bulletinInfo_07302010

SAFE DATES PROGRAM - A PROGRAM OF HAYWOOD COUNTY REACH

Following announcements, President Billy Case introduced Mo Fer, program chair for the month of July, who introduced Julia Freeman, executive director of REACH of Haywood County, to present our program. Ms Freeman is a native of Haywood County and a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Ms Freeman began her remarks with a short history lesson about REACH. REACH was begun in 1982 as a crisis intervention agency to serve the citizens of Haywood County. Probably the best known program of REACH is the shelter program which houses women and children who are displaced from their homes due to family violence/abuse. REACH also provides a 24 hour crisis line , individual counselors, support groups, emergency food and health care and legal assistance including arbitration. REACH also provided assistance in housing by helping those individuals with rent and utilities who wish to set a new household.

In addition to helping women and children, approximately 8 % of their case load involves men who are involved in abusive situations. The circumstances surrounding the women and men are similar. Services through REACH are offered free of charge to their clients with support coming from the state as well as local government entities and the United Way. Last year the staff of 7 people at REACH handled 1126 cases, sheltered 110 people for a total of 1662 days with the average stay being 17 days. REACH dealt with 708 cases in court making the court cases their largest program. In 2001 REACH opened a Thrift Store on Hazelwood Avenue which generates supplementary monies to assist the program in dealing with its clients.

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Ms Freeman introduced Buffy Queen, one of the staff members from REACH, who talked with us about the Safe Dates Program. Safe Dates Program is a program designed for middle and high school students who are currently dating or will be dating in the near future. The program is designed to help adolescents learn how to deal with making good decisions. Ms Queen handed out two pieces of information, one that provided statistics regarding dating and the presence of abuse within these relationships and one that provided information to parents of teenagers about dating.

Ms Queen stated that many teenagers are inexperienced in dating and proper behavior and do not understand abuse. The program that Safe Dates provides asks and answers four basic questions: 1. What is a healthy relationship?; 2. What are harmful actions including both emotional and physical?; 3.How does one help a friend? and 4.How to handle anger and jealousy including sexual assault? A number of examples were provided and the club members were urged to request the Safe Date Program be presented at club meetings, church groups and other service oriented meetings to inform the public of the program’s availability.

General Announcements

UNITED WAY DAY OF CARING - AUGUST 26TH

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE!

Manna BackPack Challenge: 31 Waynesville Rotarians accepted Karen Denny’s and Floyd Rogers’s challenge to match their donation to the Manna Food Bank Backpack program. A sponsorship is $122.00 per student. If you have made this commitment, please make your check payable to the Waynesville Rotary FOUNDATION instead of Waynesville Rotary. Your leadership has determined that it would be best for these monies to go directly to the Foundation rather than through the club account. This will also give you the advantage of some tax breaks by making the donation. Simply indicate on your check that the donation is for the Manna Food Bank Backpack Challenge. If additional members wish to join this effort, please feel free to do so. Simply make out your check as noted above and give it to Scot Worley, Lynne Barrett, Bill Bird, or Neal Ensley at one of the Friday meetings.

For more information, contact Past President Lynne.

Boy Scout Troop support: An additional opportunity to support our community is by making a donation to the Boy Scout Troop led by our own Rotarian Billy Dinwiddie, Jr. The Pack is in serious need of a trailer and some other items. Any interested Rotarian, especially former Scouts, are urged to support this effort. Again, please make your check payable to the Waynesville Rotary Foundation.

For more information, contact Bill Bird.

Boy Scout Troop Leaders: Troop 318 is in need of volunteers to act as Assistant Troop leaders. If interested, please contact Billy Dinwiddie either by e-mail or phone, 550-1314. You may write to Billy by CLICKING HERE!

ROTARY NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Shelter Box Update - You may view the latest on Shelter Boxes and the recent catastrophe in Myanmar by CLICKING HERE! Waynesville Rotary participated in the world wide Shelter Box project by donating a Shelter Box in this current fiscal year. You, as a Waynesville Rotarian, helped make District 7670 one of the TOP 10 suppliers of Shelter Boxes within Rotary!

The May 2010 edition of the Rotary District 7670 newsletter has been released. You may access it by clicking HERE!

NEW FUNCTION ON CLUB WEBSITE!

Club members will find a new link on the home page of the club website. The link, Directory On-Line, will take you to the District 7670 database where you can access your Rotary account to handle updates, your Rotarian subscription, and many other items related to your membership in Rotary. This is a secure site and you will be asked for your user id (your email address as entered by our Executive Secretary) and your password, which is your account number found on the mailing label of your Rotarian magazine. As of 07/16/2009, all current members have their Rotary International ID number entered into the District database.

Need the contact information for a fellow Rotarian? Log into the database and look it up under "My Club". Of course, the information is ONLY as GOOD as what gets updated! Please log in and check your own account for accuracy!

The financial module is now up and running. Members were sent, via email, invoices and statements on Friday, Octoer 16th for the 1st quarter of our fiscal year (07/09 through 09/09). Members without email will have printed copies of the invoice and statement available at the regular Friday meeting. The current financial and attendance data is available on-line for all Rotarians. To view your data, log into the District Database by entering your email address and Rotary International number for the password. Click on the Member tab and then click on either "member dues history" or "member attendance". The member dues history is in REAL TIME so members may now see their current financial information.

Questions regarding the information should be submitted via email by CLICKING HERE!

The Rotary name and logo are the exclusive property of Rotary International and are used here under Rotary International Internet Policy Guidelines.Copyright ©2009 Rotary Club of Waynesville, NC (USA). All Rights Reserved.