It was great to see so many members at our meeting this past Friday! President Cindy Kelley asked for members to mark their calendars for Thursday, October 4 for RCSE Cocktail Hour at The Pirates House and Wednesday, October 10 for the Golfing for Goodness' Sake golfing fundraiser hosted by South, West and RCSE! Cindy also informed members of a summer abroad scholarship opportunity for college students. The Norwegian Rotary Advisory Board is inviting three (3) young Georgia students to study in Norway next summer. If you know of a candidate, please contact Kerri or Cindy for more information on the application process. After all business items were discussed, Laura Lane McKinnon introduced our speaker for the day - Judy Blackston.
Judy Blackston was a high school math teacher for 22 years before becoming an executive assistant at New York Life Savannah. New York Life has gone into 71 schools to provide online resources in grief counseling for teachers to help students who have lost a loved one or care giver. Only 7% of teachers in the USA have had grief counseling and 1 in every 15 students will lose a parent or guardian.
New York Life's nation wide initiative made Judy think that she could do more to help teachers and students in Chatham County which is how A Walk to Remember was formed. The purpose for this charitable organization is to raise money to offer scholarships to students who experienced the loss of a parent or guardian. On January 24, 2018, A Walk to Remember hosted their first fundraiser which was a bowling event at AMF Lanes. Then, on April 7, 2018 they had a “walk” at Daffin Park. They worked with sponsors from our community to offer students from all high schools the opportunity to celebrate the lives of the loved ones they have lost. Finally, on May 7, 2018, the scholarship banquet was held and twelve $1000 scholarships were awarded to area students. The event was so successful that Judy will be traveling to Orlando to help start A Walk to Remember there. This will be a yearly event and the goal for the upcoming year is to award 50 scholarships to students. For more information about A Walk to Remember, please visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AWalkToRemember2018/