This Week's Program: Shawn Lewin and David Patch, Maine Veterans In Need
This Friday we welcome Shawn Lewin and David Patch, speaking on behalf of the Maine Veterans in Need program.
Shawn is a member of the Boothbay Rotary Club. Shawn has been President of the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation ad the Boothbay Community Center for the past 10 years, and serves on several Boards of Directors, including Maine Volunteer Foundation, Maine Death With Dignity, and Boothbay Railway Museum. He has served as Secretary of the Board of Directors for Maine Veterans In Need for the past 3 years, and has recently stepped down from that position to assist with Community Outreach and Development for MVN.
David Patch, CDR/USN (Ret) was a U.S. Navy "ship driver", engineer, and 25 year career Naval officer, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1966.
He spent 20 years as a management executive, small business owner, and consultant for technology companies large and small. He is a co-founder of Maine Veterans in Need, Treasurer and Outreach Officer, and an avid volunteer in many one-on-one veteran and veteran family support groups, navigating the VA system.
Homelessness is a national crisis. In Maine, in 2022, there were approximately 4,400 homeless on a given day with only 3621 beds available. On any given day, we have approximately 140 homeless veterans with 19 unsheltered. Many go unreported. Many factors are involved, but often it is because they don’t have support of friends or family, living in poor living conditions to start with, living on the margin, and mental health issues. Vulnerable veterans, not knowing who to turn to, often become part of the 22 veterans a day who commit suicide in the U.S. daily. Government has put programs in place with many agencies receiving grants to help with this problem, but these agencies are available, typically, during normal working hours. Veterans can experience a crisis at any time and often it is when there is no one they can turn to. Maine Veterans in Need (MVN) was started in 2020 to provide immediate support, 24/7. Friday’s presentation will explain who we are, what we do, and how we do it.Maineveteransinneed@gmail.com
Last Week's Social Event at Apex Racquet & FItness Center, Portland | By Jake Bourdeau
Excellent turnout for our monthly social with 23 attending for a night of activity, food, drinks and fun together. Our Friday meetings are great too, with a focus on "Rotarian activities", but our socials allow us to just kick back and get to know each other better. Thus we kicked off a dynamic and competitive ping-pong tournament, with Bill Ross taking the gold, Jake Bourdeau- Silver, and Dan Fahey-Bronze. Over on the WallyBall court, Dick and Andrea "Andi" Hall, led the way with 6 other participants. Along the way, 8 pizzas magically disappeared. All in all, a great time! Looking forward to our May social!
Bits and Pieces
This year Zach Newell's daughter approached the club as she wanted to do a Rotary Student Exchange. Our Youth Services Committee and the Board of Directors welcomed the opportunity and committed to making it work.
Our club's responsibility is to host an incoming student. This involves finding (3) host families to each take the student for three months, provide a monthly stipend to the student of $125, and host the student at our meetings and events whenever the student's schedule allows.
Progress so far:
Zach's daughter has been accepted and will be studying in Japan. Zach's family has been approved to host our incoming student for the first three months, Sep-Nov. Eric Jorgenson has offered to host the last three months, but believes it is better to find a home with high school age kids.
Dick Hall sent an email to the club this week with info on our incoming student, Antonio Soriano Lujan from Valencia, Spain. He is a 15 year old 9th grader, passionate about soccer and also likes table tennis and skiing. His favorite subjects in school are physical education and math.
This is our Need
We need one host family and ideally two, who can provide room with bed and place for study, provide meals, support in school, and welcome him as part of your family. He will be going to Deering High. It is not a requirement that there are high school age kids, but it is better that way.
All host families will need to pass a background check. If your family or family you know is interested, please contact Dick Hall or Jan Chapman. Our District Youth Exchange Chair, Kathi Perkins of the Westbrook Club, has years of experience matching and supporting students, and is available to support the student and the host families. Dick can vouch for Kathi as she is his sister!
NEW MEMBER NOTIFICATIONS:
First Notice: Major Keith Jache, Area Coordinator for the Salvation Army in Portland, has applied for Membership. Keith is sponsored by Jim Willey. He is a former Rotarian (Barre, VT) and is looking forward to continuing his involvement with community service projects. Keith enjoys the outdoors - hiking, kayaking, and fishing. His name will be published a second time and then his application will be voted on by the Board of Directors.
If any Portland Rotarian would like to offer a comment on a proposal, please send it to our Club President,dickhall7780@gmail.com. It will be shared with the Board of Directors prior to a vote on the application.
Speaker Schedule:
May 3 - Cara Valentino, The Dempsey Center
May 10 - New Members Presentation
May 17 - Norman O'Reilly UMaine Graduate School of Business
May 24th - Club Social TBD during week. No Friday Meeting
May 31 - Jared Cash, President and CEO George Mitchell Institute
June 6 - Thursday Night Rotary Social
June 7 - No Meeting
June 14- Carolyn Nishon. Executive Director Portland Symphony Orchestra
June 21 - Mike Roughton, Exec. Dir. Association of Maine Manafacturers
June 28, Dick Hall, Year in Review, Office Changeover
Club Executives President Dick Hall President Elect Patty Byers Vice President John Thompson TreasurerDick Hall Secretary Tom Nickerson Board of Directors Bruce Jones,
Ben Millick, Quinn Slayton, Zachary Newell,
David Ertz, Maggie McGauley Sergeant-At-ArmsJake Bourdeau
The Windjammer is published online by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
Contributing Editors Jake Bourdeau, Larry Gross,
Erik Jorgensen, Julie L’Heureux,
Ben Lowry, Zach Newell, Bruce Moore,
Tom Nickerson, Dave Patterson,
Tom Talbott, Laura Young
Program Chair Doreen Rockstrom
4th Quarter Chair Roxane Cole Managing Editor Tom Talbott
This Friday we welcome Shawn Lewin and David Patch, speaking on behalf of the Maine Veterans in Need program.
This year Zach Newell's daughter approached the club as she wanted to do a Rotary Student Exchange. Our Youth Services Committee and the Board of Directors welcomed the opportunity and committed to making it work. 
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