Jeff Benson opened the meeting with a flagless Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation. Jeff also introduced our guests, Marv Sorvala from Roseville Rotary and PDG Craig Leiser.

 

Matching Grant Gurus, Cindy Carlson and Geoff Hollimon, welcomed PDG Criag Leiser to the podium. Craig noted that the District Grants Committee experienced a new wrinkle this year, having only enough funds to fulfill 77 percent of grant requests. He urged us to consider the many avenues we have available to contribute to the foundation. In addition to conventional ways to contribute, you could also contribute to the Foundation using a Rotary credit card or a special Amazon.com program, each of which donate a percentage of your purchases to the Foundation. Sounds like the ultimate in painless giving. PDG Leiser was also here to present us with a check from the District Grants Committee for $3802, which represents the district's match of our fundraising for our Syrian refugee children's education project in Lebanon. Cindy, Geoff and President John Risdall gratefully accept the check from Craig, below.

 

Geoff Hollimon subbed for Gerry Tietz to remind us to RSVP (Yes or No) to the Club Visioning Event next Tuesday, the 13th, 4:45PM, at the NB Community Center. Note that this meeting replaces our regular Noon meeting.

 

Sue Ager introduced our speaker, Diane Nimmer, from Honoring Choices Minnesota. Honoring Choices Minnesota is a collaborative, community-based advance care planning initiative led by Twin Cities Medical Society through its Foundation. Honoring Choices Minnesota is based on the training, principles and overall methodology of Respecting Choices, the nationally and internationally recognized Advance Care Planning model developed in 1993 by Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI. Diane said that, 23 years after its initiation, ninety percent of LaCrosse residents have an advance directive plan in place and Lacrosse has the lowest per capita health care costs in the nation. Impressive! Diane would like to see that kind success in Minnesota as well.  Most Minnesotans agree that advance care planning is a good thing but the challenge is to get people to follow through and actually create a plan. To emphasize the simplicity of developing an Advance Care Directive, Diane reviewed HCM's long form (yes, a short form is also available for busy Rotarians).

Step 1: Choose a Health Care Agent. You should be able to trust your Agent to make tough decisions, follow your wishes and stand up for you if family members disagree with the Advance Directive. This person should also be local or readily available in an emergency situation. You will also want to choose an alternate Agent if the primary Agent is unavailable.

Step 2: Write down your Health Care Instructions regarding medical emergencies and end-of life medical treatments. There is also a section to outline the philosophy that underpins your health care choices, if you so choose.

Step 3: Sign and notarize the document.

After creating the document, it very important that you share the information with those who will be affected by it.  It's also important to review and update the document as your life situation changes. You can find out more and get forms at http://honoringchoices.org/  Diane, Sue and President John are shown below.