Welcome to another issue of our weekly bulletin! Find out what we covered during the last weekly meeting and what is going on in Rotary.
This Week in Rotary
Happy Birthday Anne
Anne wanted to thank club members for the birthday wishes and for helping her and the other exchange students with the cookbooks. Anne raised $700 and the group raised $8K to help students go no their West Coast trip. Also thanks to members for the Happy Bucks raised for her in the amount of $135.
Reminder Community Support - Keller Williams Red Day
Member Phil Gibson announced that his wife, Beth and their organization Keller Williams Denver Southeast, will be collecting lightly used sleeping bags and/or non-logo backpacks to support the homeless. The backpacks will be packed with non-perishable items and water. If you would like to support this effort please bring items to an upcoming meeting and give to Phil. The Red Day event will occur on 5/9.
State of The City - SOLD OUT
Two lists went around for volunteer assistance and where you would like to sit at the event. If you were unable to be at the meeting and would like to volunteer please reach out to Linda: lwit2@msn.com
Fox Trot 5K on May 4th, 2019.
In partnership with The Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA), the Community College of Aurora (CCA) will host the inaugural FoxTrot 5K and Fun Run on Saturday, May 4th. The FoxTrot 5K and Fun Run will be a fun, health-focused, family-oriented community event to support scholarships for CCA students. By engaging 100+ elementary school students and their families in the Fun Run and 100-175 community members in the 5K walk/run, CCA invites the community to get “Fox Fit” and participate in the FoxTrot 5K and Fun Run. I want to invite Rotarians to volunteer at the race or participate in the 5K and support our fellow Rotarians involved with this event.
To volunteer, use this VOLUNTEER LINK. The theme of the Fun Run will be “All Kinds of Smart,” where elementary school students will complete simple challenges that relate to being Body Smart, Money Smart, and of course, College Smart. We are specifically looking for 5 additional volunteers to help with the All Kinds of Smart activities as part of the Fun Run.
To register to run the 5K, use this FoxTrot 5K Linkand the discount code“AURORASTRONG” to receive $5 off the regular registration price of $25. There will be prizes for top finishers in each age category (pretty sure Rotarians can will them all!!).
Thank you for helping the CCA and TMCA promote a healthy, active lifestyle in our community by volunteering at or by running in the FoxTrot 5K & Fun Run on Saturday, May 4. The event will be held from 9:00 – 12:00 noon at the college’s CentreTech campus located at 16000 E. CentreTech Parkway, Aurora, CO 80011.
Get your running shoes on in support of CCA!!!
5th Wednesday in May(5/29)
We are going to be dark on May 29th because it is the 5th Wednesday. In lieu of our regular meeting that day, we are going to meet at Pilothouse Brewing (NWC Quincy and Buckley) at noon with a catered lunch. We’ll send out a link for registration and payment….YOU HAVE TO REGISTER ONLINE SO WE HAVE ENOUGH FOOD.
Aurora Public Schools - Festival of the Arts
Member Don Massey mentioned that the Town Center of Aurora is hosting the APS Festival of the Arts. Approximately 300-400 exhibits will be on display through the end of April. Swing by and see the great artists from APS, enjoy lunch at a local restaurant, and the sunshine while you walk!! See link for details: https://towncenterataurora.com/events-news/event/festival-of-the-arts-2019-performances
Second Chance Center - Hassan Latif - Executive Director
Our speaker this week was Hassan Latif, Executive Director of the Second Chance Center. Hassan is a Certified Addictions Counselor II, a Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) facilitator, and a nationally certified Cognitive Behavior Change Facilitator (NCTI) with eleven years of experience providing re-entry services. Hassan has a clear vision to dramatically change the community that served as a catalyst for his own incarceration, after spending eighteen consecutive years in Colorado state prisons. He returned to school and committed to helping others who are at-risk of incarceration, currently incarcerated or recently released. He authored the nationally acclaimed book, Never Going Back: 7 Steps to Staying Out of Prison, which was developed into a curriculum to train mentors and mentees.
Hassan founded Second Chance Center in February 2012 and under his leadership, SCC has become the preeminent re-entry agency in Colorado, with fewer than 11% of clients returning to prison. He did his early work out of a mobile unit....his car!!
He serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition and is on the Colorado Commission on Juvenile Justice’s Reentry Reform Task Force; Colorado Association of Addictions Professionals “2018 Excellence in Leadership” award recipient.
Second Chance Center is determined to reduce recidivism rates and protect future generations from the continuing cycle of incarceration. They aim to transform the futures of formerly incarcerated people and how they are viewed in our country by reversing the negative impact of incarceration on communities and encouraging life-changing habits. They recently broke ground for a housing project in Aurora. Construction on Providence at the Heights (PATH), a permanent supportiive housing project in Aurora, began on January 4th. One of the things that Second Chance Center works to combat is the stigma that ex-offenders are future offenders. A key component to reducing recidivism rates is a stable living situation and their wrap-around support approach to helping people rebuild and lead successful lives works – over and over again! Hassad said their vision of giving more people the opportunity to live in a safe, secure home was threatened last year, our community came out in full force to support our mission and now the vision for PATH is on its way to truly becoming a reality.
Thank you Hassad for all of your work and continued efforts to help transition people returning to their communities from incarceration.
To learn more, become involved, or donate to Second Chance Center please click on button below.
