Paul didier and the new united way of santa barbara county
Paul Didier, the president and CEO of United Way of Santa Barbara County since 1974 has seen huge changes in his organization. Not being bound by rules of a national organization, the local United Way has changed from collecting payroll deductions and distributing the money to local charities that ask for it to being a leader in the fields of education, health and financial empowerment.
Besides funding local organizations working in United Way's fields of focus, they create special projects that integrate the efforts of the various organizations they work with and coordinate everyone's efforts to reach a common goal.
Paul is especially excited about what they are doing to improve the education of children of low income families, especially those that do not speak English at home. Our members were excited about what he was saying and extended the question and answer session after the presentation until 6:45. Truly inspiring.
Pres. John's Announcements
We will be hosting a Basic PERLS class next month. PDG Wade Nomura will be presenting the two hour class for Rotarians who would like to improve their public speaking, time-management and organizational skills. The class will be in the Grange Hall on Monday, October 17, not Tuesday 10/18 as originally announced. The Grange was not available that day. There is no charge for the class, but you must sign up with President John.
Foundation Challenge. The Rotary Foundation got its start with a contribution of $26.50 one hundred years ago. In honor of the anniversary, the Rotary Foundation has challenged all Rotarians to contribute $26.50 toward their goal of raising $300 million in their Centennial year. Please make your check payable to Los Olivos Rotary Club Foundation and give it to Gabi or Brendan. Our foundation will send one check for all our members.
OTHER Announcements
John Reese again sent around sign up lists for the pot luck dinner for District Governor Nick Frankle's official visit on Sept 22. The club will provide tri-tip and members are asked to bring beans, salad or salad for a traditional Santa Maria Style BBQ. Desserts are already over-subscribed.
Dean has improved the web app that assigns members to bring snacks, give the invocation, be the greeter or tech each week. The system now sends an email to everyone assigned a task at either of the next two meetings. There is a link in the email that will take you to a web page that shows all the assignments for the next eight weeks. If you will not be able to perform your assigned task, please arrange to swap dates with someone and let Dean know so he can update the site.
If you want to know when you will be assigned a task, click on Member Jobs under Member Links on the menu bar of the website, or click
here. Choose Members at the top of the page then scroll down to your name and click it. The dates shown are approximate and will change as new members join or other leave.