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Tuesday, October 17, 2006 No. 3 Vol. 85 Today’s Speaker:
Jennifer Maxwell, President and CEO – Police Athletic League
Today we welcome Jennifer Maxwell,
President and CEO of the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg, Inc.
Jennifer is a native Floridian who grew up in Avon Park as the youngest
of three children in a second generation citrus farming family. After
high school, Jennifer attended the University of Central Florida in
Orlando to earn her bachelor’s degree in Education. She taught for one
year in Orlando before deciding to pursue a graduate degree in Special
Education and relocate to the Tampa Bay area. She received her Master’s
degree in Education from the University of South Florida in 1999 and
subsequently moved to London, England where she volunteered for the
Presbyterian Church USA. While in England, Jennifer worked at the West
London YMCA homeless shelter in the Housing & Accommodations Office as
Program Director for asylum seekers and refugees attempting to re-enter
the workforce. Upon returning to the States, Jennifer continued her
career as a teacher of students with disabilities at Woodlawn and
Campbell Park Elementary Schools. Today, as President/CEO of the Police
Athletic League, she works to raise its image in the community by
focusing on PR, fundraising, education, operations and human resources.
As the CEO, she also functions as the Program Director for the new South
County Truancy Interdiction Center, which is a collaborative effort
between the Juvenile Welfare Board, St. Petersburg Police, Family
Resources, Inc. and Pinellas County Schools. Jennifer is a member of
the First Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg and is actively involved
in the Junior League of St. Petersburg. In addition to volunteering
with Pre-K students with disabilities at Campbell Park Elementary
School, she continues to mentor some of her former students.
Let’s give a big welcome to Jennifer
Maxwell and learn more about her great work with the PAL!
TODAY’S QUIZ
1. Who
were the only father and son to hit back-to-back home runs in a major
league baseball game?
2. How
did Mata Hari, World War I spy, die?
3. When was the first golf ball was hit on
the moon and by whom?
4. What was the Ouija board named for?
5. What sex are most clams?
LAST WEEK AT KIWANIS
Florida Kiwanis Division 13 Lt. Governor Eddie Lee spoke at our
luncheon Tuesday to inform and inspire us regarding membership trends
and goals for the coming year. Comedic and down-to-earth, Lee mixed
stories and jokes with solid information, setting the tone for his
leadership for the year to come. He began by downplaying his individual
importance as Lieutenant Governor, thanking and crediting his Executive
Committee and committed Club members with helping lead Kiwanis into the
future as a key resource for business, industry and our communities. The
impact of Kiwanis is great, Lee said, but the work we have yet to do
requires a growing force of members passionate about bringing our ideals
to community involvement and service. Lee went on to speak about the
three days he spent at a training session for his current role,
listening to a past Governor of Kiwanis describe declining membership
numbers, but assuring attendees that Kiwanians didn’t need to do
anything different, just more of it. Lee was disturbed by that message
and stressed that only by doing something different could we increase
our numbers dramatically. Division 13 is the #1 division in Florida,
boasting a 6% increase in membership, largely because of this Club. Lee
showed us, however, that if we continue to grow by 6% a year, we will be
1 million short of our overall goal. The goals set for Division 13
(increase membership by 175%) and by Lee as Lt. Governor (50% increase)
are not important as ends in themselves or as ego boosts for the
competitive, but is critical in accessing a large reservoir of untapped
talent, of succeeding in our diversity efforts, of meeting the
ever-growing needs of children in our communities. It is possible
to increase and retain members, Lee emphasized, pointing out that we
must have the dedication and passion to recruit members, because of
the impact it will make on our being able to tackle more community
projects.
For every four people who come to a
luncheon as a guest, one becomes a member, Lee stated. If every one of
us in the St. Petersburg Club brings in just one-half a person a year,
our membership will increase by seventy. He set out a four-point plan to
bring new members into our ranks. First, Lee pledged personally to bring
in 50 new people to Division 13 in the next twelve months. Second, he
will offer a Kiwanis Internet Club locally to appeal to recent grads and
young professionals who are less willing to attend meetings, but who
have grown up in a ‘virtual’ world and will want to help in their
communities if given the opportunities through Kiwanis. Third, Lee is
meeting with representatives of the Hispanic and African-American
communities, grossly underrepresented in Kiwanis locally and nationally,
to find out what they want in a civic organization. He promised to bring
that information back to us to help guide our efforts. Finally, Lee
asked Jane Baldwin and Cathy Swanson to serve on a committee called “100
Women in 100 Days” to recruit more women into Kiwanis. Headway achieved
in our diversity and membership goals will allow us to start more
K-Clubs and Key Clubs for young people, will allow us to build more
Miracle League Ball Parks and bring new talents and skills together to
address community needs. But our chances of success are greater if we
begin now, together, with enthusiasm and a commitment to our ideals.
Lt. Governor Lee concluded his talk with
a humorous, motivational story: In the jungle, the gazelle wakes up
every morning knowing that it has to run faster than the lion chasing
it, so that it won’t be killed and eaten. Every morning, the lion wakes
up knowing he has to be faster than the slowest gazelle. “So whether,”
he closed, “we approach this as a pride of lions or a herd of gazelles,
we gotta haul some ass!”
Thank you, Lt. Governor Lee, for
reminding us why we as a Club exist and for your leadership in helping
us achieve all our Club goals!
Guests and Visitors
Candace DeSams brought guest Dexter McCree. Great to see you,
Dexter! We welcomed back Division 13 Secretary/Treasurer, Larry Sousa.
Let’s try next week for a guest at every table!
What’s Happening?
Who’s Who – Al Karnavicius is
finalizing the new Membership Directory. Please make sure you’ve turned
in any changes to your profile.
Please Join Up! Sheets were sent
around last Tuesday to determine what committees our members are on and
what committees we’d like to be on. Please sign up for one or two and
pledge to attend all the meetings. Your skills and wisdom are needed
and valued by the Club!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Remind us to be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity.
Remind us to be fair in judgement, and guarded in our speech,
Help us to be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness, and a home
to the stranger. Teach us to be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light
unto the feet of the erring, so
that we may become a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to
the soil of
the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility. Amen.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1. Charles Carroll was the
last of the 59 men who signed the Declaration of Independence to
die. He passed away in 1832 at the age of 95.
2. Vanilla is the extract of fermented and dried pods of several
species of orchids.
3. Large doses of coffee can be lethal. Ten grams, or 100
cups over 4 hours, can kill the average human.
4. The first CD pressed in the US - for commercial release - was
Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA'.
5. Until 1967 it wasn't illegal for Olympic athletes to
use drugs to enhance their performance during competition.
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