Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Meeting Minutes from Prez Jim - 12/15/10

Hard to believe we are half way through December and only 2 1/2 weeks left in the year.

We had a short business meeting.

Circle "K"   Greg submitted a letter protesting the way dues are assessed for Circle "K" members. Thanks to him and Alan for their work on behalf of Circle "K".

Spouses Night Out   A big thank you to Lynn for organizing and to  Marvin and Sandy for hosting the Rough Risers after the Regents event.

Gery reported on the monies we have contributed to the Hawkeye Community College Foundation.  The funds are growing and we are able to achieve our objectives.

We presented our server, Mary, with a Rough Riser Cup for the great work she does for us.  There also was a monetary amount of approximately $ 275 give to her.

Members of the club wrapped presents for our Christmas Family.  Each  child received gifts in the amount of $ 75 approximately and the Mother received a $ 150 gift certificate.  As always Bob Nelson did a great job in putting all of this together.

In the battle for best job wrapping a difficult configured gift  Jerry won hands down with his work on wrapping a football.

I am making a request that when the meeting is being conducted and  most importantly when we have guest speakers we give the front of the room our attention and refrain from talking.  It is distracting not only to the speaker but also those in  attendance.

Next week will be our Christmas speaker and spreading good cheer as we  enter will be our greeter Jim Paprocki.

Have your best week ever !

Jim

Incredibly difficult question:    World wide what is the membership of Kiwanis - including the youth groups ?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Kiwanis Social at the Oster Regent is a GO!!!!

Yes, even though we have blizzard conditions here in Cedar Falls, our courageous leader, Jim Larson has deemed that we will proceed with our Kiwanis Social at the Oster Regent today.  The play, Uh Oh Here Comes Christmas, will begin at 2:00 as planned.  We will follow it with enjoying pie and comraderie at Marv's afterwards.

See you there.

Z

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Meeting Minutes from Prez Jim - 12/8/10

A Happy Birthday to Lynn Barnes - (12th) and a Thank You for putting together the "Spouses Night Out". Reminder that Marion has a couple of tickets if you or someone you know would like to go to the play this Sunday.

Nine members of the Circle "K" participated in the W'loo Jaycees "Gift of Giving" last week. They are also sponsoring a family for Christmas. It appears to me that what they lack in number they more than make up in quality! Also, a thanks to Greg for representing our club as an advisor.

Greg passed around a draft of a letter to be sent protesting the way dues for Circle "K" are set.

The Rough Risers endorsed the letter unanimously.

Kettle Corn sponsorship continues forward in a positive way. Over $10,000 has been collected or committed.

For those of you who did not have the opportunity we will pass the envelope for Mary at our next meeting.

We had an excellent presentation by representatives of the "Student Council for Exceptional Children" led by Christina Curran. We will be considering a contribution to this worthwhile project.

In discussion with some of the representatives they greatly appreciated the suggestions that were made from Club members.

Next week we will be wrapping gifts for the family we will be sponsoring.

Our greeter is appropriately enough Bob Nelson who has coordinated the Christmas Family project.

Have your best "shopping" week ever!

Jim

Monday, December 6, 2010

Notes from the Prez - 11/1/2010

The Gift of Giving Never Stops for the Kiwanis Rough Risers!

I just got back from a morning of helping on the Waterloo Jaycees "Gift of Giving" project. Kiwanis was well represented with seven members and a spouse plus nine from the Circle "K". The Gift of Giving project is an opportunity for children to go to Blain's Farm and Fleet to purchase gifts for people in their families. Adults are there to help guide their purchases and ensure that they total less than an identified amount.

What an opportunity to be able to watch not only the child assigned to me but the 50/60 other children experiencing the joy of giving to others. I doubt if Blain's has ever been more alive than it was this morning.

Once again being a member of the Kiwanis Rough Risers has given me/us the chance to help others and to experience the gift of giving.

At this time of celebration please take time to enjoy the season and experience it's true meaning.

Have your best Christmas ever!

Jim

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Kiwanis Partners with Waterloo Jaycees to Help Children Buy Christmas Gifts

One of the ways we make a difference in the Cedar Valley is to partner with the Waterloo JayCees to provide Waterloo children the opportunity to go shopping for Christmas gifts for their family.  We get up early in the morning. Ride buses with the children to Blain's Farm and Fleet. Help them shop within a budget. Get back on the buses. Return to the United Workers Hall. We wrap presents. We eat breakfast.  Most importantly of all, we all have fun.

Click on the articles to enlarge them to read.




Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Enhancing Preschool Children’s Diets
What's the Problem?
Children of the poor hardly get enough to eat -- let alone the proper nutrition. That's why Self-Help's feeding program is so important. We include QPM (Quality Protein Maize) in our porridge preferred cereal grain, QPM has double the usable protein as regular corn/maize. The rural poor in Nicaragua and Ghana don’t have access to sufficient levels of protein like we would in the United States ... and protein is so important for proper development of children

12 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition each year. Malnutrition, a gateway condition for many more serious diseases, is 100% treatable. Roughly 60% of children aged 6-months to 6-years in and around our rural feeding centers suffer from malnutrition. Effects of malnutrition in children, stunted growth, orange-tinted hair, patchy hair growth or general lethargy, are evident in the communities
 
What can be done? 
Since 2005, Self-Help has been conducting a feeding program featuring a once-a-day porridge meal using QPM (Quality Protein Maize). Thousands of children have beaten hunger and malnutrition because of it. Listless, glassy-eyed children are becoming increasingly active and alert. Their mothers speak highly of the progress that they see with their children. We are making a difference. But, we have always felt we could do better.
 
In 2009, Self-Help was introduced to an inexpensive vitamin supplement we could add to our porridge to make our meal more complete. Each tablet yields: (Percent daily values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.)

Vitamin D-3 100%             Pantothenic Acid 50%             Phosphorus 20% 
Manganese 50%                     Vitamin A 60%                    Vitamin C 100% 
Calcium 15%                               Iron 60%                          Vitamin E 50% 
Thiamine 70%                        Riboflavin 60%                        Niacin 70%
Vitamin B6 60%                        Folate 50%                        Vitamin B12 90% 
Biotin 50%                                 Iodine 50%                        Magnesium 30% 
Zinc 100%                                Copper 65%
  
How can I help? 
The cost for one packet which has six servings is only 10 cents! There are children who receive porridge 1,050 5-days-per-week, 48 weeks per year. That's 42,000 servings to children every year. The annual cost to serve vitamin packets in their QPM porridge is $4,200. In other words, it costs $4 per year for one child to provide vitamins, minerals and barley malt (makes the porridge thinner and sweeter). Our goal is to have a two-year supply of packets which would cost $8,400.
      * $16 feeds 4 children vitamins and minerals all year
      * $24 provides vitamins for 6 children 5x a week for a year
      * $60 purchases QPM AND vitamins for one child for an entire year
      * $2,100 buys vitamins for every child for one year that Self-Help serves
         in Ghana or Nicaragua

About Self-Help 
Self-Help is an international development organization based in Waverly, Iowa dedicated to helping people help themselves. Since 1959, it has helped tens of thousands of the world's poorest people win the battle with hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
Self-Help is a 501 (c)(3) designation so donations may be tax deductible.
703 Second Ave NW, Waverly, IA 50677
319-352-4040

Meeting Minutes from Prez Jim - 12/1/10

We had a full agenda for our business meeting. This is supposed to be our "downtime"?????

First of all a Happy Birthday to Jerry - that's today !

Gil presented the monthly treasurer's report - we are solvent.

Greg reported that Circle "K" has a Christmas family they are providing gifts for and 10 of them will be at the JC "Gift of Giving" this Saturday.

Work completed includes International approval our by-laws (thanks Steve) and our annual audit was completed (thanks to Dave and Nick). Also, a big thanks to Gil for his quality work in keeping our records accurate and timely..

Jerry reported the packages sent to his son in Afghanistan had arrived and beendistributed. A big thanks to the Rough Risers from this heroic group.
Jerry also announced we have received $ 1,000 form new sponsors. Our total commitments so far exceed $ 10,000. Just a great job by everyone !

Remember Spouse's Night Out is the 12th. If you have not received your tickets please see Gil.

Cindy indicated that work is progressing on the 2010/2011 Directory. The PR Committee is hoping to distribute sometime in late January.

The Board, at their November 30 meeting, elected to donate $ 750 to the Mama Lumka project and $750 to Self Help. Those funds will be distributed in mid 2011.

Leigh gave us a look see at our own Web Site (blog). Just an outstanding job by Leigh !

Please take a few minutes on a regular basis to review.

Our program schedule for December includes:
December 8 Student Council for Exceptional Children (this may be a project we will want to support).
December 14 Wrap presents for our Christmas Family
December 22 A Christmas speaker
December 29 "Round Table"
Our greeter on the 8th is Susan Loy.

Have your best week ever !

Jim

NOTE: On the 8th and 14th we will be passing an envelope for Mary as a big thank you for the service she provides.