President Lynn King called the meeting to order
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag
Announcements:
The Past Presidents met last week to nominate the officers and board for next year. Past President Steve Stauffer will be presenting the nominations to the Board of Directors and subsequently to the club membership for vote.
Lynn provided an update on her family's experience with Covid-19. Her mother has gotten out of the hospital and is making progress. The rest of the family is recovering.
Today's scheduled speaker had to cancel due to Covid-19
Holiday gift baskets will be delivered on December 22.
Membership - It is the second posting for Joah Etchells.
Guests - Beth Kuzmick (has applied for membership) and Lauren Hollis
Julie Camp-Tome filled in for Sergeant at Arms Suzi Oliver and collected Happy $$
Speaker:
Sandy Gillis, Executive Director of the Deep Well Project was our speaker. She addressed how the pandemic has affected the operation of Deep Well.
photo credit Barry Davis
Covid has stretched the staff and their database of 8,000 has grown to 10,000 because many have lost their jobs. In Spring on one day they received the over-whelming number of 330 calls. The shut down resulted in people needing to work but cannot work. Through all this, she has seen example after example of generosity and people stepping up to help. She told the story of a land lord who offered his tenants two months free rent so that Deep Well would not have to pay their rent. Donations even come in from people from out of state who come here to enjoy our island. Also during the shutdown when there were food shortages and they had to get creative with how to find food, Dave Martin from Piggly Wiggly generously was able to get them food and sold it to them at wholesale prices. They also received other food donations which saved their budget and could keep money for emergency, like utilities and rent. Covid-19 has also affected the way that Deep Well can serve their clients. Instead of having people come into the pantry, they have had to adopt curbside pick up in the parking lot. Between March and August: 2,975 people received a weeks worth of groceries - over 62,000 meals; 590 emergency rent payments were made to landlords keeping about 2,000 people safe in their homes; $465,662 in rent/mortgage payments and over $25,000 in emergency utility bills were paid. Sandy also expressed she is grateful for our partnership with them and that we help with holiday food delivery. Thanksgiving they were able to deliver food to a total of 300 between us (we delivered 55) and other organizations. Thank you Sandy for filling in at the last minute and providing an excellent presentation. To find out more about Deep Well Project visit www.deepwellproject.org