Bell will ring at 7:25 this week – be ready to join the breakfast line!

What a great meeting last week – 3 new Alpharetta Rotarians were inducted, and we received a “bonus” refund check for over $15,000 from what we paid into the Rotary International Convention last June. Given that the heart of our Club, any Rotary Club, is about people and resources, I would say it was a “banner” morning – both to be used in service to our community. If you have not yet, please introduce yourself to Emily Metallo, Michelle Coleman and Michael Gordy as they begin their membership in Rotary.

 

For those of you who were out enjoying Spring Break – welcome back!  Those of us left behind appreciated your absence in the form of light traffic and, by and large, a more manageable week! Thank you for the break!

 

It’s not too late! You can still register for District Conference! If you’ve not been, it’s a great opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians from across the District, enhance your knowledge and understanding of Rotary, and best of all – spend quality time with members of our Club.    So - - - Please sign-up for District Conference, April 26th – 29th at San Destin. We strongly encourage you to register as soon as possible. http://www.ismyrotaryclub.org/register4/index.cfm?EventID=77348682. If you are a new Rotarian since the last District Conference date, the Club will pay your registration fee!  See more detail, below!

 

This Week…

Our Speaker this week is Joe Labriola. Joe is the Executive Director of Second Helpings Atlanta, a non-profit food rescue organization whose mission is to reduce hunger and food waste in the metropolitan Atlanta area by rescuing surplus food and delivering it to those in need.  Prior to joining Second Helpings Atlanta in May 2015, Joe was the Vice President of Product Marketing at PGi, the Chief Marketing Officer at Enterprise Information Management and spent 30 years at IBM before he retired in November 2010. 

Our Foundation Chair, Mark Orr, will be presenting a number of Paul Harris Awards we have received in the past few weeks. We look forward to honoring those who have given $1,000 and more, cumulatively, to the Rotary Foundation.

 

As I have said before, keep in mind that gifts to the Rotary Foundation can be made anytime throughout the year – AND – you can sign-up to give any amount, automatically, on a monthly basis. Becoming a Paul Harris Fellow, and multiples thereof, is easy to accomplish. It takes just $84/month to give $1,000 over the course of a year. Further, as a Paul Harris Society member, I have committed to give at least $1,000 a year – and with the auto-pay, I never miss a beat.  Join me in becoming a Paul Harris Society member – the automatic payments make it easy to do!

  

Vocational Minute

We will learn more about the multi-talented, Alpharetta Rotarian, Joe Wargo, as he will give us our Vocational Minute this week. (Shh…Joe’s Mom will be at the meeting, so let’s give him a standing ovation to make her proud…)

 

Opportunities to Serve

  • Lionheart Gardens workday – May 5th (details to follow)
  • Completion of work on the Gillard Grill pavilion and picnic shelterMickey Rogers is working on the details.
  • Fresh Market – questions? Contact Lee Doernberg 678-773-1039

 

Rotary Leadership and Conference Opportunities

 District Conference

District Conference San Destin! April 26 – 29th Join us at the BEACH!

       

Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI)

  • Rotary Leadership Institute will be held in Griffin, GA on June 16th at Southern Crescent Technical College. Parts 1, 2, 3 and a graduate course on Membership will be offered. There will also be a Discussion Leader Course by invention. Go to www.rlitraining.org to register and more RLI information on courses.

 

In the next few Weekly Updates, I want to give a special shout-out to some folks who do much behind the scenes that has a significant impact on the experience we all have as Alpharetta Rotarians. The Spotlight this week is on Lee Doernberg. Every weekday throughout the year Lee makes certain that one of our Alpharetta Rotarians is making the Fresh Market run to North Fulton Community Charities.  I cannot imagine the cumulative amount of food we have delivered to those in need, as a result of Lee’s efforts. Lee has served the Club in various important capacities throughout the years, but I cannot thank him enough for taking on the role of Speaker Co-Chair – along with Dan Merkel. This great duo is entirely responsible for the caliber of our speakers; and we have had some great ones this year! When you see Lee, please take a moment to thank him for all his hard work, behind the scenes, in service to Alpharetta Rotary.

 We appreciate you, Lee!

 

See you all Friday!!