Greeters: Derrick Price and Elise Hui. President Chuck Pattishall called the meeting by asking fellow Rotarians to greet one another. Bruce Huffman shared an inspirational moment by leading us in silent prayer . . . closing with “and they all said 'Amen!'” Carole Benedict led us on the Pledge of Allegiance. .

Host Derrick Price acknowledged a more robust applause than usual, then dove right in to birthdays and anniversaries:

Ray Fields celebrated his birthday this  week, the day before tax day. The check is in the mail.

Chris McLaran celebrates his birthday this coming week, and is just glad to be standing here.

Norm Goss was proud to note his 32nd wedding anniversary will be coming up on April 23rd.

TAMARA BORGES announced that Mac High School will open next week with performances of “Comedy Cubed,” a collection of three very humorous one-acts. See it April 23-25.

Following one of the shortest Brags and Announcements segments ever, Derrick Price returned with his very own “Sword of Knowledge” competition. Each table responds with an answer to the question of the day. If they get it wrong, everyone at the table contributes $1 to the Club Foundation. If every table gets it right, Derrick contributes $5. The question was, “What's the term for rearranging letters in a word to form another word?” Answer – anagram. This time, Derrick coughed up $5!! We've got a smart club.

Prez Chuck fined himself for not sending out a reminder announcement before the meeting. He pointed out that the Foundation Contribution Board has been updated. We're making great progress on the Rotary International Foundation, but still need a boost to the Club Foundation. He also read a letter from former inbound exchange student James Gorry of England. He will soon be attending the Univ. of California, Berkeley to extend his studies.

Prez Chuck reminded us to contribute our spare change to the Pennies for Polio campaign. He updated us on the Rotary flagpole project, with photos of the progress. Special thanks to Lee Vasquez, Waldo Farnham and Sherriff Jack Crabtree for their extra work to make it a reality. The dedication date is tentatively scheduled for May 16th.

The Prez then called up MIKE CONKLIN of “Sentinels for Freedom.” This remarkable service offers a mentoring program and scholarship foundation to severely wounded U.S. soldiers. MIKE introduced Marine Corps Corporal GARRET JONES of Dundee, who lost his leg in Iraq, got a prosthetic, and went back to serve another tour. GARRET is going to work for Evergreen Aviation. Prez Chuck also noted that Jack Crabtree's son Joe was wounded in the current conflicts. All stood for a round of grateful applause for these courageous Americans.

MAIN EVENT

John Larsen introduced JIM SEYMOUR, Executive Director of the local Catholic Community Services (CCS). JIM lives in Yamhill County, and got started at CCS in 1971. He appeared before the club to present Rainbow Family Services (RFS), a program of CCS that provides support for youth at risk and their families in Yamhill County.

Rainbow connects homeless youth with foster families, support kids who have grown up in foster care, and provides counseling to families with youth who have behavioral issues to attempt to avoid the foster care system. They currently have 17 boys and girls in the program.

JIM showed the club a moving video describing some of their services and the stories of clients who have benefited from the program. Afterwards, he explained that a root cause to personal issues is our society's bankrupt strategies for happiness. We seek it in alcohol, drugs or other dangerous diversions. Most of our economic, health care, education and crime issues lead back to broken families. Yet there has never been a recession of God's love.

RFS only serves Yamhill County. Currently about 7-8 children per month in the county go into foster care for some period of time, most for an average of 60 days. RFS brings people together to foster hope. Their goal is to provide enough support to families to keep one child per month in McMinnville and one in Newberg out of foster care. Studies have clearly pointed to the success of early childhood intervention in helping avoid later problems. It costs about $1,500/month to put a child into foster care, and about $300 for RFS to step in and provide their services.

Oregon State Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz is the official spokesperson for the program. Rainbow is looking for partners in the community, and recognizes the leadership of Rotary and our members.

JIM the opened up the floor to questions. In response, he answered that most of the program's funding (80%) comes from state and federal contracts. Private donations are still critical to their success. The budget for RFS is about $1.0 MM annually. Specific services in their program include parent education and support in high-poverty neighborhoods and home visitor counselors, to help biological families effectively take back their children who have been in foster care. Oregon's Department of Human Services, which manages foster care, is very supportive of RFS. Rainbow Lodge is being rebuilt to provide a site for at-risk or troubled youth to escape for from a few hours up to three days, so that they and their families can get counseling to help rebuild their relationships

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