Bryce Thomas is the Portfolio Investment, Budget & Compliance Manager for Ford Credit. She enjoys writing poetry and engaging in community service. She just moved to Grosse Pointe City. Please welcome her to the Club.
Service Above Self
We meet In Person
Wednesdays at 5:30 PM
The Village Grille
16930 Kercheval Ave
Grosse Pointe, MI 48230
United States of America
Grosse Pointe, MI 48230
United States of America
Meetings are now Hybrid Meetings.
Members will receive email invites each week to join in person and a link to join virtually.
If you wish to be a guest please contact a member or Email us at GrossePointeRotary@gmail.com
As GP South Interact Club’s media manager for the past two years and as a writer and page designer for the school newspaper, The Tower, Fiona Lacroix was well equipped for the duties of her internship.
In addition to attending every meeting and fellowship event, Fiona took part in service projects such as the Moross Greenway clean-up, the GP Memorial Church food drives, and the Ford Estate watershed clean-up. She also promoted these Club’s activities in the media. One of her favorite projects was spotlighting the veterans in the Club for Veteran’s Day.
Fiona’s takeaways from Rotary include: The importance of community building, entering the year as a very young outlier and leaving with genuine connections;
Saying “yes” as opportunities come from exiting one’s comfort zone; Opportunity builds, as all of her experiences lead to new ones and leave her better equipped to handle them; Staying positive, as there were times she didn’t feel like attending a meeting, but then greatly enjoyed being there.
Before attending the University of Michigan in the fall, Fiona will be spending three weeks in France with seven classmate friends and then vacationing at her family cottage in Cross Village, MI.
The Club is excited to announce the employment of Anna Gulyas as our 2022-23 Communications Intern. Anna will be a senior at Grosse Pointe South, where she will also take on the role of Associate Editor of the Tower Newspaper. She will manage the website, social media, and set-up for the club.
Ted Everingham received the oil can from President Liz for his steadfastness and loyalty to friends, family and the Club.
The club was proud to present Father Andrew Kowalczyk, the Pastor at St. Clair Church, the Individual Vocational Service award for his work in Poland on behalf of Ukrainian refugees. He will soon be making his third humanitarian trip there.
Cindy Willcock, Director of Main Street Grosse Pointe, joined the club to share her efforts to support, revitalize and preserve our downtown.
Main Street America’s mission is to lead a movement committed to strengthening communities through preservation-based economic development in older and historic
downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. It empowers communities to set their own destinies, offering a roadmap for locally owned, locally driven prosperity.
downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. It empowers communities to set their own destinies, offering a roadmap for locally owned, locally driven prosperity.
To help promote future development in The Village shopping district the City Council created the Grosse Pointe Downtown Development Authority
(DDA) in 2008. The DDA then became Main Street Grosse Pointe in 2020 after an extensive application process. There are 1,200 Main Street communities nationwide and 50 in Michigan.
The Main Street approach is dedicated to strengthening existing businesses and bringing in new ones that fit (a combination of local and national) and want to stay. Transformational strategies are organized around four points: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and Organization. Economic Vitality focuses on capital, incentives, and other economic and financial tools to assist new and existing businesses. Design supports a community’s transformation by enhancing the physical and visual assets that set
the commercial district apart. Promotion positions the downtown district as the center of the community and hub of economic activity. Organization involves creating a strong foundation for a sustainable revitalization effort, including cultivating partnerships and community involvement.
Main Street Grosse Pointe has a 5- year plan for the Village and is
excited to bring back events, such as Music on the Plaza, and the Sidewalk Sale. It is partially funded through taxes but relies on fundraising and sponsorship for 50% of its budget. Ms. Willcock is the only employee and succeeds through the help of volunteers.
www.grossepointecity.org/businss/economic_development.
excited to bring back events, such as Music on the Plaza, and the Sidewalk Sale. It is partially funded through taxes but relies on fundraising and sponsorship for 50% of its budget. Ms. Willcock is the only employee and succeeds through the help of volunteers.
www.grossepointecity.org/businss/economic_development.
Rotarians flocked to Mackinac’s Grand Hotel for a beautiful weekend celebrating the service of district 6400.
Past District Governor Kim Towar received the William H. Ives Lifetime Achievement Award from District Governor Aruna Koushik, and Diane and Ron Strickler and Sharon and Steve McMillan were recognized as Major Donors to the Rotary Foundation. Congratulations to all!
Catch 22 Afghanistan: 15 Months of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse the NGO Way
For his vocational talk, Joe gave a presentation about the time he spent with a nonprofit organization (NGO) in Afghanistan from 2009 - 11. He was a 28-year-old structural engineer who applied for a job to evaluate buildings for their ability to withstand seismic activity.
The main NGO he worked with was International Relief & Development (IRD), which was 100% financed by USAID, a division of the State Department, with a budget of $1 billion to aid the country. The NGO operated under a cooperative agreement, which was much less stringent than a traditional contract.
Areas of waste included: AVIPA, a voucher program that provided seeds to grow wheat during a drought that ballooned to over $360 million; SPR, a road building project during a war that was budgeted $500 million, where over $14 million was unsupported by audit; HRLS, a catch-all of support functions. Joe’s work evaluating buildings operated through HRLS.
On top of the large amounts of money being provided to the NGO, they often were tasked with providing quality control over their own work. USAID eventually suspended IRD, the largest nonprofit contractor in Afghanistan.