Kristin Keller, Club President, welcomed members and visitors to the meeting
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag.
Announcements:
Jacob Hunt's new baby has arrived! Lucy Kate arrived on 1/29/23 at 1:29pm. Congratulations Jacob, Catherine and Gracie Mae!
Round up for Rotary at the Piggly Wiggly will be officially launched March 11. That is the weekend of the St. Patricks parade so expectation is that the market will be busy.
March 18 is Wing Fest at Shelter Cove. We will be able to work some shifts to earn monies toward our Island Rec Center commitment.
Welcome to guests Eric Smith, Cory Smith and Lew Wessel
Suzi Oliver collected Happy $$.
Speaker:
Rose Fotia, the founder of The Children's Relief Fund was our speaker.
The Children's Relief Fund was started as a result of the birth of Rose's special needs son. The first project that they tackled was to develop a special needs camp at the Island Rec Center. Called "Challenge Camp", it serves special needs persons up to 21 years old. Rose shared that when her son was born, his life expectancy was 5 years, however he lived to 12 years old. He had disabilities, plus many medical problems. He passed away in 2000, but his legacy lives on in the ongoing mission of the organization. On a visit to Charleston, Rose stayed at a Ronald MacDonald House and saw an accessible playground and brought that idea back to Hilton Head Island. The Rec Center built one. The original playground had to be torn down and has been replaced by a much better playground. The Children's Relief Fund is the main funding source for Special Olympics - they give $50,000 which stays here in the area. They get all the kids membership to the Rec Center so they can use the pool and facility to stay fit. The organization is run by all volunteers and no one gets paid. They have seen many miracles over the years. The organization used to have a large gala to raise funds with 300 - 400 people attending, but after many years have had to down size. They will be having a Wine Dinner and Auction Saturday February 11. They support many other children's organization, like $20,000 to Heroes on Horseback for scholarships. There are over 1,000 kids locally that have benefitted from this organization. For more information check thechildrensrelieffund.org for more information.