Dave Schapiro– Ed.
Our greeter this week was Jim Fournier, enthusiastically selling raffle tickets at the front desk. Our esteemed prez, Ken Dufour, began the meeting with an in-spired invocation, followed by a spirited salute to Old Glory, led by the ever-present Deane Bottorf.
ANNOUNCEMENTS -Just prior to being led to the trough, Norm Von Herzen announced that the membership jumped in and exceeded his $2,000 challenge, bene-fitting the Orange County CAP Center. Of note was Bruce Major’s contribution of $1,000 to the challenge. Bravo, Bruce! And thanks to these loyal members as well:
Bill Bechtel, Seymour Beek, Steve Pool, George Lesley, Leo Fracalosy, Jerry Nininger, Buddy Ryan, Mitch Mitchell, Mike Campbell, Mike Gertner, Tom Naughton, Bob Washer, John Kruse, Ed Romeo, Deane Bottorf, Dave Schapiro, Richard Swinney, Bob Kinton, Ken DuFour, Bob Wood and Jim Fournier. FANTASTIC!
Bob Wood announced the beginning of the 2019-20 professional football pool, with football books now available for sale at $24 for the first book; 2 books for $44; 3 for $60; 4 for $72; 5 for $80; and 10 for $160. This is a fundraiser for the District Exchange, but our club can also profit by our members purchasing them. Check-in with Dr. Bob, who will give you the details. The first game is scheduled for September 9, so try to get them before that date to get the full benefit.
President Ken announced that the next luncheon, on August 8, will be a special Ladies Day additional event. Our featured speaker that day will be Opal Singleton, the CEO of “A Million Kids”, the organization which focuses on human trafficking, a serious form of child abuse. Our club has committed $40,000 to “A Million Kids.” Invite your better halves and very significant others to hear what Opal has to offer.
After lunch, Leo Fracalosy commented that Wally Ziglar is progressing well from his previous surgery and that he is planning on coming back in a couple of weeks.
PROGRAM—Mitch Mitchell introduced our speaker, Angela Wise, a Corporate and Community Engagement Manager for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, who was here to increase our awareness of what Make-a-Wish does and how they do it. What is not common knowledge is that Make-a-Wish is no longer just a foundation that assists terminally ill children; in fact, 70% of wish recipients live to adulthood! The mission of Make-a-Wish is to empower those individuals who have had something taken away from them; give them hope, and something to look forward to, and change their lives. Anyone from the ages of 2½ to the age of 18 who has a potentially life-threatening illness is eligible.
Frequent requests of Make-a-Wish applicants may include meeting a celebrity, e.g., Mike Trout or Oprah Winfrey; or going on a Disney cruise or going to a theme park.
All services for recipients are paid for by the Foundation, including all travel expenses for themselves and family members. The average wish costs about $7,500, and all funds are donated. Make-A-Wish is not eligible to receive government funding, and 84% of donated funds are used for Make-A-Wish recipients. Of note, a good way to contribute is to donate unused airline miles to Make-A-Wish: American, Southwest, Jet Blue, and United are participants. Make-a-Wish is always looking for ways to generate monetary donations to support their program; this may include a local event such as the N.B. Lobsterfest.
Over 300,000 wishes have been granted to date by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The local chapter, based in Irvine, serves all of Orange County and Inland Empire, including San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. All funds raised by the local chapter remain within the local chapter and are not shared with other chapters. The local staff consists of 26 full and part-time employees, with over 700 volunteers who help with the significant workload. Potential Wake-A-Wish recipients are often triaged based upon the severity of their condition, and other time-related circumstances.
RAFFLE—The beneficiaries of this week’s raffle were Mitch Mitchell ($10) and Dave Schapiro ($20).
GREETER — Mike Gertner. “Mike Graham and the Crackers” was a group that dazzled the East Coast back in the day. Its leader went on to college and a legal career. Arriving in California in 1964, Mike Gertner joined the Corona del Mar Ex-change and was its president. Mike was our president in ’77, is our Football Commissioner in the fall and runs our education meetings for new members. He enjoys his collection of distinguished car hood ornaments. When you give him your two bucks, he’ll make it seem like fun.
