THE SPOKE
Official Newsletter of the Salem Rotary Club

This week at Rotary...

BETH FRANCIS
Essex County Community Foundation
Beth Francis, President and CEO of the Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), explained how their mission is to inspire philanthropy in the 34 cities and towns in Essex County. ECCF manages and invests in 250 charitable funds with $120M in assets. They do this through five funds: donor advised funds; field of interest funds; non-profit endowment funds; designated funds; and scholarships. They also strengthen and support non-profits through grant programs. There are 4,227 registered non-profits in Essex County, of which approximately 1,200 are social service oriented. ECCF awarded $24.8M in grants to non-profits in 2020. Lastly, they bring together community by engaging individuals in community leadership efforts to bring about systemic change.
 
ECCF’s work is data driven. They have developed a regional database called Impact Essex County that compiles data from over 100 indicators to track the quality of life in the county. This is a public resource that can be accessed through their website. ECCF is also involved in systems change work. This requires longer-term commitments of investments to create change. Efforts in this area currently include: creative county; small business resiliency; economic opportunity; and crisis philanthropy. They are also invested in the support of others including the blue economy, workforce development for advanced manufacturing, Essex County learning community, and civic leadership development.

CALENDAR WINNER!

Lisa Seufzer of Oconomowoc, WI
Sold by Bill Henning

VisIting Rotarians & Guests

There were no guests this week.

WHY I AM A SALEM ROTARIAN

Bob Anthony kicked off our meeting by sharing his Rotary story. After graduating from college in 1952, Bob became the youth program director at the Binghamton, NY YMCA. In those days, only top executives would join Rotary Clubs, but there were many other service organizations available for others. Bob joined the Optimist Club, a service club in the Binghamton area, for four years. In 1960, he moved to Plattsburgh, NY and became the Executive Director at the Plattsburgh YMCA. Now the executive in his organization, Bob was able to join the Plattsburgh Rotary Club in 1960. At that time, there were never less than 100 members attending meetings each week, and there were about 120 members in the Rotary Club, which was similar in size to the Salem Club of that time. Bob enjoyed the fellowship and service projects of that club and became president for the 1973-1974 Rotary year. At his last meeting as club president, Bob was presented a cake decorated with an image of President Nixon in the frosting holding a sign that read, “From one Outgoing President to Another.” In 1980, Bob retired from the YMCA and relocated to Salem, where he became a tour leader in the eastern United States and Canada. He did not join Rotary then, because you were not allowed to miss three meetings in a row, and his job required him to travel frequently. In 1990, Bob began leading American tour groups in China which had him oversees for months at a time. While in China, Bob stay connected to Rotary by visiting various clubs throughout the country. In 2004, Bob transitioned to more local tour work, and he was able to join the Salem Rotary Club. Bob is just as happy as a Rotarian in the Salem Club today as he was when he first joined the Plattsburgh Club in 1960. He still finds the fellowship and service just as fulfilling as ever before. Bob has selected John Fisher to share next week.

Rotarian NEWS...

  • Suzanne O’Brien asked the Club to get the word out about our scholarship applications. So far only one application has been received.
  • Mark Shaw shared that his 35th anniversary as a Rotarian is coming up on April 1. John Fisher, who joined our meeting from Mark’s house in Florida, was his sponsor.
  • Liz Bradt thanked Jason Consalvo for helping her with her PPP forgiveness application.
  • Leslie Levesque shared that Gabi Yetter sent copies of their children’s books to the Phoenix School for their participation in the meeting last week.
  • Jason Consalvo gave an update on the parenting during a pandemic front. His kids told them that he and Kerri were not fun, and Jason was crowned the King of Mad.
  • Gerrit Bradley announced that his daughter Willa is taking her driver’s test next week. Fasten your seat belts!

Club Announcements

 
Salem Rotary Scholarship Applications Are Posted!
The 2021 scholarship applications are now available on our website. The Scholarship Committee is already working to promote this opportunity to seniors. Please help get the word out in any way you can and direct interested applicants to the “download files” section of our homepage on the bottom right for the applications. Applicants must be residents of Salem, Massachusetts and may not be the child, grandchild, niece, nephew, great niece or great nephew (this includes adoptive or step relationship) of any current member of Salem Rotary, or any person that has been a member of Salem Rotary within the past five years. These scholarships are available to grade 12 high school and trade school students pursuing college or a vocational trade. Applications will be accepted from February 24 through April 10, 2021.
 
Upcoming Speakers
Apr 06, 2021
Founder, Sail Beyond Cancer North Shore
Apr 27, 2021
President, Salem State University
May 04, 2021
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Viktoria Talebian
April 14
 
Richard Moore
April 17
 
Michael McLaughlin
April 19
 
Gerrit Bradley
April 21
 
Sue O'Brien
April 22
 
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Russell Hampton
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Tuesdays at 12:15 PM
Hawthorne Hotel
18 Washington Square
Salem, MA 01970
United States of America
We are currently meeting via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to returning to the Hawthorne Hotel soon! In the meantime, please email president@salemrotary.com for our Zoom link.
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