Meeting Called to Order 7:10
Meeting summary
Key takeaways
- Tour de Cookie event is scheduled for March 7, 2026, with planning committee formation underway
- The club presented a $500 donation to Wreaths Across America
- Gap Ministries presented on their foster care programs, food distribution services, and job training initiatives
- The club will be meeting at MCAT next week and volunteering at the Marana Food Bank afterward
Discussed topics
Tour de Cookie Planning
Discussion about organizing the upcoming Tour de Cookie event scheduled for March 7, 2026.
- Details
- Cindy: Confirmed March 7, 2026 as the event date with town approval
- Cindy: Planning to organize committee meetings via Zoom to accommodate working members' schedules
- Cindy: Suggested pairing new committee members with experienced ones
- Greg: Will assist with promotions
- Beverly: Expressed interest in helping with cookie booths
- Mike: Will help with planning the ride route
- beckiepenman: Noted that rider information currently comes through credit card payments and vendors
- Conclusion
- Committee meetings will be scheduled soon via email
- Registration is targeted to open in December 2025
- Website infrastructure needs updating for better data management
Rotary License Plates
Brief update on Arizona Rotary license plates.
- Details
- Don: Explained that Arizona now has Rotary specialty license plates
- Don: $9 from each plate goes to the Rotary district
- Don: The district has already received its first check from the state
- Conclusion
- Members can order the specialty plates through the DMV website
- The program is already generating funds for the district
Wreaths Across America Presentation
Sharon Jones presented about the Wreaths Across America project honoring fallen service members.
- Details
- Sharon Jones: Explained the mission to ensure service members are not forgotten
- Sharon Jones: Shared her personal experience as a Gold Star mother
- Sharon Jones: Noted there are over 170 Gold Star families in southern Arizona
- Sharon Jones: Announced the Race Across America ceremony on December 13th
- Conclusion
- The club presented a $500 donation to Wreaths Across America
- Sharon distributed brochures for additional donations
Gap Ministries Presentation
Jason Ayers presented on Gap Ministries' programs and services.
- Details
- Jason Ayers: Explained Gap Ministries began in 1999 and focuses on foster care and food distribution
- Jason Ayers: Described their family-style group homes with parent figures caring for 8-10 children
- Jason Ayers: Detailed their Second Chance job training program offering culinary, warehouse logistics, and retail training
- Jason Ayers: Shared that they distribute about $6 million worth of fresh food annually
- Jason Ayers: Mentioned their commercial kitchen provides about 100,000 meals per year
- Jason Ayers: Noted they have about 120 employees and an annual budget of $12-14 million
- Jason Ayers: Announced a new capital campaign called "Hope Runs Deep" to fund a well for their group homes
- Conclusion
- Gap Ministries qualifies for the Arizona Foster Care Tax Credit
- They offer monthly tours on the third Thursday of each month
Additional Announcements
Various club announcements and updates.
- Details
- Cindy: Mentioned the Know UXL project received a $3 million award from the Hilton Foundation
- Harold: Reported progress on car raffle ticket sales
- Sharon: Shared information about John McClain's work supporting homeless veterans
- Laura: Announced a $25,000 matching grant opportunity for the Southern Arizona Community Food Bank
- Conclusion
- Next week's meeting will be at MCAT to honor a student
- Following the MCAT meeting, members will volunteer at the Marana Food Bank
Challenges
- Finding the best meeting time for Tour de Cookie committee that accommodates working members
- Updating the Tour de Cookie website infrastructure for better data management
- Determining if there's a way to direct donations to the Marana Food Bank through the Legal Community Against Hunger initiative
Action items
- Cindy
- Schedule Tour de Cookie committee meetings and send email notifications
- Contact Marana Food Bank about decals for their truck
- Reach out to More Than the Bad to arrange a tour of their facility in early November
- Committee Members
- Consider availability for Tour de Cookie planning meetings
- All Members
- Attend next week's meeting at MCAT followed by volunteering at Marana Food Bank
- Consider supporting the Wreaths Across America project
- Return car raffle ticket stubs by December 5th