Andrea is the Assistant Chief for Community Risk Reduction with the Tempe Fire-Medical-Rescue organization. She told us how her division has established an Emergency Operations Center that has been operating in a virtual mode for the last 56 days.This group has a daily operations update to identify the incident plan for each day. They also review a situation report for the previous day. Andrea is constantly in contact with various organizations within the city and county to make sure the city resources are well coordinated. She told us of the many challenges that her organization has faced because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, they are developing a Recovery Plan for the city which is designed to build resiliency for future disasters.  There was a lengthy question and answer period and club members praised Andrea for her work and her success in her role as Assistant Chief.  Many kudos to you Andrea. 

 

 

Dan told us that TRVFA has been around for 30 years and serves all of Arizona. The purpose of TRVFA is to provide educational grants to students who are below Arizona Poverty Guidelines.   If student applicants are approved by TRVFA then they contact or are contacted by a club who interviews them and decides if the applicant should be sponsored by the club. If the club approves the student then TRVFA sends the grant money directly to the school to cover costs of tuition, fees, books etc. This is considered as a "hand-up" for the student rather than a "hand-out". Students are usually very successful and continue with their education.  They are asked to return to the sponsoring club to give an update on their progress. The typical grant is $2,000. Last year 100 stuents received grants totaling over $180,000.  The TRVFA program has been very successful and Dan emphasized that participating clubs get the opportunity to have a "hands-on" experience in helping needy students. CLICK HERE to see Dan's presentation.

Rob Foster was filling in for Wally. First item on the agenda was the introduction of Stacy Milgram who is currently trying to decide if her work schedule will allow her to participate fully in our club. As usual, the Happy Bucks gave us lots of good events and stories.

Rob reviewed the positive experience many members had with Zelle to send money to the club. He encouraged everyone to try and use it.

Machel gave us an update on the Exchange Student situation.  It is very much up in the air at the moment because of the pandemic. She won't have details for at least another few weeks. Dave explained the District Grant and asked members to give him suggestions within the next two weeks. The total grant will be $3750 and must be used to support one organization. Rob reviewed the 20/21 budget proposal and is soliciting input from club members. Members should check the email that Rob sent out with details of the budget. All in all it was a good meeting with lots of participation. If you have the time and a burning interest in seeing the meeting CLICK HERE The videos all have the date embedded in their name - e.g. GMT20200504-Kyrene... is the video for the meeting on 5th of May this year (2020)