Tuesday August 9th Lunch Meeting

 
         
        
 
Past District Governor and Youth Protection Officer, Bill Rupp, Esq conducted a Youth Protection Seminar today as our program. 
Thank You, Bill
 
 
President Jill Abbott, PDG Bill Rupp, Esq and visiting AG Tamahra Ellerbe
 
 
 
 
 
Spoke
 
Englewood Rotary Club – August 9, 2016
Meeting Location: Crowne Plaza, Englewood
Presiding:  Jill Abbott
Recorder:  Steve Wiessner
Birthdays/Anniversaries: None Noted
Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Visiting Rotarians: Former club President Ikuyo Yanagisawa, our Assistant Governor Tamara Ellerby, Jerry Kotch of the Rotary Club of Tenafly, and guest speaker and Past District Governor William Rupp
Announcements:
President Jill Abbott made the following announcements:
  1. She welcomed Joyce Grossbard back from Japan
  2. The Vocational Assembly will occur on October 5
  3. The UN Day will be November 12
  4. The Rotary Foundation seminar will be held on October 18 and a fundraiser will occur on November 15
  5. She also noted that August is membership month and encouraged members to make our regular monthly evening get together at the Crowne Plaza that will occur on the last Tuesday of the month, which is August 30th
Jill then introduced Jerry Kotch of the Rotary Club of Tenafly, who pitched an upcoming fundraiser his club supports which is a gold outing on September 21st at 11:00 am at the Valley Brook Golf Course in River Vale. Funds raised for the golf outing will benefit the Fight Against LGL Leukemia (which he noted is a rare form of cancer that his 30 year old grandson has unfortunately contracted) and the Office of Concern Food Pantry.  It is $175 per player for 18 holes of golf, and contact Jerry at (201) 310-0080 or at gkotch@optonline.net to make a reservation or for more information.
 
Jill then introduced Joe Klyde who explained the new Fundraising through Fineraising program that was mentioned a few weeks back.  Essentially Joe will start enforcing fines for infractions that will include but not be limited to:
  1. Attending the luncheon late
  2. Not wearing your pin
  3. Not wearing your name tag
  4. Having your name in the local newspaper
  5. Having your cell phone go off during the luncheon
Joe noted a $1 per infraction fine, and mentioned that based on that metric the club would have raised between $30-$40 at the day’s luncheon.  Joe and Jill emphasized that this is supposed to be a fun way to raise money for the club, and most (but not all) in the room seemed supportive of the idea.  Joe expects to start enforcing the rules soon, and offered “immunity” for fines for a $40 donation to the club which was exercised by Joyce Dudley Hamilton and Lisa Wisotsky, who each provided Joe with $40 checks during the luncheon.  Joe will generate a list of fines and share with Eileen O’Driscoll who will place on the website.
 
Paul Farrell mentioned a seminar that he will be hosting called “Understanding Social Security” which will be at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, September 5th at the Englewood Public Library. RSVP to Catherine Mangano at (201) 569- 7610 or catherine.mangano@edward jones.com by 9/2.
 
Janet Sharma was interviewed by NJTV today (Tuesday) about the Age-Friendly Englewood project she leads. It should be on Channel 13 at 5:30 PM and again at 6:00 PM on Channel 8 (NJTV) if you have Cablevision.  Check your listings if you have another service.
 
Jill will be in Australia for the next two weeks, so next week’s luncheon will be led by President- Elect Jennie Katsaros and the 8/23 luncheon will be presided over by Vice President Jay Wolf. 
 
Therefore there will be no August Board meeting, with the next Board meeting being scheduled for September 20th.
 
Program:
Past District Governor Bill Rupp gave a youth protection seminar as the luncheon program, noting that all in attendance by listening to his presentation have received the requisite training (but not screening) for Rotary District 7490.  He also noted our interest in starting a Youth Exchange Program and said that our involvement in initiating that program (along with Interact and RYLA) would necessitate those involved to be trained and screened before working extensively with youth.
 
Depending on the Rotarians involvement with youth, everyone working with children will need to be trained, and those with more direct involvement with youth may require screening which entails a criminal background check.
 
Bill noted several reasons why it was in the best interest of the club and its members to engage in youth protection protocols, namely to:
  1. Demonstrate that we are committed to the welfare of the youth that participate in Rotary sponsored activities
  2. Prevent incidents before they occur
  3. Reduce liability of the club and its members, and reduce overall risk, and therefore protecting the club
  4. Strengthen trust that we are mindful of the potential concerns involving working with youth
  5. Because Rotary International requires clubs to do it (RI has a zero tolerance policy towards abuse and harassment)
Bill went through 10 True/False questions with club members explaining some of the finer details about what is considered abuse and/or harassment. 
 
He then noted some steps that the club could take to prevent abuse:
  1. Adopt a youth protection policy
  2. Select, train and screen appropriate volunteers to work with youth
  3. Provide support and communication to encourage acceptable behavior and adherence to policies
Bill noted that our district 7490 adopted a youth protection policy in 2012 based Rotary International’s guidelines.  Bill is the district representative regarding this issue, and he retains all records regarding trainings/screenings and should be contacted if there are questions or concerns.
 
Bill then went over a number of Rotary specific activities and noted some that require training and others that require both training and screening.  A portion of the list includes:
  1. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)
  2. Gift of Life hosts
  3. Interact/React advisors
  4. Youth Exchange counselors
  5. Drivers of youth to Rotary functions and activities
  6. Anyone that works with youth especially in an unsupervised setting (i.e. the Dictionary project, job shadowing/mentoring and other youth centric activities)
Bill then closed his presentation with a long list of things to look out for to identify signs of abuse which are too long to list here, but there is a wealth of information including policies and volunteer applications contained on the District’s Youth Protection portion of their website at:
 
 
50-50: With 39 cards in the deck and $118 in the pot, Florence Marchi picked the 8 of Diamonds
 
Attendance:  21 out of 72, 29%
 
Upcoming Programs:
August 16      Cathy Levine, Marketing Manager of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will
                        be here along a live cellist who will perform for club members at the luncheon
August 23      JoEllen Knie will discuss issues surrounding elder abuse