january newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
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New Year. New Resolutions. New Beginnings. When the calendar
flips, we each reflect upon our year. We remember the highs and
lows, the successes and failures, our mistakes and lessons. We get
stronger, wiser, smarter. We dedicate ourselves to new workout
regimens, diets and financial plans. We feel a sense of newness and
hope. It is wild how much a single day changing—from December 31
to January 1—can create such a restored sense of self. If you’re like
me though, these resolutions can come toppling down by February or March. It’s hard to stay
focused and dedicated. We need people to help us.
How can we apply these concepts to our Rotary Club? What new projects, plans or goals will we
have? How can we make a resolution—a commitment—to make a difference in our club, in our
community, in someone else’s life? We have each other to rally around and make things happen.
Perhaps we can each commit to sponsoring one new member in 2015. Perhaps it is attending one
service project each month. Whatever you feel passionate about, share it with each other in the club,
go at a goal together, and let’s accomplish some truly great things in 2015!
Special points of
interest:
Looking forward
New Year, New
Beginning
Guest Speaker
In this issue:
President’s Piece 1
Guest Speaker:
CYP
2
2015 New
Beginnings
3
Rotary Awareness 4
Member’s Page
5
Flyers 6
Rotary District 7
Future Events 8
Rotary Club of the Blue Ridge - New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
R O TA RY R E F L E C T I O N S
New Gen Scorecard
Members 42
Avg Attnd 59.72%
(As of November 2014)
Pres ident ’ s Piec e
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Roanoke, VA – December 3, 2014
LeeAnn Reich who is the Executive
Director for the Community Youth
Program (CYP) at St. John’s Episcopal
Church. The mission of CYP is to
encourage learning and the development
of a positive self-image and to provide a
network of support for students in grades
4-8 and their families. CYP was started in
1998 and is in the 16th year of its
program.
Unlike most afterschool programs, the
students can come from any Roanoke City
Public School, it is kept intentionally
small, and so they can focus and make the
greatest impact on a small group of high-
need students. The program is also free,
and involvement continues after 6pm.
CYP serves 30 students with an age range
of grades 4-8, 100% of the students
qualify as low income families, and they
attend 8 different schools throughout the
city. CYP go through a referral from
Roanoke City teachers, staff, word of
mouth, and also from friends of families.
These students are limited and face
numerous barriers in regards to be able to
A fte r S c ho o l A i d
New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
Guest Speaker: LeeAnn Reich
The Community Youth
Program
attend larger afterschool programs; these
include low income single parent
households, have no mode of
transportation, homeless, and have
disabilities and some students receive
special education.
The Community Youth Program breaks
these barriers by transporting students to
and from the program, provide snacks,
homework help, activities, dinner, and
events such as bimonthly Family Nights,
Summer Programming and College
Events.
The families of the students that
participate in this program contribute
back to the program to help with the
success of their child. The families give
back to the program by donating money,
snacks, time, and providing transportation
to other students. CYP have also built
partnerships with different organizations,
they include United Methodist
Community Outreach Program, Blue
Ridge Behavioral Healthcare, Family
Service of Roanoke Valley, St. John’s
Episcopal Church, Roanoke City Public
Schools, and MemberOne Federal Credit
Union. Also, volunteers to the program
have come from St. John’s Episcopal
Church, Jefferson College of Health
Sciences, VT School of Medicine, and
other colleges, high schools and people
throughout the community.
The fact is that 18% of k-12 youth are
responsible for taking care of themselves
after school, and research has shown that
most juvenile crimes occur between 3-7
p.m. Monday-Friday. This is why the
Community Youth Program has shown
that they are not only beneficial for the
community, but also greatly needed for
the positive effect on the high-need youth
of our community. They offer an alternate
of having to be by themselves or engage
in activities with serious consequences,
research by Afterschool Alliance has also
shown that students who participate in
high-quality afterschool programs have
better attendance in school, improved
behavior, and perform better on tests and
have better grades.
They need help though, and this is where
Rotary can become more involved. They
need more people to get involved, spread
the word, and donations to the program.
More information is available at http://
www.cyproanoke.org and on facebook
CYPatStJohns. If you are looking to get
involved please contact LeeAnn Reich at
540.309.6300.
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Ke e p Yo u r Goa l s A l iv e
New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
Some would consider New Year resolutions like a fad diet, you start with going all in, and as time goes on the focus fades and then
finally you give up on it. Most people go into the new year with the ―New Year, New Me‖ attitude, and while this is a good way to
start fresh and change your lifestyle, attitude or life as a whole we do not sit and draw up a plan of how to achieve these goals and
expectations of ourselves.
First, you have to come up with a concrete plan, just because you have a plan it doesn’t always mean it will be successful. When you
really think about a concrete plan, it not only embeds itself in your memory, but it also makes it harder and some would say guilty to
break because of the commitment to yourself and the time it took you to develop this plan.
Second, make yourself have a reward or a consequence. When saying make consequences, I mean really make it something that will
affect you in some way. When you have a motivational factor to back your plan then you will be more likely to complete your goal
than fail at it.
Third, recognize obstacles or some might call them ―temptations‖ before you put the plan into effect. We all know there will be ob-
stacles that will block or distract us on our way to successfully accomplish our goals, but if we can recognize some of these things
that might hamper our path then we can be prepared to deal with them as they come along. It is good to be proactive and reactive no
matter the situation, but the key is to be both.
Finally, seek support. Goals are achieved at a higher rate when you have the support of others (family, friends, co-workers, etc.) or a
group that are seeking the same goal. This would be the time to find a mentor, we all can learn from somebody who has completed
the road that we are only beginning to travel.
Is this a guarantee that you will be successful at all goals you have laid out for yourself in the New Year? Of course not, but if you
take the necessary proactive steps before you try and conquer the world then it has to be more successful than not. This is the beauty
of New Generations, because we find an objective or goal, then we put it through the 4 – way test to make sure it fits the criteria of
Rotary. We have the support of our club members with the same goals, and we come together to brainstorm and use our personal
strengths/skills to work through any obstacles that may land in front of us.
So here’s to our Rotary Family and to all the goals we have set for the new year, the only request is that we all show support
throughout the year to help New Generations be the most successful it can be.
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New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
A new year as stated by Daniel always means new beginnings, and a chance to learn new things to improve your life. What a
better time for Rotary Awareness Month?
Let’s celebrate Rotary Awareness Month by learning, or retraining members on the history of Rotary, programs, and raise
awareness of our club’s projects and events among the community.
We can also learn from other Rotarians as we all have a story or an experience while being apart of Rotary that will be able to
educate and inspire us to be better Rotarians. Rotary is like a classroom , those who participate and learn will help not only the
community, but also helps acceptance of yourself, boost your confidence and change your life and those around you in a short
amount of time.
We as young professionals have to be ready to take a hold of the torch as it is being passed to us not only in the professional
world, but also within our community. The people before us did a lot to give us what we not only needed, but what we wanted in
life. It was to make our life’s easier than theirs, and for us to have more opportunities than what they did at our age. Also, they
did the same for the community around them, and wanted a better life for not only their children but they took pride in
developing a better life for those in the community also.
This is our time to shine and to step up to show we are ready to take the reigns to continue to build on the foundation of what has
already been laid. Are you ready to lead, or will we just continue to follow somebody else?
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New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
No Member’s Minute this month, because
honestly I forgot to contact anybody until the
last minute. (My fault)
Just to remind people this is a section that
you can tell us more about yourself, and
other fun facts you would like to share.
This is just a fun way to get to know every-
body in the group, and I promise we will
have one next month.
Member’s Minute
The Social Network
We live in an age where technology has made socializing a little more easier, but
nothing really beats being able to get together and unwinding after a long,
strenuous week of what our jobs and other responsibilities in our lives.
This is a time we can come together as a group and converse among each other
while escaping reality for a little time out of our lives. This is also a time to take
advantage of really meeting new people and learning about new things, offer
advice or support to others.
I guess you could call a social experiment, since our last social went pretty well, it
has been discussed to continue to build upon that in the future. This is a time to
put away work, Rotary and other responsibilities and just enjoy the company.
We would like to schedule the next social for January 30 at 6pm, we encourage
everybody to come out have a good time and enjoy the time with others, and it is
an open invitation.
“Celebrate what you want to see
more of.”
~Tom Peters
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New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
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New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
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New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
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Celebrating 100 Years
of
Rotary District
Conference
The 61st
Conference
at
The Homestead
Distr ic t Convent ion 2015
S a v e t h e D a t e
M a r c h 1 3 - 1 5 , 2 0 1 5
New Generation January 2015 Volume 1, Issue 6
Hot Springs, Virginia
540.839.1766
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We’re on the Web
http://www.rotaryblueridge.org/
400 Salem AVE, 2C
Roanoke, VA 24016
President: Daniel Bliley
E-mail: [email protected]
Rotary of the Blue Ridge - New
Generations
What The Future Holds Roanoke Area Events
1/31-Oyster Roast
Birthdays Shawn McMahon 27-January
January 2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 Rotary Meeting 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 Rotary Meet-
ing
22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Rotary
01/07-Rotary Meeting 6pm
Guest Speaker: Happy Healthy Foods
01/21-Rotary Meeting 6pm
01/30-Rotary Social 6pm
January 2015 New Generation Volume 1, Issue 6