Calendar:
- February 20 – Club Meeting at Noon at The Exchange
- March 5 – Club Meeting at The Exchange at Noon; Board Meeting at 11.
- March 30 Easter Egg Hunt – all hands on deck!
- April 19 - Gold Plate Dinner at Mounds View Community Center
Notes:
- Board Members and Officers for the 2024-2025 Rotary year were elected. Including President John Johnson, President-Elect Paul Jacobsen, Treasurer John Ordway, Secretary Nyle Zikmund, Club Service Jason Miller, International Service Geoff Hollimon, Membership Cindy Carlson and Susie Risher, Youth Service/Youth Exchange Paul and Denise Jacobsen, Foundation Dana Rebelein, and Communications Natalie Streich. Community Service TBD.
- GPD Sponsors - Please contact businesses or charitably minded individuals to sponsor the Gold Plate Dinner. Or give suggestions to Cindy, Susie or John J. Cindy has provided invitation forms online.
- Merchant Minute - Brett Manning will be our guest to talk for 5-10 minutes about his New Brighton business at the February 20 meeting. Suggestions of future Merchant Minute guests should be given to Cindy or Suzy.
- John J obtained more than a hundred pounds of jellybeans for the Easter Egg Hunt at no cost to the Club!
- Share the Love - D-5960 will award recognition points for donations to The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund made in February. Gifts of $100 or more will be matched 1 to 1; a gift of $365 will be matched to a Paul Harris Fellowship. Give checks to TRF to John O. in February or donate on your My Rotary Account on the RI website and notify John O for Club records.
- Charlie, Dave, the Jacobsen’s and John J are responsible for March and April programs and meeting place set up and take down. John O, Cindy, Mary, Nils and Suzy have May and June. Please let John Johnson and Jason Miller know what the programs will be as soon as you can.
- Reminder - Indicate on the lunch order form if you prefer coleslaw or salad to fries, and any necessary dietary requirements. Guest meals are $15.
Speaker:
Lisa Hayden introduced us to OUR CITY CARES, a program to create a culture of encouragement to combat suicide among high school students. Developed in Washington State in 2017 and implemented in more than 300 schools, the program seeks to normalize mental health conversations and introduce signs of hope through posters, cards, wearables and tokens as conversation starters. Messages of hope, ex., “You are not Alone,” “Your Life Matters,” attack the perceived lack of hope which can lead to suicide.
According to Lisa, 25% of 11th grade students have considered suicide, and 60% are not getting needed care for mental health. Students don’t know how to access resources, so OUR CITY CARES materials include the numbers for the National Suicide Crisis Lifeline (998), and The Ramsey County Crisis Line (651.266.7878 for under 18 years of age; 651.266.7900 for 18 and older). There is also a drop-in center at 402 University Avenue East in St. Paul which is open from 8 to 5:30. President John Johnson and Lisa are shown below.
