Jeanne Gural was appointed TWC Executive Director in 2019. Prior to that Jeanne had served as Executive Director of the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, New Jersey, since 2009. Her oversight of Cedar Run included the Woodford Nature Center, an outdoor Wildlife Housing Area with more than 60 native residents and a Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital.
Prior to joining Cedar Run, she served as Director of Preserves and Facilities at The Nature Conservancy and as Habitat Restoration Program Manager at Rutgers University.
Jeanne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Organismal Biology and Biological Anthropology from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and has completed graduate work in Ecology, Plant Identification, Wildlife Ecology and Habitat Restoration.
For those of us who are joining our Friday meetings via Zoom, a new link has been created to use starting with this Friday's meeting. The old link will no longer be active so please save this new link for future reference. Thank you and we'll "see" you Friday!
Each year, as we approach the end of the Rotary year on June 30th, the Rotary Club of Canton's Endowment Fund Committee meets to suggest area non-profits to which our club might want to distribute funds. These funds represent the income or increase in value that the fund generates, through Stark Foundations management of this endowment.
The Canton Rotary Board of Trustees voted last week to open this process up to all of our members, who can them suggest a non-profit that they support to receive some of these funds this year.
If you have a non-profit you'd like to suggest, please have them send me a request at rickt@kozmosgrille.com, including the organization's name, what they do, how much they are requesting, and specifically how the funds will be used. Our Endowment Committee will then review these requests, make some selections and send them on to the Board for approval.
So that we can make these distributions close to the end of this year/beginning of the next, PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR REQUESTS BY JUNE 10TH.
Please be aware that we limit our total disbursements each year to the approximate income generated for the fund, so that we can maintain the principal of the fund for the future.
Therefore, we are not able to fulfill all requests that we receive. Any requests not fulfilled this year can be considered in future years.
The Rotary Club of Canton has agreed to provide volunteers for the Stark County Community Action Organization's "Grab, Go & Grow Baby Shower" on June 3rd at the William Hunter Center. Folks from the community can come that day to pick up needed baby supplies, as well as participate in family activities.
Chair Sue Marzano and Co-Chairs Emily Callan and Kara Bond are looking for volunteers to help out that day between 10 AM and 4 PM; Sue, Emily and Kara have set up shifts in case any of us are unable to stay the entire time.
You, your friends, family and others are invited to join us to help out.
Marissa Trubatch, HUB Coordinator for Stark Community Action, explains how we Rotarians will help:
"Here are some of the activities/roles we will need help with:
Registration table- having people fill out our form and distributing food/raffle tickets
A popcorn machine which will need attended and distributed
A tent for mom and child to create bird feeders (passing out paint, giving them a prepared bag of bird seed when completed)
A tent for dad and child to build a small Lego set where they can receive a prize if completed
Help with our raffles
General support for community members if they have questions or need pointed in a certain direction (bathrooms, food, etc.)
The morning of the baby shower, I will be doing a volunteer brief at 10 AM where I will review everything onsite and answer any questions. There will also be a private room indoors for our volunteers! We will have food and water in the room for you all, so it is separate from the public! 😊"
Please contact Sue Marzano, Emily Callan, or Kara Bond if you can help. A sign up sheet will be available at our meeting this Friday and next Wednesday.
Canton Rotary will once again be supporting the Stark Hunger Task Force
This Saturday is the big day!
From 3-6PM on June 3rd we're having our Backpack the Bus Event at Centennial Plaza!
This year, more than ever, we need to support the Stark County Hunger Task Force as they continue to work tirelessly to help feed the many children in Stark County that are hungry. There are two elements that make this a particularly important endeavor.
First this food is not generally available at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank making it difficult and more expensive to obtain. Second, the need for backpacks is increasing, and, in the summer, it's even worse since the schools are not in session where many of these students satisfy their hunger.
A little time and a little donation can literally change the lives of so many kids. These are kids that represent our future. Please assist us by teaming up with your friends and relatives with each of you stuffing a grocery bag with the specific items needed for backpacks then stop by Saturday during the event, say hello, and have fun mingling with your fellow Rotarians.
If you can't make it there, simply drop off your grocery bags this Friday, June 2nd, at the Canton Rotary Lunch Meeting, and I'll take it from there.
Can't do that? Then simply make a contribution on the Canton Rotary Website, and I'll take it from there. Just make sure you mark it in comments as "Backpack The Bus".
Let's show everyone how our Canton Rotary Club continues to make a difference in the lives of so many by having 100% participation. It's a small ask with a big reward.
NEXT MEETING: Fri. 6/3/23 - Christ Presbyterian Church, 11:45 AM
BACKPACK THE BUS PROJECT: for Stark Hunger Task Force - Saturday June 3, 2023
See Past President Mark Clendenin for details or to volunteer
NEW PROJECT! STARK COMMUNITY ACTION COMMITTEE'S "GRAB, GO & GROW" BABY SHOWER:
See above.
ANNUAL DISTRICT 6650 CONFERENCE: Fri. June 16th & Sat. June 17th:
This will be our own District Governor Michelle Charles' 'swan song' (notice the classical music reference!), hosted by the Rotary Club of Canton, so we want to put on a great conference with GREAT ATTENDANCE BY CANTON ROTARY!
VP Jennie George is chairing the Planning Committee for this conference. Tentative plan now is for a big public event at Centennial Plaza on Friday evening, then the main conference will be Saturday morning & afternoon at the Embassy Suites by Hilton on Freedom Ave. in North Canton (between Applegrove & Shuffel just off I-77).
You'll have a great opportunity to learn more about Rotary, network with Rotarians from throughout the District, enjoy a light breakfast and lunch, and possibly take part in a local community service project! WE REALLY WOULD LOVE A HUGE TURNOUT FROM ALL OUR CANTON ROTARIANS!
(Board members and officers are especially encouraged to attend.)
CANTON ROTARY GOLF OUTING: We have decided to combine our golf outing with Plain Rotary's golf outing, in order to have enough golfers for a shotgun start. New date is August 23rd with a 9 AM shotgun start. PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS/BOARD MEMBERS FOR 2023 -24! SPECIAL MEETING! On Friday June 30, 2023, we will have SPECIAL FRIDAY MEETING of the Rotary Club of Canton to install the incoming officers for 2023 -24, and recognize and thank the outgoing officers and board members. We will have a little bit of a special meal that day, with Mr. Mike's serving us 10 oz., Frenched Pork Chops, (and chicken for our kosher members).
WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION FOR THOSE MEMBERS WHO ARE STEPPING UP TO POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY TO MOVE OUR ROTARY CLUB FORWARD!
As the PROUD home club of our outstanding District Governor, Michelle Charles, we will be hosting this year's District 6650 Annual Conference.
Dates are Friday June 16th & Saturday June 17th.
Here's some info from DG Michelle herself, via the District 6650 newsletter:
"Registration is now live! Some final tweaks are being made to the program but the Rotary Club of Canton, Conference Chair Jennie George, and I are all excited to welcome you to Canton June 16-17, 2023!
Friday, June 16 - we will have a casual social event hosted by the Rotary Club of Canton.
Taking place in Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton, Rotarians will be treated to appetizers and music provided by local band Yankee Bravo. There will be a cash bar. It should be a fun evening outdoors!
We will conclude the day with a service project where we will make shoes for people in Uganda. This is part of a wonderful international organization called Sole Hope (https://solehope.org/). PLEASE BRING ANY OLD BLUE JEANS THAT YOU HAVE. We will be cutting these up to make shoes!!
SO PLEASE JOIN US FOR AT LEAST PART OF THESE TWO DAYS, TO HONOR DG MICHELLE & CONGRATULATE HER ON HER SUCCESSFUL YEAR!
(And who knows, you may learn more about Rotary, what other clubs are doing, meet some Rotarians from around the district, heck, maybe even learn a little more about yourself!)
(PS - We will need volunteers to help with running the conference - set-up, registration, check-in, hospitality, cat-herding, tear-down, etc. Please consider helping!)
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