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!
Congratulations to Luiz Yamashita and Grace Lacey for earning their Rotary Blue Badges this week! We are so proud of you two for stepping into our Club and taking on leadership roles as well!
We are so happy to have you as a new member! 
The East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club will meet Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. in The Cooper River Room at the Mount Pleasant Waterfront Park. We are pleased to hear from fellow Rotarian Sean Glassberg about Racers for Pacers, a non- profit founded by Sean in 2011. Breakfast catered by Dish and Design Catering and Events.
Inspired by Rick and Dick Hoyt, Sean started Racers for Pacers to help Lowcountry kids with disabilities become a part of the vibrant running community in our area. Racers for Pacers currently has over 20 Racers who participate in local road races and run each week with either their parents as Pacers or volunteers from our community.
Sean Glassberg is a Rotarian involved with the Georgetown Rotary Club because he loves driving 40+ miles one way to get from his home in Mount Pleasant to his campus at Horry Georgetown Technical College, where he serves as Director of Faculty Development and teaches English from time to time. He is a proud father of four and husband of one who also coaches his kids in Mt Pleasant Rec Sports programs and runs a side business to provide faculty development for other colleges and universities. Somehow, he finds time to run and train on his own when he is not herding his kids or taking out the garbage.
East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club President Stephanie Bates presented East Cooper Community Outreach Executive Director Stephanie Kelley with a $5000 donation that the Club raised through their efforts from the East Cooper Speakeasy – Prohibition for a Cause event last October.
This years East Cooper Speakeasy is set for Saturday, October 13, 2018. For information visit www.eastcooperspeakeasy.com. 
On April 21st from 8:30am to 12:30pm, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity is excited to have our Rotary Club volunteers joining them on a variety of projects for a couple of their home builds. We will be meeting them at 409 Sablewood Drive, Huger, SC 29450 at 8:30am. This service project calls for fifteen volunteers, if you are available and would like to participate, email Luiz Yamashita at lyamashita@dunesproperties.com
Rotary Social coming up on Wednesday, April 11th at Dog and Duck Mt Pleasant. 5:30 to 7:30.
Palmetto Patriots Service Team joined volunteers at East Cooper Meals On Wheels to ride along with them Friday morning as they delivered meals to area residents. Thanks to Jeff Pulley’s wife who put together Easter bag treats, the team was able to hand out special treat bags to the Meals On Wheels recipients.
Left to right: Pat Campbell, Elmire Raven, Alex Sherry, Brett Fellows, Michelle Whitbeck, and Jeff Pulley.
Volunteers at East Cooper Meals On Wheels assemble bags of food to deliver to area residents on Friday. The bags were being filled with Easter dinner favorites.
