Eternal God, we acknowledge your gift of yet another day of life in which we can receive and implement your blessings. Having entered the month of September with its Rotary designation as New Generations Month, we give thanks for the hundreds of teenagers and young adults involved in Interact and Rotaract throughout the world, and for all youngsters involved in children's programs of various kinds. We pray for their leaders and teachers who share their wisdom and experience.
As schools have opened in our own community we pray for students, teachers, and administrators committed to imparting knowledge and moral values to our children. Protect our youngsters from physical harm and from evil influences.
Indwell our presence now as we share food and fellowship. Help us to be always mindful of the divine Source of all our blessings. Amen.
Club Announcements:
1. Please note that there will not be a regular noon meeting on October 22. Instead, we will meet noonish on Thursday, October 24 at the St. Dominic facility on the I55 North Frontage Road to participate in the Rotary Inter-national World Polio Day event. Box lunches will be served. The building is between Lakeland and Eastover Dr. There will be more details later.
2. The Rotary Club of North Jackson Blood Drive will be Tuesday, November 12. Please be alert for details.
Mr. Ray Harrigill, owner and managing member of Sunray Companies, LLC made a donation to the Rotary Club of North Jackson for the Club’s Polio Plus project at the club’s September 3 meeting. Polio Plus s the international project of Rotary International which has committed over $1 billion to eradicate polio. The project has successfully reduced the number of global Polio Cases from 350,000 annually to less than 30. The only two countries that have experienced polio in 2019 are Pakistan and Afganistan. Mr. Harrigill (left) is shown in the following photo presenting his donation to Club Administrative Secretary-Treasurer Don Roberts. We sincerely thank Mr. Harrigill for his generous donation.
Jamie McBride, Assistant District Attorney for Hinds County spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s August 27, 2019 meeting. Mr. McBride has worked in District Attorney’s offices for over 17 years in Rankin, Hinds, and Madison counties. He is a native of New Jersey and a graduate of Mississippi College School of Law. He is one of 10 Assistant District Attorneys in the office of the Hinds County District Attorney. Per their website, “Our job is to prosecute cases and assist in bringing justice for the victims and put away the "Worst of the Worst".
Mr. McBride discussed the organization and activities of the District Attorney’s office and the challenges that it faces. The key challenge he cited was the high number of homicides in Hinds County. He cited that most of them are gun-related and they involve adolescent or recently post-adolescent males. He said that the county had 89 homicides in 2018 and that we are ahead of that rate in 2019. He discussed and described the Grand Jury system and how youth offenders are handled in the court system.
We thank Mr. McBride for his presentation and for his service to the citizens of Hinds County. He (center) is shown in the following photo with Club President Greg Campbell (left) and Club Member Larry Anderson (right) who introduced him.
Hall Carter, Executive Director of the Mississippi Kidney Foundation spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s September 3, 2019 meeting. She spoke about the Foundation and its goal to assist and aid kidney disease sufferers. Per their website, “the mission of the Mississippi Kidney Foundation, chartered in 1965, is to serve Mississippi kidney patients by providing quality programs and services, to provide public education and screening to promote the prevention of kidney disease, and to promote organ donation throughout the state.”
In her talk, Ms. Carter discussed some of the causes and effects of kidney disease. The two most prevalent causes were diabetes (types 1 & 2) and high blood pressure. The effect is that people with kidney disease must undergo dialysis several times weekly. She also said that kidney disease requires a 4 hr. dialysis treatment and that many patients are unable to continue working because of the time commitments for dialysis. Per Ms. Carter, African-Americans have a much higher incidence of kidney disease than other racial groups.
The MS Kidney Foundation holds several fundraising events annually, including the Uptown Drawdown in the spring and a 5 k walk in early fall. The details of the 2019 5k walk from the Foundation’s website are as follow:
The Kidney Walk will be held on Saturday, September 28, 2019, with registration at 8:30 a.m. and the walk beginning at 9 a.m.
The 5k route runs through the Fondren neighborhood in Jackson, MS. The 2019 Kidney Walk will start and finish at Fondren Church – 3327 Old Canton Road, Jackson, MS, 39216.
The Kidney Walk is dedicated to the memory of Michael Rubenstein, a kidney transplant recipient. Thanks, Rube!
The 2019 Uptown Drawdown was held on March 2, 2019, at the Country Club of Jackson. The next event will be February 29, 2020, again at the Country Club of Jackson.
The Foundation will also be holding screenings in September. On September 7, one will be held in Pascagoula and one will be held in Jackson on September 21 at the Medical Mall.
We thank Ms. Carter for her talk, for her service to the citizens of Mississippi, and for her willingness to pinch-hit for our originally scheduled speaker who had a death in his family. She is shown in the following photo. Rotarian Matt Monsour, who is president of the Mississippi Kidney Foundation introduced her.
Former Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr. President of the 100 Black Men of Jackson, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club's August 20, 2019, meeting. Mayor Johnson informed members and guests about the 100 Black Men of Jackson that provides long-term mentor relationships for multiple stages of life to area youth that expand the possibilities of what can be achieved.
Club members provide expanded educational experiences and advocacy in the areas that significantly affect the community and addresses systemic issues and bridges opportunity gaps for African American youth. Mentoring begins in the third grade and continues through high school. The objective is to prepare the youth for life shills, be it work, community college, trade school or 4-year college.
The Jackson chapter was formed in 1990 and has 80 members. There are 10,000 members of the 100 Black Men of America in 100 chapters. At the 33-rd annual conference of the 100 Black Men of America June 12-16, 2019, in Las Vegas, NV, the Jackson Chapter was recognized as the Medium Chapter of the year. This is the fourth time that the Jackson Chapter has received this award.
100 Black Men mentors youth in five areas: Social Skills, Education, Healthy Roles, Economic Empowerment, and Leadership Development. The organization works with 9 Jackson Public Schools: Barr, Galloway & Walton Elementary schools, Hardy, Powell, and Brinkley Middle Schools, and Provine, Jim Hill, and Lanier High Schools.
We thank Mayor Johnson for his service to our City, in particular for his service to the youth of Jackson, and for his presentation to our club. He (second from left) is shown in the following photo with North Jackson Club President Greg Campbell (left), 100 Black Men of Jackson Executive Director John Hardy (second from right), and Rotary Club of North Jackson Director Larry Anderson (right) who introduced Mayor Johnson.
Three new members of the Rotary Club of North Jackson made vocational talks at the Club’s August 13, 2029, meeting. Those members are as follow:
Rita Sun, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Suzy Tubb, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Collier Graham, Attorney at Law
Ms. Sun is a native of China, as is her husband. She came to the US to pursue her Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Mississippi College. Her husband is also a native of China who came to further his education at Mississippi College. Ms. Sun owns her own financial advisory service, Wealth Management, LLC in Clinton.
Ms. Tubb is a native of Brandon, MS. She received her degree in Accountancy and her Masters in Taxation from the University of Mississippi and is a CPA with GranthamPoole in Ridgeland.
Mr. Graham, is a native of Meridian, MS, and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is an attorney and shareholder with Wise Carter Child & Carraway.in Jackson.
We welcome these three new members to our club, thank them for their service to the citizens of Mississippi, and for their presentations to our Club. They are shown in the following photo after their talks. From the left are Ms. Sun, Ms. Tubb, & Mr. Graham.
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about Volunteer Service Grants
Rotarian Dr. Charles Erickson traveled from Nebraska, USA to Zambia in order to provide medical care at an orphanage. Sponsored by Rotary clubs in both countries, Dr. Erickson performed hemoglobin determinations on 30 orphans. Nutritional counseling
was provided to patients at the local clinic and at general health education sessions. During his month-long stay, Erickson initiated a malaria control program, battling the number one health problem in the area. Through mutual collaboration, the host and international sponsoring clubs have formed a solid partnership and hope to implement many more projects together in the future. How do I determine how much to give now? – Every Rotarian, Every Year!
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Lights, camera, Rotaract!
The Rotaract Club of Jacksonville’s Beaches, Florida, USA
By Charlie Flynn
When I first walked into a meeting of the Rotaract Club of Jacksonville’s Beaches, I couldn’t have possibly known all the unique and rewarding experiences my involvement would afford me. I had no idea what was in store; the connections I would make, the communities I would serve, and the knowledge I would amass.
At the time, the club consisted of less than 10 people. I admired each and every person in the small group and wanted to get involved. They taught me that groups of all shapes and sizes can make a difference in their local and international community. Since then, the club has seen significant growth and now has a membership of over 80.
Our impact continues to grow as we strive to be the most impactful young professional group in the world through service, professional development, and meaningful relationships.
Beaches Rotaract members work on a project during the video shoot.
Along the way, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with Rotaractors and Rotarians around our city, district, country, and beyond. I love meeting these people, hearing their stories, learning how we can support each other, and reflecting on how closely we’re all aligned in our Service Above Self attitude. My service in Rotaract even allowed me to cross paths with a handful of representatives from Rotary International headquarters. They saw something in our club that reflects the direction that Rotary is headed. They saw diversity, flexibility, and professionalism. They saw future Rotarians.
When RI’s Young Leaders team reached out about filming a video, we were extremely honored. After all, we truly enjoy hanging out and serving together, so this was a really cool opportunity to showcase that. We hopped on a few conference calls, and soon enough the video production team traveled to Jacksonville Beach, Florida where we spent two full days shooting the video. We gave the production team a glimpse into the daily life of a Rotaractor: waking up, going to work, and attending a club meeting or service event. And we had so much fun doing it!
Our Rotaract club couldn’t be more honored for the opportunity to help promote the amazing work Rotaractors are doing around the world and the significant impact Rotaract has had on each of our lives. Thank you, RI, for giving us this platform to share our story and make a difference in our world.
We hope you enjoy the video! If you know someone wanting to get involved, please share it!
