Next week: A representative from the Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund will share an update. Reminder: we will be dark two weeks from now, due to Casino Night on March 7.
President John Cottle opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Thought for the Day: “Despite the cost of living, it remains popular.”
Our guests today: Gayle Greene, Board member from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, and our speaker today; Ester Koch, Wellness program presenter; and Betty Cottle, First Lady and pirate queen.
Donna introduces our guest, Ester Koch.
Today’s speaker, and our guest, Gayle Greene.
Heather celebrates her 6 year Club anniversary.
Fines today: Heather is celebrating her 6-year Club anniversary this week. Pete is celebrating his wedding anniversary, and Dean’s wedding anniversary was on Valentine’s Day (awwwww…).
Tom shares his happy B Corp Certification news!
Happy Dollars:
- Pete is happy that the Casino Night raffle prizes are coming in steadily, and it looks like it will be an amazing raffle!
- Tom is happy to announce that Harvest Market has achieved B Corp Certification, which recognizes the company’s positive social and environmental impact. Congratulations!!
- Dean is happy that Barra winery is supporting Casino Night with a lovely 3-wine-bottle gift pack, and that Albion River Inn has committed to send a $75 donation for dining as another raffle prize.
- Heather is happy for Harvest Market’s B Corp Certification!
- Bruce is happy/sad to report that he sold his house here and bought new townhouse in Portland, OR. He’s also happy that the businesses around Rotary Park are grateful for the tree limbing taking part in the park. Eager Beaver is donating one day for some tree trimming, and one of the Inns has donated toward a second day of work from Eager Beaver. The park is looking beautiful!
Bruce shares his happy dollars.
Sunshine Report:
Unfortunately, Jerry is back in the hospital with a difficult infection. Wilma is gaining strength, will try to make it to our meeting next week.
Announcements:
Dean presented our new stylish magnetic Rotary pins, available for $5 each. Let him know if you want one.
Dean also presented a few new name badges: Erich and Harold each received a Past President badge, and Heather received a new name badge with an updated category of Project Mgmt/Business Consultant.
Pete shared details about why the Casino Night raffle prizes are so great! Prizes include many dinners at fine restaurants, bottles of wine, wine tours, a gas grill, nights at B&Bs and more … keep ’em coming! The big event is only two weeks from this Saturday. Remember that every Rotarian needs to sell at least two tickets to the event (with checks made out to Mendocino Rotary Club), and also needs to provide a raffle prize valued at least $25. Checks for event sponsorships and additional donations are tax-deductible and should be made out to Mendocino Rotary Foundation. Exciting news: our Rotary District Governor is coming to the event!
Casino Night costuming was demonstrated by pirate queen Betty — she has lots of costume accessories available, collected from the local thrift shops, and she dressed a few of us in attire that would be appropriate for Casino Night. We also learned the following trivia: Why did pirates wear an eye patch over one eye? So that when they went below decks, from the bright light outside to the dark area below deck, they could flip up their patch and instantly see well in the dark rather than having to let their eyes adjust to the dark.
Pirate queen Betty shows off her pirate-wear collection.
Erich is ready for Casino Night, matey!
Donna volunteers to show how easy it is to dress as a pirate.
Dean in his pirate attire. Yarrr.
Bingo Bash, the annual Soroptimist fundraiser is coming up on February 27. Volunteers are needed, so please show up at 2pm at Crown Hall on the day of the event. LaDonna will be attending this event, and will visit us at our regular meeting here next week!!
Travis is named Rotarian of the Month by Prez John.
Prez Cottle awarded the Rotarian of the Month prize to Travis Swithenbank, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping with all aspects of work at Rotary Park. Thanks, Travis!
Finmaster Travis stumps the crowd before introducing today’s speaker.
Today’s Program:
Before introducing today’s speaker, Gayle Greene from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, Travis Swithenbank led the finemaster questions about the Community Foundation and Mendocino County.
- There are approx. 3,500 sq miles in Mendocino County.
- An estimated 87,000 people make up the County population.
- Mendocino Coounty lost 7/10ths of a % of its population between 2010 and 2013.
- There are 12 school districts within the county.
- There are 750 community foundations within the U.S.
- The largest community foundation is in Silicon Valley, with assets of $4.7 Billion.
- There are 45 community foundations within CA.
- The Community Foundation of Mendocino County has about $18 million in assets.
- The Community Foundation of Mendocino County has been in existence since 1998.
Gayle Greene updates the Club on the status of the Community Foundation of Mendocino County.
Gayle Greene started her presentation by explaining her family’s deep roots in the area. She was born and raised in Willits, with a family business that took her all over the county. She got to know all of the county’s towns, large and small, and the history of each place. She moved away for about 40 years, then she and her husband moved back in 2006. She has served on the Board of the Community Foundation for 4 years now.
Community Foundations we founded more than 100 years ago, to give every day average people the opportunity to give money to organizations that matter to them. Community Foundations serve 3 publics: donors, nonprofits and the community at large. They are a 501(c)3, and can only give money to other nonprofits. If you as a donor are investing in the Foundation, it’s important to know that your money is being handled prudently and is being well spent.
The Community Foundation of Mendocino County started in 1998 with $500, and now has assets of almost $18million. They use two main investment firms to carefully and prudently manage funds that have been entrusted to them, so that funding will be available in perpetuity. Their Board has about 18 members. Three handouts were shared with Club members: one shows the grant amounts that have been given out, and the 7 regions into which the county has been divided by the Foundation. The second handout shows the grants that have been given out in the North Coast region from 2009 through current (a total of $890,000 has been given in these 5 years to many of the 52 registered north coast nonprofits from Little River up to Westport). The third handout shows 10 great reasons to donate to the Foundation.
The power of pooling donations to multiply your giving impact is huge. They don’t touch the principal of their assets, they use only the income from the investments to give out in grants. The endowments are designed to last forever. Donors are in control of where their funds go; the Foundation is committed to meeting the needs of its donors.
The priorities of the Foundation are: 1. Honor the donor. 2. Work hand in hand with local nonprofits (including our Rotary club!).
Gayle Greene, Board member of the Community Foundation of Mendocino County.
Today’s Raffle Winners:
Guenter and Gary. Neither drew the joker…. the pot continues to grow!
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