President Neil Barnett welcomed all to the meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. After saying the Pledge of Allegiance, Brad Kleindl delivered an invocation reciting a “Rotary-modified” version of St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer for peace. One guest and one visiting Rotarian from the Topeka South Club were introduced. Tom Woolwine announced that $45K toward the $50K fund-raising goal has been raised so far, and the goal is expected to be achieved through the silent auction to be held at the Service Above Self dinner at the camp on the evening of August 29. Tom displayed some of the silent auction items, including a signed Buck O’Neil photograph and a painting of the unique architecture of Santa Fe. Volunteers are still needed for Friday night check-in and breakfast and lunch service on Sunday, August 30. Sign-up opportunities has been sent to all Club members. Tom acknowledged the Regatta Committee consisting of Scott Holsman, Tony Andresen, David Hanzlick, Nick Pryor, Patrick Donnelly, and Andy Sprehe. A Regatta pin will be provided to all Regatta sponsors, and there is still time to be a sponsor. Jane Lee reminded us that the Ask the Exec program will hold its first event on August 27 at 5:30 at Penny’s In the Village. A Happy Bucks session then took place followed by a presentation by Sally Bibb recognizing 50-year Club 13 member, Fred Drummond, as a member of the Kansas City Rotary Club Foundation Legacy Society. Instead of Sally delivering a bio of Fred’s work and Rotary life, they did a Q&A session covering Fred’s work as a rocket scientist and financial planner, his short-lived work with TWA followed by a 6-week trip around the world, and his many memorable years of leadership and work in Club 13 with the Camp Enterprise program, among other things.

 

President Neil then introduced Cameron Black, the Content and Community Relations Specialist at Alphapointe. In that position, among other things, Cameron shares stories about vision loss through the bi-weekly blog, Through Our Eyes, hosting the web series Foresight (an Alphapointe video series highlighting people who are blind or visually impaired), hosting the podcast Insight, and providing public speaking engagements to share the message and mission of Alphapointe. Blind since birth, Cameron became acquainted with Alphapointe through his quest to find employment. He was 28 years old with a baby on the way but with no job prospects. He called Alphapointe and found part-time employment in the call center which turned into full-time employment in leadership positions. Alphapointe has a number of programs. It offers employment through the manufacturing of 260,000 pharmaceutical bottle caps per day and monitoring of inmate calls through the Missouri prison system for the purpose of determining security concerns. Cameron spoke about the journey of an operator of the bottle cap machine, and how he progressed from a brutal stabbing in which he lost his sight and became suicidal to a fully-functioning, fully employed, and happy individual. Alphapointe has a comprehensive rehabilitation program featuring four areas: Orientation and Mobility through which ambulation about town is taught, Daily Living where cooking and basic living skills are taught, Adaptive Technology where use of assistive devices is taught, and Braille and Academics where reading and writing in braille are taught. Alphapointe also has a Low Vision Clinic which provides options when the medical community no longer provides options and allows those disabled by vision loss to age in their own home by learning how to best utilize remaining vision. Alphapointe also offers Youth Services all year round through a Technology Camp, an Adventure Camp where kids throw hatchets, perform archery, and zip line, a Kickball League, and a Kids in the Kitchen program. The youth program is partially funded through a golf tournament, and the clinic and rehabilitation programs are funded through the Boots and Pearls event. Alphapointe meets individuals where they are in the journey of vision loss and wants individuals to thrive, not just live. They strive to build confidence through development of skills which allow vision-impaired individuals to gain confidence and live independently and safely.