Rotary Club of Marana
 
                                                                            
 
Rotary Club of Marana Meeting; September 15, 2020
 
Guests 
We were very happy Joyce Zwick joined us from her home in Canada.  Joyce traveled back home after spending significant time here supporting her parents.  We miss her father, John, and look forward to his rejoining us. We were also pleased that Carol Buuck joined us again.  We’ve enjoyed her thoughtful contributions to our meetings and hope to continue to see her.  We also welcomed Mike Lange, a retired Tucson native, U of A Law School grad, former Pima County prosecutor, and Laura’s bleacher-mate at the U of A basketball games.  For 6 years Mike has Chaired the Board of Interfaith Community Services.
 
Announcements
  • The Bylaws have been accepted and changes made.  Thanks again to Don and Harold.
  • World polio day October 24th.
  • The continent of Africa was declared polio free in the last 1 ½ weeks.  A remarkable achievement.  Countries have to have three consecutive years with no new polio cases to be declared Polio Free.
  • John urged membership to take advantage of the Rotary Magazine we all receive.  It offers a wide range of relevant topics that are integral in Rotary.
 
Happy Bucks
  • Harold  is marveling at his new computer
  • Randy’s leg is healing, though slllowwwly , from an epic fall.  He will be welcoming his wife home soon and is pleased that the quality of meals in his home will increase.
  • Carol says she is happy to be with us again, and we’re happy for that. 
  • Don and his wife made the trek back to Tucson from Seattle.  They drove through smoke and haze and didn’t see sun until they reached Quartzite.   Our hearts are with those in Washington, Oregon, and California devasted by fires. 
  • Laura was pleased as punch that she is now a great aunt.  Her niece and husband welcome Brigit Eloise, named in part after Eloise, Laura’s mother. 
  • Richie is scratching his head that he was somehow able to break his toe simply getting into his fridge.  He muses that old-age onset is to blame.  Richie is by far the youngest member of our club. 
  • Lynne was gleeful the  Patriots won and Tom Brady lost.  Lynne also sees the light at the end of the tunnel, as the last tax deadline approaches.
  • Joyce is back home in Canada, quarantining for 2 weeks.  While the fires seem to dutifully halt at the border, smoke has been responsible for the closure of schools on the Vancouver Islands due to poor air quality and lack of ventilation. 
  • Bob was self-congratulatory that he has met his weight goal having lost 20 lbs.  I can’t imagine where Bob had 20 lbs. to lose, but congratulations!  He and his wife a starting a new garage project.  Always busy. 
  • Becky was counting her lucky starts that she sold her home in Utah.  The home is in an area that is preparing for evacuation.  Becky was also happy to watch football again; cheering for the Packers, Saints, and Arizona
  • Carl has been busy with a trip to Texas to fetch his daughter’s belongings for her move home to Tucson.   He has the sense that things are zooming by at the speed of light time but is taking solace in the fact of everyone’s health and in his life stabilizing. 
  • John beamed proudly that he took two of his grandsons out dove hunting for the first time, passing on this generational tradition.
 
Program
Mike Lange was invited by Laura to provide a program for us today on Interfaith Community Services (ICS), their services, and how things have or have not changed in the pandemic. 
 
Interfaith Community Services is a multi-faith agency.  Temples, Mosques, and Christian Churches form an extensive network dedicated to serving their own members in need and the Tucson area community at large.  Additionally, ICS partners with other agencies, such as Catholic Charities and Mobile Meals, so the needs of the individual or family are met holistically.  The general mission of ICS is to help individuals and families stabilize and improve their lives.
 
ICS has a staff of 22 and over 1000 volunteers serving 30,000 to 40,000 people a year.  From its humble beginnings with a $3000 budget, 40 years later ICS runs approximately an $8,000,000 dollar budget.  As its budget increases ICS is afforded the ability to provide more and more robust services in the areas that it addresses.  It has chosen this strategic ‘deepening of services’ over expanding the types of programs it provides.
 
The pandemic has created unique conditions to ICS, some of them assets and some requiring creative problem solving.  A majority of the 1000 volunteers who were serving people in the community were traditionally elderly.  With the elderly being particularly vulnerable to Covid, much of this work force was forced to relinquish their service.  As the needs of the community have increased in the Covid and economic environments, ICS initially had concerns about being able to provide services uninterrupted to all who needed them.  As happens in communities, however, the need was filled.  Young people came out of the woodwork to step in and services didn’t skip a beat.  The ICS Food Bank is a service that required reworking with the pandemic.  For the safety of the volunteers and those they serve and to increase its ability to serve more, ICS shifted to a drive in and pick up service.  Previously folks were able to shop for their grocery selections, which may be more ideal, but will have to wait till safer times.  Other evidence of a community stepping up in times of need is in that ICS has received an increase in donations and grant monies.  Federal, state and city governments have contributed more monies to community serving agencies during the pandemic; grants and foundations have been generous; and private donations have increased.  Our club donated money to ICS in July, knowing it to be a good steward of the community and the monies it receives. 
 
The Core Services ICS provides are:
  • Financial assistance for housing and utilities to bridge during crisis periods
  • Food Bank
  • Workforce Development
    • Resume Development
    • Interview Coaching
  • Women/mother economic development
    • Self-sufficiency program for women with children who had to leave college because for financial reasons
    • Single mom scholarships 
  • Senior Care
    • compassionate calling
    • transportation
    • mobile meals facilitation
 
 
We are grateful that ICS is creating such meaningful opportunity and change in our community and thank Mike Lange for coming to talk with us. 
 
 
Submitted by Mary Straus,