The Gallipolis Rotary Club hosted Nancy Smith (above right) to learn about the progress of the Snack Pack program in the elementary schools in Gallia county. Ms. Smith was introduced to the club by Rotarian Jeff Lanham. Snack Pack is now in its fourth consecutive year of operation assisting some 750 children who cope with hunger and neglect. The 501(c)3 non profit provides kid-friendly single serving packaged entrees such as macaroni or spaghetti, apple sauce, juice boxes, and a jar of peanut butter. Volunteers package a weekend supply of snacks and seal them with a zip tie and deliver them to the schools. School officials control the registration and distribution of the program. School personnel discretely slip a snack pack bag into a student’s backpack to take home. Students are prescreened by the school to avoid complications from food allergies such as peanuts.

The non-profit has encountered higher prices for many of their items, particularly peanut butter which has nearly doubled. Nancy elaborated the organization hopes to attract a Vista volunteer to provide additional manpower to help take the program to the next level in 2013. The community has been great in donating supplies. The Gallia County Health Department accepts the food donations for the group. Some Q&A followed the presentation. Members enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about this important program. Thank you, Nancy and Jeff!

President Shirley Doss welcomed assembled members to the meeting. It was great to welcome back Dave Wiseman to our meeting today! Great to see you again, and hope you will make Rotary a more regular part of your week! Kevin Dennis provided our invocation today. Our attendance was really down today, especially since we had a near full house last week.

Club Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led our fellowship this morning with some dinosaur trivia and some famous birthdays. He provided a bit more historical facts and closed with a few words of wisdom—‘Do your homework . . . you’re competitor is!

Happy Buck$—Member Kevin Dennis bought a Happy Buck in honor of the completion of the asbestos removal at the old North Gallia HS building. His granddaughter had the opportunity to take the first basketball shot in the gym. Chuck Clark bought a Happy Buck in honor of his daughter, Dr. Meredith Workman who is on her way to Mongolia as a part of a two week educational opportunity from Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Split-The-Pot—Kevin Dennis jumped in and ran our STP for the meeting today. Ticket sales were a bit off due to attendance, but Kevin managed to move the small pot up to $5.00. Kevin asked our speaker, Nancy Smith, to draw the winning ticket which was held by . . . Kevin Dennis! Kevin graciously donated his winnings back to the club. He asked President Shirley to manage the deck of remaining cards for the draw for the ‘big one’ of $79.00. Unfortunately, Kevin came up a bit short by drawing the eight of diamonds. Tough luck! Our Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who was NOT wearing purple today.

Big Thanks—A Rotary shout-out and big thanks goes to VP/President-Elect Jodie McCalla for being our Treasurer today. We could make change for STP! Members may also check their dues balance with Shawn or Jodie as well as pay dues or contribute to the Foundation.