For those of you still looking for ways to serve here are some resources for volunteer opportunities for COVID -19 relief

Let us know what you decide to do and we can share with others who may want to join you (virtually, of course).

We have a volunteer opportunity on July 24^th and 25^th to Paint Tacoma Beautiful!  Well, one house actually.  Program improvements have been made to stay healthy and take care of ourselves while supporting homeowners in our community led by the Associated Ministries.  John Schneider is leading the preparation and painting efforts with coordination assistance by Diane Kelleher.  Please let the office know if you’d like to join them for one or two days – or a partial day - and we’ll send you a volunteer application and a short orientation video. 

Meeting moderator Chris Serface opened with a brief review of how the call would work; members muted, raising hands, thumbs up or clapping icon, chat, private chat to Joy if you want to pay a birthday fine or make a true confession, be sure to let her know if you have a card on file and if you are billing to a business or personal account. President Carol Duris rang the Scarlett bicycle bell for one last time and thanked members for joining. Christina Turner, Tacoma Public Utilities provided the invocation reading a poem about the impact and power of Rotary. Elliot Stockstad, Lutheran Community Services sang the National Anthem. Jeremy Simler, NW Furniture Bank, was our meeting sponsor. Jeremy shared the mission of the NW Furniture Bank…to provide hope, dignity and stability in our community. We learned that 80% of their clients have a family member sleeping on the floor, 70% have no usable furniture. Of the families and individuals helped, 50% are less likely to return to homelessness. Because of the program, 3 million pounds of furniture and mattresses  have been kept out of our landfills. They also provide 1,039 tables to empty rooms so families can eat together. President Carol Duris invited everyone to check out the anniversaries: Gus Martin - 1 year, Tyler Sollie - 1 year, Brenda Gasper - 2 years, Rick Triggs - 2 years, Julie Foley - 5 years, Jennifer Weddermann - 4 years cumulative, Jeremy Fogelquist - 6 years, Christian Anderson - 7 years, Christine Cason - 20 years, John B. Dimmer - 31 years. Carol Duris called on Seth Kaplowitz for a Tacoma Rescue Mission announcement. He thanked everyone for their support and enthusiasm and reminded us the need is great right now with COVID. One volunteer opportunity is to prepare sandwiches for delivery on Tuesday, June 30. Then Jim Whitacre announced the St. Vinnie Sort with be rescheduled for some time in July or August. President Carol made a few comments about her year as President. She shared how the club inspired and believed in her. She thanked all her friends with generous hearts. She said it was an honor to be our president.    She talked about some of the accomplishments of the club that make her proud such as all the grants, new members, hands-on service, scholarships given, exchange students hosted and how we banded together with the community during COVID. She challenged everyone to be motivated and continue to be people of action! She presented Presidential Citations to the following members: Chris Serface – She thanked him for being an IT extraordinaire and for always stepping up and sharing his talents. Kathi Willis – She received a Presidential Citation with Distinction for being an unsung hero for Carol and the club. She is the backbone of our club and “always ready to help!” Seth Kapowitz - He was honored with Rookie of the Year for being so active on so many committees and really being an inspiration to so many. President Carol then passed the gavel to Kathryn Nelson and presented her with the Club President Pin. Kathryn then thanked Carol for her incredible year and presented her with a gift from the club  and…. the Past President pin. Kathryn thanked Carol for her wisdom and poise. She noted how well she juggled so many things as president, a new baby, Covid, work and did so with grace, confidence, a great attitude and patience. Kathryn then presented President Elect Kim Bedier with a President Elect pin. The  Turnover Program was a hilarious zoom skit that started with Rotarians in the zoom squares in a variety of amusing circumstances like in the bathroom or drinking out of a bottle of booze. It launched into a Saturday Night Live style presentation they called “Tacoma Night Live”. It was starring Carol Duris and began with a roast style opening by Linda Kaye Briggs. The production included Scarlett, Harper and Carol’s mom. The first segment was a Password Plus Game hosted by Mark Anderson with contestants Steve Smith, Libby Catalinich, Carlyn Roy and Maria Harlow. They had clues: Mother, Princess, Superhero, Scarlett and Strawberry to finally guess the spotlight phrase ….Carol Duris.  The musical guests were Elliot and the Phone Homes. Elliot Stockstad and Jeremy Simler performed a very thoughtful rendition of What Would You Say. They performed in a video film outside of the Yacht Club. There was a Rotary Update with a new report style skit featuring Rusty George and Jan Brazzell. They covered a story of a missing Carol Duris that had lots of similarities to the Tiger King story. Then a video played featuring many club members in good bye videos. They were very thoughtful and Scarlett and Harper were even included. The Turnover Celebration ended with a past president parade where past presidents drove by and gave Carol thanks and well wishes from their car window. It was a very fun and clever video. President Kathryn thanked the amazingly talented members for pulling together the clever program; especially to Chris Serface and Rusty George for their hours of work and technology skills and creativity. She thanked the meeting helpers Christina & Elliot and Chris as for facilitating the meeting. She thanked Jeremy as the sponsor too. She congratulated the members who received a Presidential citations and shared how she is looking forward to her first meeting next week at which time the club will hear a little bit about the theme for the year and receive a report on work being done through the Pierce County Connected Fund that our club members generously supported. She reminded everyone that Rotary Opens Opportunity and she hopes each of us finds the opportunity to be of service to others….in the coming week.