Attendees participated in a discussion regarding Rotary’s commitment to community service and outlined specific upcoming service opportunities members can join. CJ Stewart currently serves as the club’s community service chair. For specific questions and follow-up, please contact CJ or the point-person identified below for additional information and details. 

• AWER T-Shirts:  Club is evaluating whether to purchase Rotary t-shirts for members in their specific sizes. A margin cost increase might be incorporated so that the sale of the shirts could serve as a fundraiser for the Club. More details to come. 
•  Charity Donation:  It is time to deliver the Club’s charity check to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The Club discussed who might be interested and when to deliver the donation. It was the consensus to try and hold a meeting at the organization and deliver the check during the on-site meeting. Jared will reach out to the organization to discuss opportunities. A date for the delivery or meeting has yet to be determined.
• Atlanta Streets Alive: September 15th from 12:00 – 5:00. Volunteers don’t have to attend the entire five hours. The location of the AWER table will be at the West End Mall. AWER will have a table at the festival and the table will be registering voters. Jared is serving as the point-of-contact for this opportunity.
• Greenhouse: AWER received a $2,000 district grant to set-up a greenhouse at M. Agnes Jones Elementary School. Volunteer opportunities exist for assisting in the set-up of the greenhouse. Rose is point-of-contact for this service project.
• Atlanta Braves Ticket Raffle: AWER is raffling two sets of tickets to an upcoming Atlanta Braves game. As of the meeting, the Club had achieved over half of the $1000 goal for the fundraiser. An AWER social media post was created and members are encouraged to repost the announcement. Special thanks to Don Schewe for donating the tickets and for all members who have entered or advertised the drawing.
• Global Grant Update: Mark Newman provided an updated on the current status of the AWER Global Grant. We are awaiting a response from Rotary International regarding the currency exchange rate.
• Community Service Opportunities
• Collaboration with L.E.A.D. Youth Program involving:  Core Values Training – September and January. Dates are flexible and if members are interested that should contact CJ who will assist with the coordination of volunteers. | L.E.A.D. Baseball Games – April through May offers an opportunity to volunteer and support the youth. Games typically occur on Saturdays. | Rookies v. Rotarians Wiffle Ball Game – October | West End Garbage Clean-up | Holiday Celebration | MLK Day of Service
• ATC 5k Run/Walk: September 25th at 7:00. All proceeds go to support the GAP scholarship fund to assist students at Atlanta Technical College.

__________________ Chris Hempfling, Keyway reporter

Since December 2021, Debra Stokes has served as Executive Director of the Georgia Council on Aging. Debra brings more than four decades of professional, nonprofit, and government relations experience to the role. While the positions have changed, her value to each organization has been defined by her ability to coalesce the many resources necessary to achieve defined goals. To achieve the mission of the Council effectively and efficiently, bringing together multiple stakeholders is critical.

Among other positions, Debra spent eight years “Under the Gold Dome” supporting the members of the Georgia General Assembly as they traverse the Legislative process to provide for the needs of all the citizens of our State. More recently, she served as Executive Director of the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center (GRHIC) at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon. GHRIC was created to specifically address the healthcare needs of citizens living in Georgia’s rural communities.

Debra currently lives in Marietta and is married to Ralph Stokes. The couple has been married for 49 years and have two adult daughters and two teenage granddaughters.

Sarah Richards brings over two decades of service as an educator and a passion for literacy to her role as the Georgia Literacy Coach. Over her 21-year career, Mrs. Richards has been committed to positively impacting student achievement. She served as a classroom teacher and literacy master teacher leader with Atlanta Public Schools, and as an elementary instructional administrator, supporting curriculum and data for Title I schools in Fulton County. As a statewide coach with the Governor’s School Leadership Academy, Mrs. Richards fostered the professional growth of teachers in rural and urban communities across Georgia.

Mrs. Richards holds an M.Ed. in Education Administration and Policy from the University of Georgia, and a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Iowa. Her strong foundation of literacy knowledge is rooted in the science of reading and supported by training in the Orton-Gillingham approach, certification through the Rollins Center/Cox Campus, and a reading endorsement.

Mrs. Richards is dedicated to advancing literacy outcomes to build a brighter future for all of Georgia’s children.

Scott Johnson was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp in June 2023 to Chair the Georgia Council on Literacy. Scott is president & principal owner of Southern Strategic Solutions, a business and government consulting firm based in Marietta. He serves on the Georgia Board of Human Services, and previously served as Chairman of the State Board of Education. He is a graduate of Leadership Cobb and the Coverdell Leadership Institute.

Joy Hawkins earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Georgia State University and a Juris Doctorate Degree from Georgia State College of Law. 

She began her career in state government in the Senate Research Office where she served as director for five years. She worked under Governor Sonny Perdue’s administration as a Policy Analyst and Deputy Chief Operating Officer. Joy served as Education Director for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Director of Grants and Scholarships for Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC). She also began the REACH GA Foundation at GSFC where she guided the board’s fundraising efforts to support the program. After leaving GSFC, she led a literacy movement, serving as director of Literacy For All. 

In 2019, Governor Brian Kemp appointed Joy as Executive Director of Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, a PreK-20 and workforce agency. As part of her current responsibilities, she serves as co-chair of the Georgia Children's Cabinet. 

She is a native of Georgia and has two grown children. Joy resides in Sandy Springs with her other “children,” two dogs, Scarlet and Milly.

Location: Politan Row at Ashford Lane (near Perimeter Mall)

To register: Click here

 For more information: https://www.facebook.com/RMBDistrict6900

President Jared Evans announced the Club Assembly with the following events and topics:

• Recognition of Ms. Elma McCutcheon, long-serving AWER member, by Ms. André H. Marria, Immediate Past District Governor, and Mr. Buck Buchanan, of the Rotary Club of Marietta Metro and Assistant District Governor serving North Atlanta Clubs.  PDG Marria presented t he I See You Award , in recognition of Elma’s many years of membership and distinguished service to AWER, and whose life is and has been filled with service to others, including giving to loved ones in their special times of need (such as she is providing to her beloved husband James) as memorialized in a short video given to Rotary District 6900.  Further, ADG Buck Buchanan presented several items of memorabilia to Elma from the District.
• Elma thanked André, Buck and others.  She noted that her son Cory, now nearing 40 was 15 when discovered to have a cancerous tumor in his brain.  She thanked many AWER Rotarians supporting her, including the late Dr. Brenda Watts Jones, former President of Atlanta Technical College, the renown Otis Smith, MD, first Black pediatrician in Georgia, Frances Ellison Dansby, and Neil Shorthouse.
• President Jared shifted the discussion to a way to promote greater notoriety of AWER and possibly raise money for Rotary International's End Polio NOW decades-long magnificent mission. Jared stated that District Governor Gordon Owens is calling upon each Club to donate at least $1500 to End Polio NOW.  We are on track to give $600 through our monthly donations to End Polio Now through recognition of our speakers - which leaves a $900 goal. Jared offered some ways to sell AWER shirts to help achieve the goal, including selling higher fashion polo style shirts and T-shirts.  He stated that these sales would not alone raise $900 but could contribute, plus promoting awareness on the importance the work of AWER.
• Shifting topics to AWER Club Membership, Jared stated that not only does AWER gain from adding new and dynamic members to our AWER community, but new members also expand its service capacity from income derived through their dues. For example, the club has a budgeted about $1,428 for the Rotary Foundation activities. This amount is comprised of the donations made on behalf of program speakers mentioned above ($600) and a portion of each member's dues ($828) which is contributed to the Annual Fund of the Rotary Foundation. More members would raise that contribution amount made each year to the Annual Fund automatically. He urged all AWER members to think of how each of us could bring one new member to AWER this year.  Mark Newman thinks that once the massive West End Mall revitalization project is formally agreed to, its project manager ought to become an AWER member.

Announcements included:

·         AWER members taking on one of the seven (7) projects developed by C J Stewart in support of L.E.A.D. and Booker T. Washington High School students.  Two AWER members would together share in one of the monthly projects.

• The West End Neighborhood Development Annual Musical Gala on Saturday, October 19th in the West End - tickets at $55 each.  Two remaining seats are available at one of the two tables AWER has committed to.
• Our Holidays Party is set for December 13^th at Wild Heaven Brewery on the Westside BeltLine.

_______

Neil Shorthouse , Keyway editor

Join us at Gate City Brewing in Roswell for the re-launch of Freedom Fighter IPA. $1.00 from every beer sold will go to support the non-profits helping victims of human trafficking.