speaker: Judge George McKinnis, President of Bronxville Rotary and Special Counsel to Rotary District 7230, spoke about organizing the only Community Restorative Justice program in New York State. Convicted felons who are considered appropriate candidates are offered a yearlong conditional discharge instead of incarceration or probation. The conditional discharge might include mental health & addiction counseling, employment training and other valuable supports. George has two highly qualified volunteers who assist and follow the journey of the candidates; the judge and other court personnel meet monthly to review each case.

George has not been able to convince other judges to develop similar programs. They aren’t motivated to add more work without additional compensation. George would like Rotarians to encourage the political parties to require that candidates for election for judgeships state that they will begin such programs. Restorative Justice programs reduces recidivism and therefore costs to government.

Alix reported that at the Rotary District presentation on Club Public Image on 23 October, it was suggested that clubs look at their local demographics for potential categories of new members. So, as an example, if there are many Hispanic businesses in the area, then Hispanic business owners might be invited to consider joining Rotary.

Barbara reported that the proposed EarlyAct Club at Eugenio Maria de Hostos MicroSociety School in downtown Yonkers has met. Barbara is drafting a constitution and bylaws for the Club. After discussing it with the children, faculty advisor and principal, the Club Board would vote on them. Bob Stern, Area Governor, indicated he had never heard of EarlyAct and stated that “This is an exciting opportunity.” He suggested that our experience be presented at the District Conference on April 23rd at the Doubletree in Tarrytown. (The District Conference previously scheduled in Bermuda was cancelled due to the hurricanes.)

The Yonkers’s Chamber of Commerce will sponsor ‘Stuff-A-Bus’ as part of The Pajama Project. We will collect donation of pajamas in children – adult sizes and books until November 14th. Special attention needs to be paid to large sizes as often teens are overlooked.

Holiday raffle tickets need to be sold in order to cover the prizes as well as be one of our major club fundraisers.

Alix shared a report from the Sharing Community; their work with the homeless in Yonkers has been reduced due to a cut in funding. They need donations and volunteer help for their annual dinner on Thanksgiving, November 23. It will be their 34th annual Thanksgiving dinner. Their address is 1 Hudson Street, Yonkers.

The membership survey has had limited responses. It will be discussed at a future meeting. Alix asked Barbara to present a program next Wednesday on a R.I. Convention presentation of alternative approaches to Rotary meetings.