President Liz Quinn opened our meeting with the Pledge, and My Country 'Tis of Thee and member John Walker gave the prayer.  Guests welcomed and introduced were Darlene Simmons, Principal of RICA School, Karen Bortvert, intern at Wider Circle and Mark Bergel, CEO of Wider Circle. Also great to see  Stephanie McCabe, Sue Kirk, Ron Spratt, Robbie Brewer and Bob Cressy.

Election of Officers:

Jeanne Smith announced the slate of officers and Board of Directors for 2008-2010.  They were unanimously approved. 

Brian Nason from the Bethesda Chevy Chase YMCA was inducted as a new member by Jeanne Smith. Brian is in charge at Ayrlawn Center and the YMCA mission of working with children fits the mission of Kiwanis. Brian recently returned from his honeymoon and is eager to being an active member of our club.

Presentation of a $7,000 check was made to the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA) and was accepted by Darlene Simmons, principal of the school.

Happy Dollars:

Sue Kirk HD for our newest member, Brian Nason, also for our speaker. Debbie Van Horn HD for Darlene Simmons representing RICA and for the support of RICA by our club. Debbie was new at RICA when 18 years ago Ben Schlesinger presented a scholarship check to students at RICA.  This was how Debbie became interested in Kiwanis. Stephanie McCabe HD for Brian, also for son-in-law who is  back from Afghanistan, for Jeanne Smith’s hard work on the Service Leadership Banquet.  Debbie is also glad to be back.  Ron Spratt HD for recently celebrating 36^th wedding anniversary. Bob Cressy HD for Darlene Simmons, for our election of new officers, and for his wife Nancy who is a second delegate to Kiwanis International Convention in Orlando. Chris Van de Moortel HD for our speaker, HD for Stephanie’s son-in-law's safe return. Pat Tiede HD for our 8 members who were at the Memorial Day remembrance at Woodmont Triangle and also for our speaker. Jeanne Smith HD for Liz Quinn. Liz Quinn HD for Brian Nason.   Bob Gradle HD for our speaker, Mark Bergel.

Speaker: 

Liz introduced our speaker Dr. Mark Bergel. Six years ago he founded A Wider Circle, a non-profit group whose mission is service to the poor.  About 1 in 5 kids are living in poverty compared to 1 in 10 adults- even in wealthy areas such as Montgomery County. The group  collects donated furniture from individuals and uses it to furnish homes for people without any furniture. Other activities in their mission  include classes in stress management,  budgeting, nutrition , world culture to students in poverty. They have a waiting list of 300 families for furniture. Most of their workers are volunteers and one of their biggest expenses is the cost of renting trucks. 

Ron Spratt won the 50/50 and donated it back to A Wider Circle.