President Edeth James’ Quote of The Day:  “Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

 

Cindy Carlson’s guest today was Jireh Mabamba, Minneapolis Rotarian and fundraiser at the University of Minnesota.

 

Check your email for a list of important Rotary dates or, if you prefer, you can download them here.

 

Cindy Carlson introduced Steve Schmidt, Donor Relations Manager for Benedictine Care Center in New Brighton.  Steve has extensive experience in fundraising for non-profit organizations.  Steve presented some very enlightening statistics about philanthropy in the United States.  You might think that foundations and corporations would be the biggest charitable givers but, in fact, the $309 billion in individual donations in 2019 was four times more than foundation giving and fourteen times higher than corporate giving!  Steve noted that six out of ten U.S. households make a charitable contribution each year and that most of these contributions are a result of personal connections between the donor and individuals in the recipient organization.  When these connections are sustained over time, the likelihood of major gifts increases dramatically.  Steve suggested that fundraising events are more effective for building community than generating significant donations.

 

Some examples of past philanthropic impact at Benedictine New Brighton are the Chapel’s stained glass windows ($30,000), therapy department renovations ($25,000) and resident activities fund ($10,000). Covid-19 has delayed the planned addition of assisted living and memory care units at Benedictine New Brighton, so four Resident Priorities have been identified while the additions are on hold:

 

Geoff Hollimon reported that the Suburban Ramsey Emergency Coalition is waiting to receive grant requests for Covid related needs.  The coalition has approximately $30,000 available for grants.  They hope to finalize the remaining grants by September and complete final disbursements by Dec 31, 2021.

 

Past District Governor Craig Leiser has had several recent health challenges and is now in transitional care.  Please keep Craig and his family in your thoughts and prayers. If you would like to send Craig a card you can mail to his home address:

Craig Leiser

10300 Kismet Ln. N.

Stillwater, MN 55082

 

Note that next week’s meeting will be in-person - June 15^th 12:00 - in-person at the Silver View Park Pavilion, on County Rd. I, just east of Silver Lake Rd.  We will attempt to zoom the meeting as well.