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President Roger Sidoti welcomed the group. The patriotic song, God Bless America, was led by David Dix. Roger Kramer led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. The invocation was offered by Carol Crimi. Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Ann Moneypenny, of the Kent Chamber of Commerce, joined the meeting. Announcements: Justin Gates read a thank-you letter from Heather Malarchik of Main Street Kent, thanking us for our adopt a spot efforts. Kathy Myers reminded us that Amanda Rabinowitz from WKSU will be our speaker next week. She will talk about the way programs are prepared in this new era of covid-19. Guests will be welcome to join the meeting to hear Amanda’s presentation. Todd Kamenash told us we will all be invited to a special event on July 25, 2020 from 7 to 8:30 pm. More details will be forthcoming. Look for a survey eliciting suggestions regarding talents of members. David Myers is seeking suggestions for program presenters. Roger Sidoti indicated that the club is working on an outreach program to connect to members who haven’t been able to join our e-Club meetings. Also, members are working to set up a you-tube account for Rotary so we can access past programs. On June 30th we will hold the induction of new officers and new members. Program: Kathy Myers introduced today’s program which is presented by the Kent Rotary Foundation Board. The presenters will be Carol Crimi, Foundation chair, Matthew Carroll, Treasurer in training, and Paul Organ, past chair. Carol shared slides that covered the history and purpose of the Kent Rotary Foundation. She noted that we are not The Rotary Foundation. Our local foundation began in the early 80’s under the presidency of Glenn Saltzman and was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) during the presidency of David Dix. The purpose of the Foundation is to serve the charitable and educational needs of the greater Kent community. The primary source of funds has come from our annual auctions. In addition, the Foundation has received bequests from members. This year we will have a direct appeal for funds, since we are not able to hold our annual auction. Carol noted that the Foundation Board members include: Carol Crimi, Steven Belli, Nancy Whitehead(replacing Mary Beth Harper), Paul Organ, Sue Whiting, Matthew Carroll, Sharon Sledzik, Roger, Sidoti (ex-officio). Carol noted that the Foundation has followed specific distribution guidelines that support projects of our Club, Kent schools, and the community. The policy is to refrain from spending more than the annual revenue received. The application for funds requires a Rotary sponsor. We are all able to participate in the application process if we know of community needs that meet guidelines. The recent history of giving during the past two years has been in excess of $60,000 divided into three major categories of promotion of learning and literacy, alleviation of poverty, and health and wellness promotion. Matthew Carroll, who is preparing to take over as Treasurer, noted that the Foundation has over $329,000 in assets. He stated that some funds are invested in CDs and Money Market, some are in stock investments, and the remainder in cash. Matt shared that auction income over the past five years has been as follows: 2016 - $28,000; 2017 - $28,000; 2018 - $34,000; 2019 - $37,000; 2020 - $0. Paul Organ, past chair of the Foundation Board, talked about the goal of growing the principal of the Foundation so that more funds would be available on an annual basis to meet community needs. The Board would also like to emphasize estate gifts. The goal is to reach the $1 million dollar mark in Foundation assets. In fact, a letter will be coming out shortly telling all of us how we can donate to the Rotary Foundation. A later appeal will address the goal of building the principal of the Foundation. Response: Tom Myers gave kudos to the Foundation Board and their goals for the Foundation. He noted that many other Rotary clubs have foundations and our goals are in line with other clubs have achieved. He told us that the Kent Rotary Foundation is a good place to invest our funds. All of the funds go toward charitable efforts. There are no funds needed for administration. Respectfully submitted, Sue Hetrick
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