The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph met with a good crowd of about 34 present this Wednesday, June 24 at the beautiful Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art. 3 guests for our program from Pivotal Point were present.
Spanky and Buckwheat's catering provided a buffet of baked potato, chicken, mixed vegetables, and apple cobbler. Thank you to Jeanne Chavez for assisting Rick Lipira with getting our leftovers to Pivotal Point.
Black Bowls donations for this quarter (4/1 to 6/30) go to Camp Geiger Scout camperships. Members can contribute on our Square site online or bring the cash to meetings. A new black bowls recipient will be announced at the 7/1 meeting for the first quarter of the new Rotary year.
5 members of the club travelled down to Lee's Summit last night for their meeting and 2026-2027 officer installation/district officer installation. Be sure to check out the photo album (above towards the top of the newsletter) for some glamour shots of our Saint Joseph Rotarians.
The 2026-2027 District 6040 Governor (beginning 7/1) will be Amy Chinnery-Valmassei. The Rotary International President will be Olayinka Hakeem Bobalola of Nigeria.
Wednesday, July 1... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph 2026-2027 Officer Installation (at our regular club meeting)
Thursday, July 16: July Rotary club social at Il Lazzarone from about 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Save the date... Friday, November 6: District 6040 Rotary Foundation Dinner at the Carriage Club in Kansas City... event chair is Saint Joseph Rotarian Shelly Hulet
Past District Governor Don Gladhart was presented with his Paul Harris Fellow +8 recognition at this week's meeting. Way to go, Don!
Thank you to everyone for your support of The Rotary Foundation this Rotary year. We will have over $31,000 in contributions to the Annual Fund and over $4,000 in contributions to PolioPlus in 2025-2026. All of this makes a difference in being able to complete district grants, global grants, and to eradidicate polio.
The final results are in for the 2026 Purple Pinkie Polio Eradication Fundraiser, and I am thrilled to share that together we raised $1,200,788 for Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.
Every dollar will support the fight to eradicate polio worldwide. Thanks to the dedication of Rotary members, partners, and supporters, we are now down to just two endemic countries. The finish line is in sight.
Over a dozen Rotarians from Argentina arrived in Kansas City for the FIFA World Cup as part of a friendship exchange program through the international organization.
Rotary families from KC metro clubs are opening their homes as part of this program
The travelers were greeted by their host families at Kansas City International Airport, where the reunion was anything but a meeting of strangers, despite many coming face to face for the first time.
The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph's 2025-2026 District Grant project has been to install an accessible outdoor area for the new Day Program at Life Unlimited's St. Joseph location.
The following Rotarians shared Happy Bucks at this week's meeting:
Tim Curry for his wife Susie noting that our Rotary parties are more fun now that women are Rotarians (and for her recent birthday)
Jodi Flurry for her son attending Navy ROTC boot camp at Auburn
Dana Matt for being happy to sit next to Jeanne Chavez at Rotary
Bill McCammon for his son Luke's MoWest e-sports team being cancelled (well, that's not a happy thing)... BUT, he is being recruited by Mizzou
Marci Bennett-Hazelrigg for an encouragement to Luke McCammon to attend Mizzou
Matt Porter for taking his family to the World Cup match featuring Curacao and Ecuador
Nick Gertsema for the Gene Field bridge finally opening up
Don Gladhart for our speaker, Rick Lipira of Pivotal Point
Erik McGuire for the News Press coverage of Scout Camp and Maggie not being married yet
This Week's Program
Rick Lipira, Executive Director of Pivotal Point, presented this week's program.
Rick has a background in construction. Pivotal Point is inspired by the story of the good Samaritan, helping others. Their focus is providing both housing and life skills to people who need a boost.
Pivotal Point currently has 18 adult apartments on Parkway A, 12 apartments for 17-20 year-olds on Gene Field Rd., and a graduate house on Renick.
Program participants apply and have to meet the criteria of being clean and sober, and also employed or imminently employable. Pivotal Point assists with case management, budgeting, and life skills, in addition to providing housing for 3-4 months, depending on the individual.
They are always looking for supporters and volunteers. The fundraising gala will be in the fall.
