The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, September 4th, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have our president Tripp Hoover and our secretary and fundraising chair Sean O’Connor, speak to the club about our upcoming annual fundraiser. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
http://eastcooperspeakeasy.com/
The next happy hour social will be Wednesday August 29th from 5-7pm on the back patio at Charleston Sports Pub in Mount Pleasant.
Charleston Sports Pub 1909 N Hwy 17, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
https://www.charlestonsportspub.com/
If you have yet to do so please respond to the social survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N9LXTQJ
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, August 24th, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have David Tirard, District Governor, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
David Tirard joined the Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island in 2003. He is a Ten Star Rotarian and holds the Four Avenues of Service Citation. He was elected President in 2011, and he led the club to Large Club of the Year recognition at the District Conference in March 2012. At District level he has served on the Grants Committee since 2010, served as Paul Harris Society Chair since 2013 and as an Assistant Governor from the same year. He holds two Foundation District Service awards, a Distinguished District Service award, and was recognized as District Rotarian of the Year in 2014. He is a Major Donor, Paul Harris Society member and Bequest Society member. David is British by birth, and enjoyed a thirty-three year career with Barclays Bank Plc. Most of his career was spent in the UK, but a tour of duty in Zambia as a bank auditor really opened his eyes to the poverty suffered in a third-world country. (This experience helps fuel his passion for the Rotary Foundation). Upon retirement he came to the United States in 2001, where he met his wife Susan. They moved to Bluffton SC in 2002. She is also a Rotarian, and they enjoy two children and eight grand-children in the USA, and two children and three grand-children in the UK. In the little time they have outside Rotary, they enjoy cooking, gardening and looking after the three Golden Retrievers they have rescued.
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, August 7, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We will be hearing from our club President Tripp Hoover on the 2018 Rotary International Convention that was held in Toronto in June. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Alan Berger, Executive Director of Pet Helpers Adoption Center and Spay/Neuter Clinic, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
In 2017 Alan Berger joined Pet Helpers Adoption Center and Spay/Neuter Clinic in Charleston, SC as its Executive Director. Pet Helpers is a nonprofit organization that was started in 1978 as the first NO-KILL animal shelter in the Lowcountry. It operates an animal shelter and adoption center, a spay/neuter clinic, a low cost vaccine clinic, and a humane education program. It has grown to twenty five employees and an annual budget of $2 million.
Before joining Pet Helpers, Alan, with his wife, Leslie Armstrong, owned and operated several small businesses. Most recent was Nana’s Donuts, a gourmet donut shop in Charleston producing organic, vegan donuts in a small batch processing environment. Prior to Nana’s, they operated two small businesses in Asheville, NC. For five years they owned an independent video rental store that focused on foreign, independent, art house, LGBT, documentary, and animal advocacy films. In 2011with their partner and chef, Jason Sellers, they opened PLANT, a small upscale and highly acclaimed restaurant with a sophisticated, innovative, and totally vegan menu.
Earlier in his career, Alan Berger served for nine years as the Executive Director/CEO of the Animal Protection Institute (now Born Free USA) in Sacramento, CA. He moved to Charleston, SC and joined the John Ancrum SPCA (now the Charleston Animal Society) in 2004 as its Executive Director.
Alan had been an Executive Director or Board member for nonprofit organizations in the fields of nature education, wildlife rehabilitation, domestic violence/sexual abuse, child abuse, blindness, AIDS, teenage employment, and homelessness. Alan is an MBA/CPA and completed the ABD stage of a Ph.D. program in business management.
The E
ast Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Dr. Arnold Hite, Professor of Economics and Dean of the School of Business at Charleston Southern University, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
Dr. Arnold Hite is a professor of economics in the College of Business at Charleston Southern University. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Clemson University and a PhD in economics from Texas A&M University.
Before arriving at Charleston Southern, he served on the faculty at Clemson, Texas A&M and The Citadel. While at Charleston Southern he has served in several administrative positions including director of the Center for Economic Education, director of a special program in environmental management, department chair and dean.
Dr. Hite’s teaching interests include macroeconomic theory, international trade, the history of economic thought and price theory. His current research interest includes income inequality measures and economic forecast assessment.
The International Rotary Club’s theme this past year was “Make A Difference.” And, the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club took that theme and put it into action with numerous community service activities, The Club, which consists of 50 members, raised $32,000 at its 2nd Annual East Cooper Speakeasy fundraiser; donated and delivered 73 books to the Mary Ford Elementary School for its Literacy Program; volunteered for East Cooper Habitat for Humanity, East Cooper Meals On Wheels, and East Cooper Community Outreach; participated in a Global Grant project with Water Missions International; joined forces with the Galveston Rotary Clubs to provide funds for the devastation in Houston after Hurricane Irma; participated in Happy Feet with the Mt. Pleasant Lunch Club to provide shoes to 212 children in the Lowcountry; and volunteered at Toys for Tots where the Club donated 132 bikes to Lowcountry children.
The Club recently started a 30 under 30 program where membership dues are prorated for young professionals; and became a member of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce to increase its presence in the community.
For information on how to join the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club, please email ecbrotaryclub@gmail.com or visit ecbrotary.org.
Greg Meuli (right) 
completed his red badge requirements and received his Rotary Blue Badge in just three weeks! Congratulations, we’re excited to have you as a member!
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Angela and David Muirhead, Co-Founders of the Beautiful Gate Center, as our speakers. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
The Beautiful Gate Center seeks to serve individuals with Developmental Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders who are inadequately served in existing public and private special education programs due to the individuals’ need for a broader range of more intensive learning supports than those traditional environments offer.
http://www.beautifulgatecenter.org/
Stephanie Bates presented Gwin Poston, Administrator for East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club, with the President’s Award.
Stephanie Bates presented Charles Muldrow with the Rotarian of the Year Award.
Stephanie Bates presented Sean O’Connor with the Service Above Self Award.
Kevin Zanon, our Club’s exchange student from Switzerland, will present a slide show at Tuesday’s morning meeting about his year here in Charleston as well as information on his country. You don’t want to miss this!
Congratulations to Joe Shuster for earning his Rotary Blue Badge so quickly after just receiving the Red Badge a matter of weeks ago! Joe is a Business Project Manager at Sawgrass Technologies, Inc.
Welcome Greg Meuli, our newest member of the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club! Greg is a Mortgage Loan Originator at United Community Bank.
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Jean Ann Lambert, Community Resource Director of Mental Health America of SC, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
Jean Ann is the Community Resource Director and has over 30 years in the Mental Health field. She travels the state educating the public and professionals about Mental Health Disorders, Suicide Prevention and Children / Teen issues through a program called “I.C. Hope”. Also offered is Mental Health First Aid, a Training and 3 year Certification. She helps to provide needs to the clients and residents, such as clothing, toiletries, housewares and Leisure Activities. Our mascot, I.C. Hope, a 6 ft. Duck, whose motto is “Don’t Duck Mental Health”! is available to attend Festivals and Special Events all around the State of South Carolina.
Jean Ann was born and raised in Georgia. She has a Bachelor degree in Therapeutic Recreation with a minor in Psychology. Jean Ann attended USC School of Medicine to obtain a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling with a Certificate in Psychiatric Studies. She has been working for MHASC for 13 years and has over 30 years experience in the mental health field.
Jean Ann is married with 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat. She loves to travel, bake and walking in the sunshine.
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Jennifer Hartig, Executive Director of Respite Care Charleston, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
A graduate of Meredith College and Auburn University, Jennifer spent eleven years in the retirement home industry before joining Respite Care Charleston in 2012. As Director, she is passionate about keeping participants active and helping Charleston become a dementia-friendly community. Jennifer graduated from Francis Marion University’s Non-Profit Leadership Institute in 2015 and serves on the boards of Racers for Pacers and Charleston HEART.
T
he next Rotary social will be held Wednesday the 30th, we’ll be at The Cabana Bar at Water’s Edge. See y’all there!
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, May 15th, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Jennifer Roberts, Executive Director of Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events. Roberts will be talking in general about programs and services offered by the SC Department of Mental Health, and more specifically, the services and programs provided by the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center available to our community.
Jennifer is the recently appointed Executive Director of the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center (CDMHC), where she has worked for 24 years. She received her Masters of Science Degree in Counseling in 1991 from Old Dominion University and has been a Licensed Professional Counselor for 19 years. Her career began in children’s services as a school based counselor and over the years she has held numerous clinical and administrative management and development positions.
Jennifer’s goal is to spread the word about mental health treatment services available in our community, reduce the stigma around mental illness, and continue to provide the excellent care and innovative programming her Center is known for, so Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center becomes the community’s first choice in mental health care.
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, May 8th, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to have Grace Gasper, Executive Director of Friends of Coastal South Carolina, as our speaker. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
Grace Gasper brings 14 years of experience in conservation and the nonprofit sector to Friends of Coastal South Carolina. Through her years of experience she has gained a thorough understanding of the challenges of nonprofit management and development. Grace served as director of the medical clinic for The Avian Conservation Center for 11 years, has worked as a biologist on a variety of avian research projects across the country, and has been involved in swallow-tailed kite research in South Carolina for over a decade, including conducting kite research on Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge and the Francis Marion National Forest. Her efforts on behalf of conservation in South Carolina have been recognized by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Grace enjoys living in Awendaw, SC, adjacent to Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.
The
East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, May 1st, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to hear from Rachel Knight, Director of Philanthropy for Trident Literacy Association, who will be speaking about Trident Literacy as a while while focusing on their mission in ‘helping adults reverse the cycle and impact of generational poverty and illiteracy’ in our community. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
Rachel Knight is the Director of Philanthropy at Trident Literacy Association and has a passion for ending the cycle and impact of generational poverty and illiteracy. She was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama but grew up in Lexington, SC on beautiful Lake Murray. She is anxiously waiting for the arrival of her first-born daughter next month!
Knight has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with a focus in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina Aiken.
Prior to Trident Literacy, she was a Housing Director and Staffing Recruiter in the travel nursing industry. Knight also has a heavy background in television communications and radio sales.
Knight is an involved member of the Rotary Club of North Charleston Breakfast. She is active in event planning and fundraising on the club’s Public Relations Committee. Knight is also the Vice President of Programming for her sorority’s alumnae chapter; Zeta Tau Alpha. She was honored this Spring with the statewide 2017-2018 Zeta Lady Award for her philanthropic endeavors and leadership within the Charleston chapter.
Knight also demonstrates involvement in the Charleston community by serving on Coastal Community Foundation’s Bridge Philanthropist Board. As a founding member of the board, she participates in a variety of community activities related to philanthropy, professional development and networking.
Congratulations to Brett Fellows for earning his Rotary Blue Badges this week!
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