The Auction was chaired by Monique Nadeau and we have a net of about $146,000 and raised an additional $77,000 during Fund A Need. That money is coming back to the club as well. This year our new auction chair is Sharon Benson. Pull out your calendar because we have set the date as May 2.
Classification has had 2 great leaders who will continue this year; Jeff Albers and Scott Sutherland. They vetted and assigned classifications to over 40 prospective members as well as helping the club streamline the process towards admission!
Communications, chaired by Rusty George helped refresh the Website and distributed and analyzed 3 surveys. This year Chris Serface has agreed to step in as Chair.
Engagement, chaired by Maria Harlow worked diligently to reach out to all members to keep them engaged in the work of the club. They expressed our appreciation to every member, even some who are unable to join us at lunch. She will continue as chair.
Fellowship, chaired by Michelle Roberts continues to schedule the Thursday night socials and support the Firesides and Galleyside. She has agreed to serve again this year.
Finance,with Co-Chairs Dan Bogart and Robin Echtle, provided support at every meeting in counting fines as well as overseeing the finances of the club. This year they also provided an internal audit of our financial practices. Barbara Mead will join Dan as a Co-Chair as Robin moves on to become our Treasurer.
The Grants Committee co-chaired by Carol Webster and Tony Belot provided leadership as their members visited and interviewed dozens of non-profits and selecting the best of the best and ultimately awarding $87,000 to 19 amazing organizations.There is a list and description of the groups and how the funds will be used on our website. DeAnne Hamilton and Clay Zhang will be leading the committee this year.
Information and Orientation, chaired by Brien Elvins, provided information to our prospective members about Rotary International and our club to enable them to decide if our club was the right fit for them. His flexibility in scheduling meetings that worked for our prospective members helped us in shortening the time it takes to join. He will continue to lead these efforts.
Interact, with a great group of students from Life Christian, had wonderful leaders in Peter Carlstrom and Jace Dwinell. They helped that team towards their effort to receive a Presidential Citation. The Interact Club held a couple of fundraisers so that they could contribute funds towards the eradication of polio. They are dedicated to these students and will continue this year.
Literacy began the year with Co-Chairs Susan Barbeau and Sherri Stanton and mid-year Dean Carrell stepped in to replace Susan who needed to take a leave of absence. They helped install and maintain Little Free Libraries in Salishan, and continued to support Reach Out and Read, labeling and contributing hundreds of books to support early reading. They also partnered with Sunrise Rotary in supporting Ocean Fest this year, and once again received the District Literacy Award. They will continue as Co-Chairs this year.
Membership Recruitment, chaired by Harrison Laird, supported by our wonderful club members, helped us introduce over 40 new members to Rotary #8 this year. Their membership drive encouraged us to bring guests to lunch to introduce them to Rotary. Although not all of our lunch guests joined the club, we are spreading the great news about what we do. Jennifer Weddermann has agreed to assume the role as chair this year.
Military Affairs with the leadership of Mark Anderson once again did a great job of recognizing our own members who are veterans, but also put on a great program in November to honor all veterans. Julie Foley and Jonathan Murray are going to Co-Chair this committee and they have some great new ideas.
Pandaka, chaired by Amanda Weidman, helped to assure that all new members received support and mentorship towards their attainment of blue badges. The committee simplified the steps to receive a blue badge and coordinated two graduations this year. Carolyn Weyrick will join Amanda to Co-Chair this year.
The PGG/Foundations committee with leadership provided by Jim Henderson and Kirsten Willis once again invited our generous members to become Paul Harris and Art Wickens Fellows by encouraging everyone to contribute $100 annually to The Rotary International Foundation and the Tacoma Rotary Foundations, as well as Polio Plus. Although the final numbers have not been tallied as of May 31 our members have given over $65,000 in support of Project Greater Good and the Foundations. Kirsten will be joined next year by Rusty Hersey as her Co-Chair.
Programs committee Co-Chairs Kim Bedier and Hunter George did an amazing job with their committee members in vetting possible program speakers and finding entertaining and engaging speakers for our meetings. They have both agreed to continue as Co-Chairs.
Projects committee Co-Chairs Gil Quante and Jim Whitacre continued to identify opportunities for club members to fully live our motto of Service Above Self by inviting members to volunteer for over a dozen projects last year. We were able to report that we had 368 project volunteers last year including our Habitat Build, EFN Repacks, the Holiday Giving Tree, Bell-Ringing, Toys for Kids, Science Olympiad, Camp Goodtimes, Courage and Sound the Alarm. Gil will be joined by Diane Kelleher as Co-Chair.
Rotary Youth Exchange committee truly changes lives. Diane Tilstra and Marsha Burns lead a dedicated group of volunteers who welcomed Jacob and Renata, recruiting, identifying and vetting wonderful host families for them. They also prepared two students who will be leaving this summer to be hosted in Finland and Brazil. Rizley Cox recently returned from his year in Slovakia and we hope he will join us soon to tell us how his year went. Andrea Kiekkala has agreed to join Marsha as Co-Chair this year.
Scholarships committee managed by Jace Dwinell and Bob Fredricksen interview over 2 dozen students from 12 public and private schools in Tacoma to find the best and the brightest. We saw them award $25,000 to 16 students in May. Another amazing job by committee members in interviewing, reading and scoring all the applications. They have agreed to continue as Co-Chairs.
Vocational Service committee Co-Chairs Andrew Imholt and Missy Zenczak work hard behind the scenes in generating income for the club with meeting sponsors as well as managing the Business Expo. This year they have agreed to continue as Co-Chairs and assume the responsibility of scheduling the Thursday at 5 sponsors as well.
World Community Service committee was chaired by Kathryn Nelson this year and what a great year they had creating partnerships with local clubs and stretching our dollars around the world by supporting grants that were eligible for matching funds. They invested over $20,000 to support water and sanitation projects in 3 Rural Communities in Bolvia, Rachel Plus Unit/Charging Station and 40 tablets in Namibia, toilets, hand washing and drinking stations in 18 schools in Addis Ababa, Copperbelt Province Malaria Elimination, Demonstration Farm in Uganda and feminine hygiene project in Swaziland. This year Barry Benson and Fred Matthaei will serve as Co-Chairs.