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Club Announcements:
Happy New Year! May you stay safe and happy!
The Rotary Club of North Jackson will resume meetings via Zoom on January 5, 2021, due to the continuing high rate of COVID-19cases in Mississippi. Zoom meetings will continue until a resumption of in-person meetings is authorized by the club's officers and directors.
Zoom meeting invites with the link and password will be sent to all club members on Mondays. The Zoom meetings will continue to start at noon on Tuesdays with club member fellowship with the meeting starting at 12:15 p.m. If you have any issues connecting to the Zoom meeting, please email Past President Greg Campbell at gregcampbell2@comcast.net.
We reserve the first 15 minutes for fellowship and give our speakers nearly 30 minutes for their presentations.
Birthdays and Anniversaries.
Birthdays
None
Wedding Anniversaries:
None
Membership Anniversaries
Jim Almas 36 years, January 1
Mark Kennedy 42 years, January 1
John Dorsa 11 years, January 5
Prayer. Almighty and eternal God, at the outset of this new year, we are grateful that you are not beholden to the changing seasons and rapidly turning calendar. As we experience transitions in life, we find comfort in the constancy of your love and grace. We are grateful that in the year now ended, we have dwelled securely in your providence. Help us now to enter in the new year with confidence and undiminishing hope, grounded in abiding faith.
Bless our food and fellowship that we may be strengthened in body and enriched in spirit. We pray with grateful anticipation of your continued favor. Amen.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson provided Christmas gift bags to the Pre-K students at Walton Elementary School in Jackson recently. The gift bags included the "We Are In a Book" book, a coloring book, crayons, beginner pencils and candy. Shown are Lee Carney, President; Neelam Goel, Foundations Chair; Bill Osborne, Public Relations Director and Greg Campbell, Immediate Past President.
Neelam Goel, Bill Osborne, Lee Carney
Neelam Goel and Greg Campbell
Book and Book Plate
Crayons and Coloring and Sticker Book
Christmas Card for the students
From the left: Bill Osborne, Lee Carney, Teacher Tamesha Ross, Teacher Tora Jones, Neelam Goel, Greg Campbell, Principal Zackery Hodge
Tommy Lofton, Executive Director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s December 15 meeting. Lofton was previously on the staff of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. He is a native of Mississippi and a graduate of the University of Sothern Mississippi.
The Mississippi Armed Forces Museum is located on Camp Shelby south of Hattiesburg. Lofton gave a history of the museum and discussed the exhibits that it has. He said that those exhibits go from the War of 1812 to the present day. He invited club members to visit when they can saying that the museum is open 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Tuesdays - Saturdays, and most patriotic holidays. It is closed Sundays and Mondays and most Federal And State holidays. Admission is free.
We thank Lofton for his presentation and for his service to the citizens of Mississippi. The video of the December 15 meeting can be viewed at the following link: https://vimeo.com/491910850. The following photo is of Lofton during his presentation:
Jill Gordon, founder and CEO of Enrich MS spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson on the "Dangers of Vaping" at the club's December 8, 2020 meeting. Gordon founded Enrich MS in 2019. The following background information is from the organization's website:
"Our Mission. Our mission is to provide a community-supported Youth enrichment education program committed and dedicated to engaging and informing youth, parents, schools, and community partners. Enrich MS is already making a substantial impact in our communities across the state towards prevention for a variety of issues affecting our youth today. We have a clear vision and specific strategies to greatly reduce vaping, educate on the dangers of substance abuse, suicide prevention, social media use, and a variety of youth-related issues.
School Programs. Enrich MS has launched a program in Central MS for youth enrichment beginning with Vaping prevention. We also continually expand by offering programs on social media use and suicide prevention. We have a Peer to Peer Youth Leadership Team for high school and middle school kids. Enrich MS covers the entire state utilizing the best technology possible. To learn more about our youth leadership team click here...https://enrichms.org/youth-leadership-team
Speaking engagements and community outreach. Enrich MS hosts small group and virtual events throughout our communities and have a panel of experts lead discussions on these topics to provide answers and resources. We invite parents, youth, and other community leaders to further our mission and provide evidence-based quality information. Our community and business partners are featured and invited to these events as well. Invite us to speak to your group so we can work on enriching the lives of the youth of Mississippi together."
Gordon discussed the extent of vaping among students. She said that youth start vaping as early as the 5th grade. She emphasized the dangers of vaping with the example of a young man who had a seizure as the result of inhaling harmful chemicals in the vapor of an e-cigarette he smoked. Vaping is addictive, particularly the nicotine in the e-cigarettes, and e-cigarettes can be used to deliver harmful drugs as happened with the young man. Vaping among youth is now an epidemic. Since 2010, vaping among students has increased by 1700% and it has doubled in the past year. In January 2021, Enrich MS will be presenting a Virtual Vaping Summit. The summit's purpose is to increase awareness and share resources that address the vaping epidemic.
We thank Gordon for her presentation and for her work to protect our youth. She is shown during her presentation in the following photo:
The recording of the club's meeting, including her presentation, is available at the following website https://vimeo.com/489023052.
