Lunch is served at Noon, Meeting begins at 12:30p
Please Welcome Clayton Davis From JCCI
Fun times at the FL/GA lunch meting with the Mandarin Club......
Clayton Davis has spent most of his career overseas, helping build communities through various nonprofits after his time in the Peace Corps.
Nigeria, Romania, Mozambique and South Africa were all stops along the way, in the effort of violence prevention and health programs.
After time in nine countries, he’s in Jacksonville looking to help build the community he now calls home.
Davis is the new Jacksonville Community Council Inc. president and CEO, a role he started Monday. He takes over for Ben Warner, whose wife relocated to Italy for her job in the U.S. Navy.
“It seems like a perfect fit … it really is what I was looking to do,” Davis said.
Davis, his wife, Ella Florica, and family took a leap of faith more than a year ago. Davis’ mother had moved to Jacksonville from Pennsylvania a decade ago but needed assistance. So, the family moved without jobs in hand.
Davis’ wife found an opportunity early, but he spent time learning the people and organizations in the local nonprofit world. He had met with Warner and, when he heard about his leaving, decided it would be an opportunity to pursue.
“I’ve spent 20 years trying to improve communities … now I can work to improve my own,” he said.
JCCI offers programs and studies that help people learn, engage and act in their community. One of their latest initiatives is JAX 2025, a community-developed platform creating a vision for what people want to see the city become.
Davis said it’s his dream to be around in 10 years and see how much progress is made.
“Having a vision like that with measurable indicators … that’s something that always has interested me,” he said. “
In the short-term, though, he still is learning and working with the organization’s board. Its fiscal year is coming to a close, which Davis said provides a nice transition opportunity. Outside of that, he said he would like JCCI to become more involved and bring more attention to the group’s recommendations on social issues.
David Meyer, board co-chair of the search committee, calls Davis “down-to-earth” and having a presence that will suit the organization well.
The search garnered 115 applicants, which was then narrowed to a dozen before three finalists were named.
The selection was made toward the end of June, he said, and Davis secured the position with a presentation that “echoed the brand of JCCI,” he said.
Davis said he came to Jacksonville hoping to find a position with an organization like JCCI. He wasn’t certain how it would work, but it has — all the community he wanted to call home.
Now, he said, it’s time to act.“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.
Fun times at the FL/GA lunch meting with the Mandarin Club......
PP Oddette Struys has Family Time in Asia
PP Odette Struys recently returned to Jacksonville after spending two weeks in Southeast Asia visiting her family in Singapore and traveling with them to Bangkok for a vacation together. She reports that sadly, much of nearby Indonesia is on fire from intentional burning, which has negatively impacted the rest of its neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia with a thick haze causing airline delays and even school cancellations due to the dense toxic nature of the air. But, plenty of hours spent indoors gave her much needed quality time with her family and her father - who celebrates being in Rotary for more than 50 years with perfect attendance! Rotary runs deep in the Struys household! PP Odette proudly wears her new bamboo hat from
Ratchaburi's famous Floating Market of Damneonsaduak in Thailand. Her souvenir hat traveled from Bangkok, to Singapore,
to Tokyo, New York and eventually to Jacksonville on her head!
Rotary Club Of South Jacksonville - Upcoming Events:
November 5 - 5:30pm -7:30pm Launch Party for Oratory Contest
November 10 - Sponsor lunch for Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
November 19, 7:30 am - Gingerbread set-up project
Mid December - Delivering Dictionaries to 3rd graders
February 6th from 9am - 12p Dignity U Wear Event
February 18, 2016 - Final event for the Rotary Oratory Competition
Official launch party for the 2016 Rotary Oratory Competition!
November 5th from 5:30-730 at the River City Brewing Company. The Rotary Club of South Jacksonville and the Speech Committee invite you to the official launch party for the 2016 Rotary Oratory Competition! This will also be an historic event as it will be the first opportunity for fellowship among all three groups: the Lunch Club, the Satellite Committee and the Rotaract Club. Spouses and guests are welcome and we encourage their attendance as well.
There will be a cash bar and complimentary Hors d’ oeuvres, entertainment and prizes will be included. Please RSVP to Jacqueline Rudloff as soon as possible at
Jacqueline.rudloff@db.com or 512-947-1003.
***Please watch for a special message on November 4th for instructions on how you can be a part of the online campaign for this year’s Rotary Oratory Contest!***
AmazonSmile Foundation Donation Disbursement
Did you know... Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.
You can help increase our organization's donation potential by spreading the word about AmazonSmile. Sign in to http://org.amazon.com and click on Marketing Tools to access customized online tools to let your supporters know that their AmazonSmile shopping can support Rotary Club Of South Jacksonville Charities Inc. Share this link: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/59-3750282 and ask your donors, volunteers, employees, and friends to bookmark this link so all their eligible shopping will benefit Rotary Club Of South Jacksonville Charities Inc.
You can help increase our organization's donation potential by spreading the word about AmazonSmile. Sign in to http://org.amazon.com and click on Marketing Tools to access customized online tools to let your supporters know that their AmazonSmile shopping can support Rotary Club Of South Jacksonville Charities Inc. Share this link: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/59-3750282 and ask your donors, volunteers, employees, and friends to bookmark this link so all their eligible shopping will benefit Rotary Club Of South Jacksonville Charities Inc.
Satellite Club News!
Our Rotary Satellite Club of South Jacksonville meets every 2nd and 4th Monday,
upstairs at San Marco Indochine. 5:30 social time and 6:00 meeting.
This is an additional time and place for our members to enjoy Rotary fellowship.
The club's next meeting - is Monday,November 9.
The speaker that evening is Elton Revis.
Satellite Club Officers:
- Chair Julie Pyburn
- Vice Chair Dave Armentrout
- Director of Communications Andrea Hartley-Myers
- Director of Finance Amanda Watson
******** Several Upcoming Service Events ********
Sign up for with the project Coordinator
Below are some events that the Social Committee and Community Service Committee lined up for us. Please sign up with the Project Coordinator listed:
- Gingerbread set-up project - November 19, 7:30 am
- Project Coordinator is PP Mike Darragh
Delivering Dictionaries to 3rd graders
- Project Coordinator is Stevan Jones
- Sponsor a lunch on November 10th for the "Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation"
- Project Coordinator is PP Odette Struys
- Volunteer opportunity at Dignity U Wear on Saturday, February 6th from 9am - 12pm. They can accommodate 8 volunteers. Look for sign-up sheets and additional details later this year.
Our District Governor's Message:
Week 17 Rotary Minute
Every step we take. Every drop we give. Brings us closer to a polio-free world. We won’t stop until every child, everywhere, is protected against polio.
How close are we to a polio-free world? What’s needed to finish the job?
Rotary, along with our health partners, conducted our third annual World Polio Day global update webcast this past Friday. If you were unable to attend the webcast, you can view a recorded copy of the event at www.endpolio.org .
Rotary Foundation Trustee Noel Bajat indicated during a recent zone training event, “we could see the end of polio by the close of 2016 or beginning of 2017.”
When we say we are this close, we really are but we must finish the job!
Rotary Foundation Trustee Noel Bajat indicated during a recent zone training event, “we could see the end of polio by the close of 2016 or beginning of 2017.”
When we say we are this close, we really are but we must finish the job!
I am proud to announce our new District 6970 Rotaract Website. Please take a moment to explore all the information and maybe even find a great Rotaract club you could visit for your next makeup. The new website can be found at www.Rotaract6970.org.
If you or your club is looking for an opportunity to serve, you might find that opportunity under the “Affiliates”, “Opportunity Center”, or “Speakers Bureau” sections on our district web site.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
For more on events in District 6970, please go to www.rotary6970.org.
