| Back to Home page NEWSLETTER Cedar Rapids Downtown Kiwanis Club Wednesday, June 25, 2008 The meeting was called to order by Vice President Bob Hatala. 27 Members in attendance. Guests: None Birthdays: Dan Breibach (6/14), Jim Doyne, Kathy Hedlund, Pam Landon (6/27) Anniversaries: None Announcements: Mary Corkery reminded us that the Club is “wrist-banding” at the Kernels game tonight. Happy Bucks: 3 for Jim Doyne’s 39th birthday. 1 from Mary Corkery because she’s starting a new career. 1 from John Schweitzer because he thought it was odd that the only business (so far) to suffer flood looting was “Muddy Waters”. And 1 from Dave Graeff for the recent Kansas City Royals win streak. Speaker: The speaker to day is Denise Bridges w/ Area Substance Abuse Counseling. She is the multicultural prevention specialist, working with at risk children, many with parents in the ASAC program. Most of her time is spent in the schools, where she teaches diversity, drug education and anger management. Some students have a high exposure to risk, including drug use, absent parents, abusive parents and students with children. All of them need someone they can count on and all want to be held accountable.
Post flood, she’s helping to get clothing for her school kids. Most of the students won’t ask, especially the boys. She asked us to be aware of children who may need help and to refer them to her.
Part time, she also works with Children of Promise, a program run out of the Department of Corrections. These are children with parents in jail. She needs mentors who can commit to one contact per week with a student, even if it’s just a phone call. The more time the mentor, the better the student will do in school and life. Word for the day: Esculent – Suitable as food, edible, eatable Submitted: Kevin Carlson |
