“I used to be in the wedding business. Chairing the auction was a piece of cake compared to that. There was no mother of the bride to deal with.”
So exclaimed Denise Bacon last week, after completing her first time as chair of our annual fundraising auction. Held March 18 at the Allison, the auction likely grossed $155,000, according to Denise. Wahoo! Kudos to Denise for her leadership and to everyone who volunteered to help to make the auction such a success. Here are some photos of just a few of the club members who helped to set it up.
Matt Stephens, left, and Corey Zielsdorf spent the morning of auction day organizing all the amazing wine donations.
Dave Parker, below, was also a wine organizer.
LeRoy Benham, right, takes a quick break before starting in on organizing balloons.
Laura Tilrico, below, next to her artistically displayed donation of a fabulous gourmet dinner.
Steven Palmer, left, and Jack Czarnecki, played huge roles in getting all that wine donated and to the site. Thanks, guys.
PROGRAM: Our program last week was given by Adam Creighton and Alanna Miel from Instove. Their slogan is “One stove, a world of solutions.” They told us how wood smoke kills more people annually than AIDS, and particularly affects the health of women in poorer countries. Their ultra clean cookstoves, which eliminate smoke and back carbon emissions, are designed to address these issues. They sell to the institutional, not household, market. Their estimates are that these stoves can save 100 million trees, reduce indoor air pollution and address the many problems around open-fire cooking. They said the stoves are cleaner than propane, reduce fuel use by 75 to 90% and reduce cooking time by 50%. In addition, they produce 90% fewer harmful emissions.
Instove is a 501c3 and operates as a hybrid profit/nonprofit. Their stoves are available in 39 countries, but they are focusing on Kenya and Ghana.
Adam and Alanna are out raising awareness of their product and fundraising. They are developing partnerships, and hope to start work to help the stoves feed more refugees and school children.
Auggie Gonzales asked that we share the blogsite “Guatemala Community Service Project” with you. For some reason, I cannot get the live link to transfer here. But PLEASE do take a minute and look up the blogsite. You can read all about the good our club and Rotary are doing in the world, and share it with your friends and family. Thanks, Auggie.
Guests last week:
- Jennifer Justin, new executive director of the Chehalem Cultural Center, replacing Rob Dailey. Jennifer is from Texas, and just arrived here three weeks ago. But she is originally from the Northwest, where she said, “We don’t have to be worried about hurricanes.”
- Ken VanDomelen, a visiting Rotarian from the Tigard Club.
Special kudos also to Geoff Gilmore, who offered to match last week’s Duck’s proceeds for polio. The take to match was $108. 25! Thank you, Geoff!